Married Before Midnight by Sienna Quinn - Chapter 19

[adminnovelsaudio]

Listen Audiobook Version:



Married Before Midnight


Chapter 19: Sabotage and Suspicion


The morning sun streamed through the windows of Sweet Beginnings Bakery, casting a golden glow over the trays of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and buttery croissants. Olivia wiped her flour-dusted hands on her apron and glanced at the growing stack of order slips on the counter. "Another one?" Hannah frowned, plucking the latest slip from the pile. "That’s the fifth fake order this week." Charlotte sighed, leaning against the counter. “At this rate, we’re wasting ingredients, time, and effort. Someone is deliberately trying to ruin us.” Eleanor’s brow furrowed as she scanned the addresses. "These aren’t just mistakes. They’re deliberate." Lucas, who had been quietly restocking the display case, straightened. "We need a way to verify orders before we bake them." Olivia tapped her fingers against the counter. "But how? We can’t call every single customer—it’ll slow us down too much."


Lucas’s eyes gleamed with an idea. "What if we take deposits? Even a small one. Most people won’t bother faking an order if they have to pay upfront." Hannah’s lips curved. "That’s smart. And if they cancel last minute, we keep the deposit to cover costs." Charlotte nodded. "It’ll cut down on the nonsense. But who’s doing this? Brenda?" Eleanor’s expression darkened. "Probably. But this feels… organized. More than just petty jealousy." Lucas hesitated before speaking. "What if it’s not just her?" The sisters exchanged glances. Olivia crossed her arms. "You think someone else is involved?" Lucas shrugged. "Just a hunch. But if Brenda’s working with someone who knows the bakery business, they’d know exactly how to hurt us." A heavy silence settled over the room. Then, Emily burst through the door, her cheeks flushed. "You guys won’t believe this—I just saw Brenda coming out of Thompson’s Bakery. They were laughing like they’d won the lottery." Eleanor’s face paled. "Mr. Thompson?" Olivia’s jaw tightened. "That snake. He pretended to be decent when Mom worked for him, but he’s always been greedy." Hannah slammed a hand on the counter. "So they’re teaming up to ruin us? Because we’re actually successful?" Lucas’s voice was steady. "We won’t let them." Charlotte smirked. "Damn right we won’t. But we need more than deposits.


We need to outsmart them." Olivia’s mind raced. "What if we set a trap? Let them think their plan’s working, then expose them?" Lucas nodded slowly. "We could plant a fake big order—something they’d jump at sabotaging. Then catch them in the act." Eleanor bit her lip. "It’s risky. But if we don’t stop this now, it’ll only get worse." Hannah grinned. "Then let’s do it. Operation Bakery Revenge starts now." --- The next morning, Lucas "accidentally" left a fake catering order—fifty boxes of pastries for a nonexistent corporate event—on the counter where Brenda’s usual gossip-monger, Mrs. Peabody, could see it. By noon, the bait had been taken.


Olivia and Lucas waited in the bakery’s delivery van, parked discreetly near Thompson’s Bakery. The back door creaked open, and Brenda slipped out, phone pressed to her ear. "—big order tomorrow. If their driver shows up to an empty office, they’ll look like idiots." She cackled. "Sweet Beginnings won’t recover from this." Olivia’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Got her." Lucas recorded the conversation on his phone. "Enough proof?" "More than enough." Olivia smirked. "Let’s go ruin their day instead."


That evening, the Carter women gathered around the kitchen table, triumphant. Hannah raised her mug of tea. "To Brenda and Mr. Thompson—may their schemes crumble like stale bread." Charlotte giggled. "And to Lucas, the mastermind behind their downfall." Lucas ducked his head, but his smile was genuine. "Just part of the team." Eleanor squeezed his shoulder. "No, sweetheart. You’re family." Olivia met his gaze, her voice soft. "And we protect our own." As laughter filled the room, the weight of the day’s victory settled over them. But beneath the celebration, an unspoken question lingered—what else was lurking in the shadows, waiting to test them?