Chapter 3

My heart tightened even more.

When Grace and I first started dating, I learned that her father was the rightful heir to the Mosby family fortune, and I worried that our families would never get along.

After the wedding, however, Arthur and Judith Mosby treated me like their own cherished children.

Thinking of that, I immediately called my wife.

The phone rang again and again, but she didn't answer.

I had no choice but to leave her a message.

We waited another half hour.

I assumed the man must have left by then, so I took Arthur back toward the restaurant.

To my surprise, he was still there.

The moment we stepped inside, we heard him berating Lily.

"Get the owner out here! What is this garbage? You expect people to eat it?"

Lily's eyes were red from his abuse, and she kept apologizing.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm very sorry. I'll replace your bowl."

"Replace it? Who takes responsibility if this food makes me sick?" The man slammed the table. "If something happens to me, can this dump afford the lawsuit?"

The shouting made customers all around the room turn and stare.

As the crowd grew, the man showed no intention of stopping.

"Get the manager! If I don't get a satisfactory answer today, none of you are getting away with this!"

Lily stood helplessly as tears streamed down her cheeks.

At that moment, Walter, the manager, hurried out from the kitchen.

"Hello, sir. I'm the manager. Could you tell me what was wrong with your meal or our service?"

"This is what you call service?" The man pointed at the empty bowl on his table. "Look at it yourself. You expect anyone to eat this?"

Walter froze, then immediately forced a polite smile. "I'm very sorry, sir. We'll replace it and waive the entire bill. Would that be acceptable?"

"Waive the bill?" The man scoffed. "Do I look like I can't afford one bowl of stew? I'm telling you, this isn't over."

Walter kept apologizing. "Then please tell us what would make this right. We'll do our best."

The man's eyes shifted. He stood and deliberately raised his voice.

"Listen up. The woman who owns this restaurant is my wife. If I don't get a proper explanation, I'll have her fire every last one of you!"

His declaration exploded through the restaurant like a bomb.

I froze and stared at the arrogant stranger in disbelief.

Arthur swayed, and I quickly caught him.

"Arthur..."

All the color drained from his face as he stared at the man.

"Impossible. How could the owner of this restaurant be your wife?"

The man answered Arthur's disbelief with open contempt.

"What, you don't believe me? Want me to call her out here right now so she can see how this lousy place treated me?"

The other customers began whispering.

Someone recognized Arthur.

"Isn't that Judy Mosby's husband? I've seen him here a few times."

"Then who is that man? He says the owner is his wife."

"Could Judy be keeping a younger man on the side?"

"I heard this restaurant has made her good money over the years. She's still attractive. Maybe she really is supporting a boyfriend."

The gossip stabbed at Arthur from every direction, and his expression turned grim.

At that moment, the curtain to the kitchen finally moved.

Judith stepped out in an apron, flour still dusting her hands.

She saw us by the entrance and stopped short. "Arthur? Danny? What are you doing here?"

Walter called out quickly, "Mrs. Mosby, this man..."

Before he could finish, the stranger cut him off.

"Honey!" The man rushed toward Judith. "Finally! Look at how your employees have been treating me!"

Judith instinctively stepped backward to avoid him.

"What is going on?"

"What do you mean, what's going on?" His face instantly shifted into wounded innocence. "Your food was filthy, I said a few words, and this waitress gave me an attitude. And these two men," he said, pointing to Arthur and me, "bullied me too. Tell everyone right now that this restaurant will never serve them again!"