Chapter 1
My original dessert, Starry Sky Mousse, turned my boyfriend’s café into a local sensation and drew in tons of customers.
However, Gerard Toussaint, my boyfriend and the owner of the place, was far from pleased.
One day, while I was working in the kitchen, and accidentally got some flour on the sleeve of Elise Moreau’s limited edition jacket–his so–called first love–Gerard completely lost it.
“You took Elise’s role as creative director, and now you think you’re all that?
“If it weren’t for you, Elise wouldn’t have injured her wrist and lost her ability to design desserts! You think you earned this chance fair and square? And now you’re smearing flour on her on purpose?”
He lost it and shoved me toward a bucket of scalding hot water.
I dodged it, but the splash still burned my hand.
Still not satisfied, he locked me inside the walk–in freezer that was set to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
The burn on my hand throbbed in the cold which multiplied the pain.
I screamed for help, but Gerard ignored me completely.
Instead, he took Elise to a luxury boutique to “calm her down” with a new
coat.
It wasn’t until the next morning, when the morning shift staff could not
open the freezer, that anyone realized something was wrong.
Gerard finally remembered I existed.
288 Vouchers
He rushed over in a panic and had someone pry open the door. When he saw the scene in front of him, he fell to his knees and wailed dramatically.
I was curled up in the corner, shivering uncontrollably. The burn on my hand had turned purple from the cold, and I had already lost feeling.
Outside, I heard Gerard’s voice cooing at Elise.
“Your skin’s so delicate, that must’ve felt awful getting flour on you.
“Adrienne’s dessert made a killing today. I’ve already deducted her whole month’s bonus for what she did to you. I’ll use her money to buy you
another coat.”
Frozen to my bones, I kicked the freezer door desperately.
“Gerard, please let me out… I’m freezing, and my hand really hurts…”
He scoffed.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Adrienne. You were in a heated room all day. How could you possibly be cold?
“You thought I don’t know? This is just another lie to get sympathy!
“If I don’t teach you a lesson now, you’ll bully Elise again as soon as you get out like you always do!”
I sobbed desperately. “Gerard, my hand is burned and it’s too cold in here. If I stay much longer, I might lose it…”
He hesitated slightly, though he was still angry.
Then, Elise’s soft, sweet voice floated in from outside.
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“Gerard, I think the backup power for the cold storage isn’t working. The temperature inside should be about the same as outside. Elea mentioned it this morning.”
She was lying.
I had checked the cooling system this afternoon and it was working just
fine.
However, what Elise said made Gerard’s face darken again.
“So you’re lying to me now, Adrienne? You should really take a moment and reflect!
“Let’s see if the cold storage is really as bad as you say!”
After that, he seemed to have someone shut off the main power and even added an extra padlock outside.
The click of the lock echoed through the air just as the cold storage fan came to a halt, leaving behind a dead silence.
Terror gripped me.
I reached out to the metal rack nearby. It was ice–cold, even more biting than before…
