After She Tried to Kill Dad, I Dumped Him

Chapter 1

"Claire, the kitchen was slammed, so I thought I'd help out. I already prepared the gluten-free flour."

Suki held up a bag of flour with an innocent smile. That same bag had killed my father in my previous life. I stared at her, the memory hitting so hard my knees nearly gave out.

Today was my father's birthday, and it also happened to be Suki's first day at the restaurant.

I snatched the flour from her hands and opened the bag. The sweet smell of almonds hit me instantly.

My expression darkened. "Who told you to touch this?" I snapped. "Your job is prep work. You don't handle the main ingredients."

A flicker of guilt crossed Suki's face before she quickly replaced it with wounded innocence. "Claire, I was only trying to help. Was that really so wrong?"

I threw the bag onto the floor. Flour burst across the tiles in a white cloud.

"My father is severely allergic to nuts," I said coldly. "Did you mix almond flour into this because you wanted him dead?"

Suki looked up at me with the same wide, tearful eyes she had worn in my previous life, and when she opened her mouth, even her words were identical. "Claire, I'm sorry. I just thought a little almond flour would make the texture richer..."

A bitter laugh escaped me. There was no point arguing with her. Instead, I turned to the sous chef. "Thomas, listen carefully. If this flour ends up in tonight's birthday pasta, you'll be the one answering for it."

Thomas Hayes had worked with my father for years. He understood better than anyone how dangerous a nut allergy could be. His face immediately went pale. "Don't worry, Claire," he said quickly. "Nobody unauthorized will touch the ingredients again."

Suki's eyes instantly welled with tears. "Thomas, I was only trying to help you," she said shakily. "Why are you and Claire treating me like this? Being an apprentice is already hard enough."

Tears streamed down her face, drawing sympathetic looks from the passing servers. At that moment, my fiancé Derek Shaw stepped out of the office. The second he saw Suki crying, he frowned.

"Claire," he said sharply, "why are you bullying her in front of everyone?"

Suki immediately moved behind him like she had finally found protection.

At the same time, my father stepped out of the private dining room. "Derek," he explained hurriedly, "she almost mixed up the ingredients. You know my condition. I can't eat nuts."

"It's not that serious," Derek replied impatiently. "Why make such a huge scene over a small mistake?"

The disrespect in his tone made my expression turn colder. Suki lowered her head and spoke through her tears. "It's all my fault. Claire, please don't be angry. I'll do whatever you want."

Whispers immediately spread through the restaurant.

"That new girl is so pitiful."

"She just started working here and the head chef is already targeting her."

"Even Mr. Shaw is defending her."

I almost laughed. "Derek, since you care about her so much, then she's your responsibility from now on. If she causes another problem, you deal with it."

"Fine," he said without hesitation. Then he looked at me coldly. "But you humiliated her today. You owe her an apology."

I ignored him completely and helped my father back into the private room.