Bully's Praise (Mine #48)

My restaurant's grand opening should be the proudest moment of my life. Instead, he walks in—Ethan Matthews, my high school bully, now a renowned food critic who can destroy everything I've built with a single review.

I try to ignore him, but he won't let me. The way he looks at me now is different from the cruel sneers of our past. His eyes follow my every move, and his praise flows like expensive wine. When he confesses he specifically requested to review my restaurant, I realize he's been watching my career all along. Maybe he's always been my stalker.

But the man before me isn't the same tormentor who crushed my confidence years ago. Now he wants to worship me, claiming he's changed, that he's always been drawn to my strength. His words of adoration fill the empty spaces my past left behind, and I find myself drawn into a dangerous dance of power and submission.

I should send him away. I should demand another critic. Instead, I agree to one dinner at an exclusive restaurant—just to hear him out. But as his devotion intensifies and boundaries blur, I'm forced to question everything. Is this redemption, obsession, or something darker? And why does part of me crave the way he looks at me now, like I'm something sacred to be revered?

The line between revenge and romance has never been so deliciously blurred, and I'm walking it like a knife's edge.