Baited by Love novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: The Thermometer

Lars's POV

The post had nine thousand views by the time I finished reading it.

It held fourteen photographs, one for each page of Betsy's ledger.

Thirteen were handsome men and their lunch preferences.

The fourteenth was a page with my name at the top and nothing under it.

Nine thousand people had now seen that nothing was written under my name, and it was the most accurate thing in the post.

The caption said: meet Ellsworth's resident servant. Take notes, boys.

Betsy sat on the floor of my room with her back against my bed and her phone in both hands.

I had expected her to cry, and I had cleared a place for it.

She did not cry.

She went through the pages one at a time and said, "That's wrong."

"What is?"

"The rugby captain's page. It says he likes crusts. He stopped liking crusts in March." She zoomed in. "And they cropped the sandwich diagram."

"Betsy."

"I'm just saying, if you're going to humiliate a person, get the data right."

Otto, on the floor beside her, said, "I love her," and I did not argue.

At eight o'clock she stood up and put on her shoes.

"I have class," she said.

"Betsy."

"If I sit here, I'll start making everyone breakfast. I'd like to be somewhere with a door that closes."

I watched her go down the hall with her ponytail already coming out of its elastic, and I let her.

Then I opened the post again and did what I do.

I looked.

Photo seven was taken from above, on a round table, with the ledger lying open next to a steel thermometer.

The clip of the thermometer was polished, and it had a small curved reflection in it.

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