Chapter 16

When Stephanie saw Chris had already entered, she tossed the bat aside with a frustrated sigh. "Say what you need to say."

Chris walked to her refrigerator, opened it, and saw only water. "You don't cook?" he asked incredulously.

Stephanie shot him a look, her eyebrows raised. Who shows up at someone's house in the middle of the night, opens their refrigerator, and asks if they cook? It was utterly insane. She had every reason to be angry. Chris was absolutely infuriating.

Chris sighed and explained, "I haven't eaten." Between running errands and fielding questions from his parents, he'd missed lunch and was starving.

Stephanie frowned, clearly taken aback. Then, disbelief replaced her surprise. "Do I look like someone who's going to cook for you?" she asked.

She'd imagined various scenarios, but this wasn't even close. Stephanie rarely cooked—she ate out or ordered takeout. And Chris's phrasing made it clear he hadn't thought this through. They'd just argued, and now he expected her to cook? That was excessive, even in his wildest dreams.

Chris clenched his jaw. "You can't cook?"

Stephanie raised an eyebrow, looking at him as if he were mad. "When have you ever seen me cook? In your dreams?" Not that she couldn't cook, but even if she could, she certainly wouldn't cook for him.

Chris paused, trying to recall if she'd ever cooked for him. Then it hit him—after two years of engagement, she never had. Olivia, on the other hand, had cooked for him several times. Olivia did everything—cooked, made soups, and even brought him lunch at the office when she lived in Long Harbor.

Stephanie saw his realization and chuckled. "Did you mistake me for Olivia?"

She knew how perfectly Olivia managed housework. When Olivia joined the Hart family, she handled everything while Stephanie barely lifted a finger. Inevitably, they'd been compared. Olivia was perfect; Stephanie…well, a bit of a mess.

Chapter 16

Chris's expression darkened. "The wedding's going ahead as planned. Happy now?"

He said it reluctantly, hoping this would calm Stephanie.

Instead, she raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "This morning, you said it was postponed, and now it's on? You changed your mind in less than a day. Going back on your word…is that how you conduct yourself as a man and CEO of a major company?"

His words hit him like a slap.

Stephanie added, "Does Olivia know?" It was clear he'd already spoken with his family.