The chef and The charmer のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

The kitchen was a disaster zone. Flour dusted the countertops, mixing bowls were piled in the sink, and the faint smell of burnt sugar lingered in the air. I stood in the middle of it all, phone in hand, heart pounding as I stared at the empty flour container. Of course. Of course, I’d run out of the one thing I needed most.I scrolled through my usual delivery apps, but everything was closed. Midnight baking experiments had their risks, and tonight I’d lost the gamble. I let out a frustrated sigh, slamming the cupboard shut harder than necessary. “I decided to bake some cookies since Damien seems to love them so much. Apparently, he has quite the sweet tooth.“Problem?” Damian’s voice drifted in from the living room.I turned to see him leaning in the doorway, cigarette dangling from his lips, one brow arched in amusement. He wore that usual air of casual disinterest, like nothing ever really got to him.“Delivery mishap. I’m out of ingredients.” I rubbed my temples, trying to will a

The morning light crept in through the windows, painting the kitchen in soft gold. I stood at the stove, the hiss of eggs meeting the pan breaking the quiet. The rhythmic scrape of the spatula against the non-stick surface felt almost meditative, a small moment of peace before the inevitable storm that was Damian.Right on cue, I heard the shuffle of bare feet against the tiled floor. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. The air practically shifted with his presence, heavy with the smell of last night’s whiskey and cigarettes.“Ugh… kill me now,” Damian’s voice rasped behind me.I grabbed the glass of green juice from the counter and slid it toward him without looking. “Drink.”There was a pause before I heard him pick it up. The sound of him taking a cautious sip was followed by a low groan.“What would I do without you, chef?”“Starve,” I replied, as usual cracking another egg into the pan.Damian chuckled softly, the sound low and rough. The kind of laugh that had once

Damien povI paced back and forth in my room, the floorboards creaking beneath my frantic steps. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat louder than the last. From the kitchen, I overheard Chris greeting Evelyn, their voices distant but clear. It felt like a punch to the gut. I had called Chris, begging him to meet me urgently, and now he was down there, chatting like nothing was wrong.The disastrous call with my mother still echoed in my mind. She’d been in France for over a year now, ever since the accident. She didn’t even care to check if I was okay; she just left. Discarded me like an afterthought. And now, out of the blue, she was threatening to take over the CEO position. The audacity.I’ll be honest — I haven’t exactly put my best foot forward this past year. Grief has a way of consuming you whole, leaving behind only fragments of who you used to be. But I’ll be damned if I let that position go to my incompetent, scheming uncle Anthony. The very thought made my skin crawl. He

I folded my arms and stared at Damian across the polished surface of his mahogany desk. “I changed my mind. I can’t do this.”Damian sighed, rubbing his temple like I was giving him the worst headache of his life. “Evelyn, we already agreed.”“No, you assumed. I panicked and said yes, but I’ve had time to think. It’s insane. Lying to your entire family? Pretending to be your girlfriend? There have to be other ways to get your mother off your back.”Chris, perched on the windowsill with his arms crossed, chimed in. “ trust me Eve we tried to come up with a different idea this is the only way.Damian’s gaze was steady. “It’s a business arrangement. We lay out clear terms, follow them, and part ways when the time comes. It’s simple.”I scoffed. “Simple? Right.”Damian leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “Let me be clear. My mother is relentless. If she believes I’m in a serious relationship, she’ll stop trying to arrange dinners with every socialite in the city. You help me,

“Damian.” The voice was smooth, calculated.I turned to see a woman gliding toward us, her sleek black dress hugging every curve. Her blonde hair fell in perfect waves over one shoulder, and her red lips curled into a sharp smile.“Lillian,” Damian greeted, his tone neutral.Her eyes slid to me, assessing. “And who is this?”“Evelyn,” I said, forcing a polite smile. “His girlfriend.”Lillian’s brow lifted ever so slightly. Girlfriend? How surprising. Damian usually prefers his relationships… less permanent.”The implication wasn’t lost on me.“We can’t all stay in the past, Lillian,” Damian said smoothly.She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course. Well, it was lovely to meet you, Evelyn. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”With that, she drifted away, leaving a trail of expensive perfume in her wake.I turned to Damian. “Ex?”“no more like a fling.”“She hates me.”“She hates everyone. Don’t take it personally.”Easy for him to say.The rest of the night passed in a blur.