Chapter 1 - PREPARING DINNER
Mark Mercer grabbed Claire by the throat and pinned her against the kitchen counter.
“TWENTY DISHES!”
Claire clawed at his wrist.
Mark leaned closer.
“COOK EVERY ONE!”
Claire ripped his hand away, gasped, and shoved him backward.
“I CAN’T MAKE TWENTY!”
Mark slammed a printed menu against her chest.
“THEN GET OUT!”
Linda Mercer stepped forward from the dining table.
“DON’T RUIN MY BIRTHDAY!”
Claire crushed the menu in her fist.
“I’M DONE.”
Mark grabbed her arm.
“DONE?!”
Claire tore free.
Mark pointed at the stove.
“COOK OR LEAVE!”
Linda smirked.
Something inside Claire went quiet.
She turned.
Picked up a kitchen knife from the counter.
Then faced Mark from several feet away.
The blade stayed between them.
Mark froze.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Claire’s cheeks were wet.
But she smiled.
Cold.
“Preparing dinner.”
Linda backed away.
Mark’s face went pale.
Claire did not move closer.
She set the knife down.
Slowly.
Then she took out her phone.
Mark laughed nervously.
“What now?”
Claire looked at him.
“I’m leaving.”
Linda scoffed.
“With what money?”
Claire stopped.
That sentence hit harder than the choking.
Because Linda knew.
Claire had not had a personal checking account in nine years.
Mark handled:
mortgage,
cards,
insurance,
taxes,
utilities.
Claire bought groceries with a household card.
Mark called it:
“simpler.”
Linda called it:
“what marriage looks like when the husband actually provides.”
Claire stared at both of them.
Then her phone buzzed.
An email notification.
FROM: MERCER STRATEGIC EVENTS
SUBJECT: LINDA BIRTHDAY CLIENT DINNER — REIMBURSEMENT APPROVED
Claire opened it.
Attached was a company expense report.
Twenty dishes.
Kitchen labor.
Event preparation.
Service.
Cleanup.
Total reimbursable household-hosting expense:
$4,850.
Claire read the vendor line.
MERCER HOME CULINARY SERVICES.
She looked at Mark.
“What is this?”
Mark’s expression changed.
Claire stared at the company name.
It sounded official.
It did not exist in her world.
But someone had been billing Mark’s business for work done in her kitchen.
May you like
And the listed vendor contact was:
CLAIRE MERCER.
