Page 87 of Accidental Fiancé

Here we go again.

Before I could run down the stairs to tell her to shut up, she sniped, “Before you leave, Maggie, there is one more thing I’d like to say.”

“I've no interest in anything else that comes out of your mouth.”

“Such a shame about your little bakery. I guess some dreams aren't meant to last.”

Maggie stopped cold, and I swallowed. How dare Chloe say that? But I had to let Maggie handle this. If I stepped in to rescue her now, she’d hate me forever.

Her hand dropped to her side and her back stiffened, but she didn't respond immediately. She was calm and calculated. The woman I had fallen in love with—again.

Chloe, emboldened by the silence, took another step closer, her voice lowering into a sarcastic taunt. “You must be so devastated with that insurance money tied up. I mean, how are you going to rebuild when the fire marshal’s report is taking so long? You know those things can drag out for months, maybe even years.”

I froze. How did Chloe know about the fire marshal and the insurance? To my understanding, that wasn't public knowledge. My chest tightened as I leaned closer, trying to hear Maggie's response.

Her voice was soft but steady when she finally spoke. “Are you close personal friends with the fire marshal? Because there's really no other way you would know that.”

“I have my ways.” Chloe's grin widened. “You don't deserve that insurance payout, and I will make sure you never see a single penny from it.”

Maggie stood there for a moment, the meaning of Chloe's words settling in. Then, in a voice sharp enough to cut glass, she asked, “Did you have anything to do with the fire?”

I held my breath. The whole room seemed to join me.

Chloe's eyes gleamed. She crossed her arms over her chest, tilted her head slightly, and said, “Of course I did.”

Maggie gasped. “Why?”

“I had put our little rivalry behind me until I started getting involved with the reunion committee. That's when I learned how you and your family were doing. How your dad came back to his senses, how you had turned your life around from a nearly homeless existence with your mom into a successful baker, looking to expand. How your bakery had become your whole world.” She shrugged and smirked. “So, I took it away.”

A wave of nausea rolled through me. Chloe destroyed everything that Maggie had worked so hard for. I wanted to run down there and scream at her. But I forced myself to listen while getting my phone out to record her words.

Maggie's voice broke through the shock. “Why? Why do you hate me so much?”

Chloe's face twisted as her anger became uncontained. A brow raised as she glared. “I go through all this trouble, and you don't even know why I'm doing it?”

“What did I ever do to you?”

“Do you remember the parent-teacher night in elementary school? It was fifth grade. Mrs. Harrington put out lemonade and cookies and?—"

“Yeah, I remember,” Maggie said roughly. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“My dad was there, and your mom was flirting with him the whole night. She broke up my family!”

“What are you even talking about?” Maggie shifted her stance like she was ready for a fight, but she clearly hadn’t expected that.

“My parent’s marriage was never the same after that night,” Chloe continued melodramatically. “They got divorced, and I had to watch my family fall apart. That'syourfault, Maggie. If you hadn’t brought your mother that night, my parents would still be married.”

All of us stared at Chloe, utterly baffled as Maggie managed to find her words. “You’ve hated me this whole time, tormented me all these years, because ten-year-old you thought my mom flirted with your dad, ultimately leading to your parent’s divorce? Are you being serious right now?”

“Your mother destroyed my family.”

Maggie blinked, taken aback. “Chloe, that's insane. My mother never?—"

“She did! I saw her!” Chloe snapped, her voice rising. “Your mother ruined my life, and I've been paying for it ever since!”

Apollo stepped into the fray, ever the prosecutor. “What did you see her do exactly, Chloe?”

“Her mother groped my father right in front of everyone!”

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