Bury the Ex, Wed the Heir novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: The Good Tea
Philippa Lisle came to Orsey Looms at noon, on foot, with one small bag.
Linnet saw her from the office window.
She was standing at the iron gates of the yard in a crumpled blue coat, with her dark curls flat and her face bare.
The mill women had stopped for their break, and forty of them sat on crates in the yard with their flasks.
All of them watched her walk in.
"Linnet," Philippa called, in a cracked voice. "Please. I have to talk to you."
Linnet came down the steps and crossed the yard.
Her mother stood at the door of the weaving shed with her arms folded.
Philippa's eyes were red.
She held out a small tin with a gold lid.
"I brought the good tea," she said. "The one you like."
"No," Linnet said.
"Please. I don't have anywhere to go."
"You have a house."
"My father changed the locks," Philippa said. Her voice shook. "He took my cards and my car, and the board has voted me off Lisle Textiles. I called Anselm from a phone box, and he said I was a liability."
Behind her, somebody on a crate muttered a word.
"He told me I would have to take the blame," Philippa said, and the tears came. "If it all goes wrong, he said I should say the brakes were my idea."
"What brakes?" Edith said sharply.
Linnet did not look at her mother.
"Say it all, Philippa," she said. "Say it so they can hear."
Philippa looked around at the forty women.
She drew a breath and let it go.
"I put the drug in your glass," she said. "At the dinner. Anselm gave me the powder, and I stirred it into the wine while he stood talking to your table."
Keep reading free with an account. Start Bury the Ex, Wed the Heir from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend