Page 234 of A Taste of Vanilla

Another.

Dad, I don’t want to pile on, but if you’re going to address the bakery, focus on the lack of restraint. That’s the issue. She won’t hear it from me.

The air leaves my lungs.

Warren steps closer. “Halston.” His voice is low and careful.

“I’m fine,” I promise.

“There’s more,” Elise adds.

My laugh is hollow. “Fantastic.”

I flip through the pages. Grant telling people I was emotionally volatile. Grant saying I was “drinking heavily” after the breakup, which is a neat little way to turn a few careful drinks atOliver’s bar into something concerning. Grant saying Marley was “encouraging the spiral for social media.” Grant saying Oliver was “aggressive and unstable,” which is probably the only thing Grant has ever said that Oliver would actually take as a compliment.

Then one more.

Bitter Bloom only survived early on because of Dad’s endorsement and our family network. She forgets that.

That hits harder than anything else he’s ever said or done. Harder than the cheating. Harder than the review itself. Like I had been borrowing success from people who could revoke it at any point if I wasn’t grateful enough.

My hands are shaking.

“Why are you giving this to me?” I ask, swallowing hard.

Elise looks as if she knew this question would come but is still searching for the right answer. “Because it’s wrong.”

I stare at her. “And because you helped create the problem?”

She nods. “I did.”

She grips her bag tighter. “I knew you guys were engaged. At first, I told myself it wasn’t serious between you two because he made it sound like you were more invested than he was. Like the engagement was something his family had swept him into. You were emotional and he was kind.”

I feel numb.

“I believed him because it made me feel less guilty,” she admits.

“I wanted to believe I wasn’t hurting anyone. He talked about you like you were a problem he loved.”

My brows furrow. The condescension of it all chokes me.Halston is a lot, but I love her. Halston gets carried away, but she means well. Halston has big ideas, but she needs grounding.

A problem he loved.

Not a person.

“I should have stopped,” she says. “Long before you walked in.”

“Yeah.”

The kitchen is quiet.

“Are you still with him?”

She shakes her head.

“When did it end?”

“The second you walked in,” she says firmly. “I stayed a little while longer because I couldn’t afford to get fired or quit. But I found a new job and quit.” Her gaze flicks to the folder. “But I made sure to take anything I could with me.”