Chapter 5

Celeste’s POV

“Tell Lloyd that if he changes the menu one more time without informing me, I’ll personally throw away every last one of his precious sets.”

I looked up from my laptop. Merida stood in front of my desk in my office. I raised an eyebrow. “Good morning to you too.”

“Seriously, Celeste. That man is going to give me high blood pressure.”

I leaned back in my chair, hiding a smile. “What did he do this time?”

“What did he do?” She threw her free hand into the air. “He changed the tasting menu for tonight’s private bookings. Again! Do you know how long I spent confirming those details with the clients? Two hours! Two whole hours, and he just decided to replace three dishes because he suddenly had a brilliant idea.”

“Perhaps he did have a brilliant idea.”

Merida stared at me like I had just betrayed her. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am on your side.”

“Then why are you defending him?”

“I’m not defending him. I’m simply suggesting that we hear his explanation before we sentence him to death.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t  you?”

I smiled. “A little.”

“Unbelievable.” Merida groaned.

She spun around and marched toward the door. “Where are you going now?” I called.

“To commit a crime.”

“Please don’t. I have a restaurant to run, and I don’t have time to hire another personal assistant.”

She stopped at the door and looked back. “Fine. I’ll settle for yelling at him.”

Then she disappeared into the corridor. I laughed softly and returned to my laptop. It was barely ten in the morning, and my employees were already threatening to destroy each other.

Another ordinary day at work. Six years ago, when I decided to start all over again, I had no idea what my future would look like. I was pregnant, heartbroken, but determined to build a life that didn’t depend on my former marriage.

I had started with the one thing my family had left me. Thefamily land where my grandmother’s most dangerous secret remained buried. Éclat had grown from an ambitious idea into the most prestigious restaurant in Starling city.

Politicians competed for tables. Billionaires offered ridiculous sums for private dinners. Celebrities flew in from other countries simply to experience a meal prepared by our mysterious head chef.

And yet, very few people knew anything about the person running the restaurant. To the public, Éclat’s culinary genius was an elusive figure whose identity had never been officially confirmed.

Some believed the chef was some retired master. Others insisted that an internationally famous chef was working under a false name. I had heard rumors of how people offered millions ofdollars simply to learn the chef’s recipe, or even know their identity.

I found that particularly amusing. I wasn’t interested in fame. I just wanted control over my life… financial independence and enough influence to ensure that nobody could ever make decisions for me again.

Éclat gave me all three. More importantly, it gave me a reason to get out of bed every morning. A knock interrupted my thoughts.

“Come in.”

Lloyd entered without waiting for a second invitation. He was tall and lean, with dark hair, an intense gaze, and the permanent expression of pride in his work. I couldn’t blame him, he was the most talented chefs I had ever worked with.

Unfortunately, his talent was matched only by his stubbornness.“Celeste, we need to talk about the menu.” He complained.

I closed my laptop halfway. “Let me guess. Merida has threatened your life.”

He frowned. “She needs to stop interfering with my kitchen.”

“And I think you need to stop changing things without informing her.”

His remained silent. Sometimes, I wondered how the two of them could argue over the smallest things and still fail to recognize what everyone else could see.

Lloyd and Merida had been at each other’s throats for almost two years. He complained about her schedules, her insistence on checking every small detail, as well as her habit of walking into his kitchen without warning.

Meanwhile, Merida complained about his temper, his refusal to follow procedures, and his belief that being a brilliant chef excused every bad habit he possessed.

Yet Lloyd always noticed when Merida skipped lunch. And Merida remembered exactly how Lloyd took his coffee. Neither of them had ever admitted to caring about the other. I suspected they were both afraid of what would happen if they stopped arguing long enough to acknowledge it.

My phone rang that moment and Lloyd excused me. I glanced at the screen and answered. “Yes, Richard?”

“Good morning, Miss Laurent. I’ve dropped your off in her school.”

“Good. Did she give you any problems?”

“None, Miss. Amanda is a sweet girl.”

“Thank you. Please be there by the time the school closes. You can bring her straight to the restaurant.”

“Understood.”

I ended the call and glanced at the clock. My daughter would be back from school in a few hours. And soon I wouldn’t be able to do much work anymore.

Just six years old, but sometimes I felt she was born with the mind of a forty year old detective. She asked all sorts of questions, about everything. Eager to know whatever her mind catches.

Still, I loved her more than anything in the world. And I had worked hard all these years just to ensure that Amanda grew up away from the kind of public attention that surrounded people like her father’s family.

Sebastian still didn’t know she existed. I had made that decision long ago, and I had no intention of changing it. He had chosen to leave me when I was carrying his child. I had no reason to invite him back into our lives.

As I tried to return to my work, the receptionist called. “Miss Laurent, there’s a gentleman here asking to see you.”

“Does he have an appointment?”

“No, Miss. He says he’s a friend.”

I frowned, wondering who it might be. “Well, did he give you his name?”

“Yes. Xavier Cross.”

My hand froze with the telephone glued to my ear. For some seconds, I simply stared at the wall. Xavier Cross. I hadn’t heard that name spoken in years. But I remembered it clearly.