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chapter 22
Last Updated:
2025-03-18 06:55:04
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The chef and The charmer chapter 23
Damien povthe morning sun, a pale sliver in the eastern sky, struggled to pierce through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse. I stood on the balcony, the chill of the early morning air biting through my skin. The distant hum of traffic drifted upward, a soft undercurrent beneath the city’s awakening pulse — a stark contrast to the silence within these walls.I sipped my coffee, the bitter taste a welcome counterpoint to the unsettling calm that had settled over me. Sleep had evaded me, and a sense of unease, vague and undefined, gnawed at the edges of my thoughts as I entered and stood in the living room, still nursing my black coffee that matched my mood. I’d been up since dawn, restless and preoccupied, though I couldn’t pinpoint why.Perhaps it was her. EvelynThe thought lingered in my mind, uninvited yet insistent. I’d hired her for her culinary skills—and those were undeniable. Her food was exquisite, and each dish was crafted with precision and a touch of artistry th
Last Updated : 2025-03-19The chef and The charmer chapter 24
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
Last Updated : 2025-03-20The chef and The charmer chapter 25
IT was in the middle of October the rain started like a whisper against the windows, soft at first, barely noticeable. Then it grew louder, a steady drumbeat that filled the silence between us. Damian sprawled on the couch, cigarette dangling from his fingers, the ember glowing faintly in the dim light. The storm outside cast shadows across the kitchen, flickering against the walls. I wiped down the counters, trying to ignore the weight of his gaze.“You ever feel like you’re playing a part you didn’t ask for?” His voice was quiet, almost lost beneath the rain. this isn’t the first time he asked me this question.I paused, cloth in hand. For a moment, I thought he was baiting me again. Damian liked to provoke, to prod at the soft spot he suspected I had. But something in the way he said it made me hesitate.it got me thinking what really going with Damien who is really this man behind all this charming smirk.“Every day,” I answered quietly.I didn’t look at him, but I felt his eyes o
Last Updated : 2025-03-20The chef and The charmer chapter 26
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
Last Updated : 2025-03-21The chef and The charmer chapter 27
Evelyn povI crossed my arms and stared at Damian like he’d grown a second head.“No. Absolutely not.”Damian sighed, leaning back against the sleek leather chair in his office. The city skyline stretched out behind him through the floor-to-ceiling windows, a glittering reminder of just how far removed his world was from mine.“Evelyn, be reasonable,” he said, voice smooth and measured, like he was trying to close a business deal.“Reasonable?” I scoffed. “You just asked me to pretend to be your girlfriend How is that reasonable?”The door behind me clicked open, and Chris strolled in, holding two cups of coffee. He paused mid-step, eyes darting between us.“Uh, did I miss something?” Chris asked, handing me a cup.“Damian just proposed,” I said flatly.Chris choked on his coffee. “What?”“A fake proposal,” I clarified. “He wants me to pretend to be his girlfriend. For money.”Chris leaned against the bookshelf, arms folded, his gaze steady on me. “Look, I know Damian can come off a li
Last Updated : 2025-03-22The chef and The charmer chapter 28
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,
Last Updated : 2025-03-22The chef and The charmer chapter 29
I stared at the half-packed suitcase on my bed, arms crossed and heart heavy. Clothes lay in uneven piles, half-folded, half-forgotten. The apartment felt eerily quiet, the usual hum of the city outside barely penetrating the walls. My sanctuary, my tiny corner of the world, was about to become a memory.I sighed and grabbed another blouse from the drawer, stuffing it into the suitcase with less care than it deserved. “I still think this is a terrible idea.”“Noted,” Damian said from the doorway, his arms folded neatly across his chest. He leaned against the frame, the picture of casual elegance in his dark suit. “But if we’re going to convince people we’re madly in love, we can’t exactly live separate lives.”I shot him a look. “I meant the part where I uproot everything and move into your penthouse.”“Details,” Damian replied smoothly. “It’s only temporary.”I zipped the suitcase shut and sat on the edge of the bed, glancing around the room. It wasn’t much — mismatched furniture, bo
Last Updated : 2025-03-23The chef and The charmer chapter 30
“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.
Last Updated : 2025-03-24
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The chef and The charmer chapter 60
After getting back from the bus station, I went straight to my room to start moving my things back from his. This back-and-forth has kept my mind occupied, stopping it from wandering to thoughts of who E really is. after finish rearranging my room,I sat on the edge of the bed, the afternoon sun light casting long shadows across the room. The message from “E” still lingered in my mind, a haunting echo that refused to fade. I picked up my phone again, staring at the screen. The message was there, but something was off—there was no number attached. Just the letter “E” and the cryptic words that had unsettled me.My heart dropped. No number meant no trace, no way to identify the sender. It was as if the message had materialized from thin air, a ghost from my past reaching out to remind me of things I’d rather forget.I scrolled through my old contacts, biting my lip as I searched for any “E” that could be the culprit. Emma? Eric? Both names stared back at me, each carrying its own set of
The chef and The charmer chapter 59
Later that evening, the weight of the message still hung heavy in my chest.“E.”It was just a single letter, but it had shaken something loose inside me—a distant memory, a flicker of something unresolved. I kept trying to brush it off, tell myself it was nothing, maybe a prank or an old contact resurfacing with the worst timing imaginable. But deep down, I knew better.Still, I needed a moment to breathe. A break from pretending. From questions. From my spinning thoughts.So, I pushed the message out of my mind, tucked it into the mental box labeled ‘Do Not Open Unless Necessary’, and did what I should’ve done weeks ago—I called my dad.The phone rang twice before I heard his voice, gruff but familiar. “Evelyn?”“Hi, Dad,” I said, the word catching slightly in my throat. “It’s me.”There was a pause, long enough for guilt to twist inside my stomach. Then a heavy sigh came through the line. “Took you long enough.”“I know,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. I’ve been… all over the place latel
The chef and The charmer chapter 58
EvelynWaking up in Damien’s arms was… not part of the plan.And yet, here we were.Somewhere between my REM cycle and existential crisis, I’d apparently decided his chest was my new pillow. His arm was snug around my waist, and one of his legs—his legs, people—was tangled with mine.I blinked at the ceiling in silence.God, he smells good.No. Nope. Brain, don’t do this. We’re not doing this today. He’s my boss. A fake boyfriend. A relationship prop with very nice arms. That’s it.I carefully, very carefully, tried to wiggle away like some kind of stealthy ninja.Damien grumbled in his sleep and tightened his hold.I froze. My soul left my body. For a second, I thought he might kiss me in his sleep and I’d have to legally commit arson just to escape the situation.But after a beat, he relaxed again, and I used that window of mercy to scoot to the edge of the bed like it had grown lava.Freedom.I slipped into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, and gave myself a pep talk in
The chef and The charmer chapter 57
If I’d ever doubted Damien’s ability to perform under pressure, that doubt evaporated the moment he extended the bouquet toward my mom.“For the most beautiful woman in the room,” he said with a megawatt smile that could sell toothpaste to a shark.My mom blinked. Then blinked again. Then did the thing where she tilted her head slightly and raised her eyebrows in that “okay, I’m listening” kind of way.“You’re charming,” she said, eyeing the bouquet before taking it. “Dangerously so.”“I try,” Damien replied smoothly, removing his suit jacket like he’d done it a hundred times in this very hallway—which, knowing him, maybe he had. He was that kind of guy. Effortless.I gave him a warning glance over my shoulder as I walked back to the kitchen. “Don’t lay it on too thick.”He winked. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”Dinner was already filling the penthouse with the comforting scent of garlic, herbs, and butter. My mom placed the flowers in a vase—because yes, apparently this place had vases just
The chef and The charmer chapter 56
The ride through Manhattan was something else.My mom sat beside me like she was going to a royal gala instead of just visiting her daughter’s… totally fake relationship penthouse. She had this air of “I’m not impressed” plastered on her face, but her eyes betrayed her. They were darting around like a kid in a candy store. I caught the little smile tugging at the corners of her lips and the way she subtly leaned toward the window every time we passed something remotely shiny.“Still the same old buildings,” she said, flicking a hand toward the skyline. “Little more glass, that’s all.”“Mhm,” I replied, biting back a smirk. “Totally normal street. Just happens to house… you know, multi-million-dollar penthouses. No big deal.”She gave me a side-eye like I was trying to pull something over on her. She wasn’t wrong. I was.But I was also enjoying the game.When the car slowed to a stop, the doorman rushed to open my door with a professional nod. Mom stepped out like she was used to this
The chef and The charmer chapter 55
It was Monday morning, and the warm sunlight spilled into the room through sheer curtains, gently coaxing me out of sleep. For a second, I didn’t want to move. My body ached in that lazy, pleasant way that follows a day spent walking, laughing, and feeling like the world wasn’t such a complicated place. Yesterday with Damien had been… nice. Too nice, maybe. It had felt real. Too real for something that was supposed to be fake.I stretched beneath the covers, staring at the ceiling with a soft smile tugging at my lips. The way Damien looked at me when I wasn’t paying attention, the little gestures—opening doors, taking my hand when we walked along the shoreline, and the way he let me ramble about the best beach snacks—played like a movie montage in my head.We’d gone to the beach. One of his beaches, apparently. He owned it. That still hadn’t quite sunk in. Who just owns a beach? Damien, apparently. And yet, despite how surreal that should’ve felt, it had been peaceful. Calm. Just the
The chef and The charmer chapter 54
Evelyn povThings were finally starting to settle after a few chaotic days—the whole Lawrence drama, the unexpected leak prank—everything had thrown us off balance. But Damien, ever the calm in the storm, somehow managed to regain control of the situation and smooth things over. It felt like the first real breath of peace in days.It was just another quiet Sunday morning, sunlight spilling lazily through the curtains, when Damien turned to me with that familiar spark in his eyes and said, “Get ready—I’ve got somewhere to take you.”His tone held that mysterious edge that always made my heart race just a little fasterI should’ve known something was up when Damian added for me to “wear something comfortable but nice.” Those were the kinds of instructions you gave someone you were trying to impress, not someone you were fake dating to get your mother off your back.Still, I found myself slipping into a soft linen dress and pulling my hair into a loose bun, not for him, obviously. Just…
The chef and The charmer chapter 53
Damien povThe past few days had dragged me through the mud—emotionally, politically, and now, publicly.Since Lawrence aired his grievances on national television, accusing me of manipulating my way into the CEO seat, my world had become a media circus. The name Blackstone was trending for all the wrong reasons. Not for our legacy in luxury hospitality, or our latest expansion into eco-retreats—but because of a bitter half-brother with a microphone and an agenda.The moment the interview aired, my phone didn’t stop ringing. Clients. Investors. Journalists. Even former flames who suddenly remembered my number. But the call that hit the hardest came from my mother.She never begged. That wasn’t her style. My mother was a woman who led with iron and ice, and I’d long accepted that her love came dressed in expectations. But that night, after Lawrence’s tirade, during our phone called she repeated herself again this time with her voice trembling.“Don’t step down, Damien,” she had said,al
The chef and The charmer chapter 52
Damien povThe past few days had been a blur of tension, damage control, and emotional static I couldn’t quite shake.It all started when Lawrence—my half-brother—decided to get cozy with a primetime talk show host and vomit our family drama on national television.I’d seen it live. Watched with clenched fists as he dragged my name across the screen like it was some pawn in his tragic sob story. Spun tales of me being a “corrupt heir,” a “silver-spoon narcissist” who didn’t deserve to inherit Blackstone. His delivery was polished, charismatic even, and laced with just enough truth to make the lies sting harder.The phones started ringing before the credits rolled. Investors, journalists, our PR team.But the worst call came from my mother.“I TOLD YOUR FATHER NOT TO BRING THAT BOY INTO OUR LIVES!” she shrieked into the phone, no hello, no warning. “But no, he just had to play savior—had to ‘do the right thing.’ And now look at the mess!”“Mother—” I tried.“Don’t you ‘Mother’ me. I sw
