Chapter 1

"Ms. Lawson, come out here!"

The door slammed open, followed by a booming male voice that startled me out of a pile of account books.

I frowned and set down my pen.

This was the office of the "Sunset Joy" community kitchen I ran. Aside from delivery people, hardly anyone came here—and they certainly wouldn't come bursting in like this.

Outside, Warren Hewitt from the neighborhood association looked flustered as he tried to stop a spirited old man in his 60s.

"Mr. Fletcher, please, let's talk calmly. Don't do this. Ms. Lawson is a good person—"

The man called Mr. Fletcher shoved Mr. Hewitt aside and thrust a phone in front of my face.

"A good person? Mr. Hewitt, don't let her fool you. See for yourself!"

On the phone screen, a short video was playing. The footage was shaky and shot at the kitchen's serving window. On the tray was a plate piled with braised pork ribs, collard greens, mashed potatoes, a bowl of bean soup, and some grains.

A young lady with heavy filters and carefully done makeup prodded at the pieces of braised pork, looking disgusted.

"Look, everyone. This is what they call the dollar charity meal."

The woman's voice was sweet and syrupy, but her tone was dripping with sarcasm.

"One dollar for a meal sounds cheap, but look at the food. It's more fat than lean, and the greens are overcooked. My grandmother eats this every day. I offer to get takeout for her, but she insists this place is cheaper and doesn't want to spend the money.

"What I don't get is—pork is so pricey these days, so how can the owner charge a dollar per meal? She claims it's for charity, but is she really not getting any government subsidies?

"She calls this charity while serving food like this to the elderly. Does her conscience not bother her at all?"

The poster's username was "MaisyLovesLife".

The likes and comments on the post had already exceeded 50 thousand. The comment section was a mess, with foul language practically jumping off the screen.

"Isn't this just slop? I think even a dollar is too expensive! How disgusting!"

"I've always said there's no such thing as a free lunch. The people who run charities to make money are the worst!"

"Investigate her! She must be embezzling government subsidies! People like her need to go to jail!"

"@JorrinPD @JorrinFTC, take action now! Don't let this greedy businesswoman get away!"

"These poor old folks. They think they're getting a deal, but they've been eating garbage every day."

"Miss, we support you in exposing the truth! We need more people like you who dare to speak up!"

I looked at the woman called "Maisy" in the video. She seemed familiar.

When Mr. Fletcher saw that I hadn't spoken up, he thought I was feeling guilty. He raised his voice, saying, "Ms. Lawson, you see that? The Internet is bashing you right now!

"That's my granddaughter, Maisy Fletcher. She's a big influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers! Since she said something's wrong with your store, then there must be a problem!"

Behind Mr. Fletcher stood a few other regulars of mine. Now, they all regarded me with suspicion and scrutiny.

"Gary's right, Ms. Lawson. Your food… Honestly, it's too greasy. It's unhealthy."

"Yeah. For a dollar… Really, it's not like we can't afford it. Can't you improve the dishes?"

"Every day, it's either braised pork ribs or smoked ham. It gets tiresome."