Chapter 1

My grilled fish restaurant had just received a new batch of hybrid sturgeon when a food blogger named Brandon Cooper walked in. The moment he saw them, he gasped and immediately shoved his phone camera up against the tank. "Guys, look at this! This is a wild Cerulean sturgeon. It's a protected endangered species! It's a crime to sell this; one could be sentenced to at least five years in prison!"

I was caught off guard. I had sourced this batch of hybrid sturgeon specifically through Justin Morales, a supplier I had worked with for five years. There was no way it was illegal.

"You got it all wrong!" I was so panicked that my voice trembled. "These are legally farm-raised hybrid sturgeon, and I have a breeding permit. Look, I've even put up the official labels!"

I hurried over and pointed at the A4 notice taped to the side of the tank that read, "Legally Farmed Hybrid Sturgeon. Safe for consumption." I reached for his arm, intending to pull him over to take a look.

"Don't touch me!" Brandon barked. He shoved his camera into my face. "Do you really think a cheap label is going to fool everyone? I, Brandon Cooper, have been exposing fraud in the restaurant industry for five years. My account, Brandon Exposes the Truth, has 3.2 million followers. Do you seriously think I can't tell whether these are farm-raised or not?"

My mind went blank. I'd run this grilled fish restaurant for a decade, and I had never shortchanged a single customer or served a piece of stale fish in my life.

"Look closely. These are hybrid sturgeon. Look at its pointed snout. These aren't Cerulean sturgeons!

"Besides, I have the quarantine certificate, the breeding permit, the purchase invoice, and the payment records. If you don't believe me, I can bring them to show you right now!" My face was burning red with panic as I turned around to grab the certificates from the drawer.

"You want to show them to me?" Brandon scoffed. He knocked on the glass of the tank and raised his voice for the camera. "Purchase invoices can be forged. Permits can be photoshopped. You picked the wrong person to fool; your tricks won't work on me!"

He then spent a whole three minutes reciting legal sentencing guidelines, repeatedly threatening to expose me as an unscrupulous, law-breaking business owner. In the end, he bowed to the camera, his expression grave, as if he was delivering a verdict. "Don't worry, everyone! I'll definitely see this through to the very end. I'll make sure this unscrupulous business owner pays the price and gives everyone a safe dining environment!"

My chest suddenly tightened so hard that I couldn't breathe, and my mind went completely blank with a deafening roar. The peak summer season was just a week away, and I was relying on this sales surge to afford the down payment for a house in a great school district for my daughter, Flora Rockwell.

I was still 100 thousand dollars short. I'd been saving for three years, and this season's profits were supposed to bridge that final gap.

If he successfully framed me, my restaurant would be shut down, my down payment would vanish, and I'd end up with a criminal record. Flora's future would be ruined before it began. How was my wife supposed to raise our daughter on her own?

My customers' expressions changed dramatically after hearing what Brandon had said. The parents, who were sitting by the window with their child, immediately slammed the table and paid their bill, cursing so loudly that the entire restaurant could hear. "I can't believe a ten-year-old establishment actually did something so despicable! We used to come here all the time; we must've been blind!"

The rest of my customers followed suit and got up to leave. Within two minutes, my restaurant, which had been bustling just moments ago, emptied almost completely. None of them even touched the complimentary napkins.

Brandon had a self-righteous look on his face as he said, "Mr. Rockwell, is it? To be completely honest with you, once I upload this video, it'll rise to the top of the local trending list within two hours. When Consumer Protection comes to shut your shop down, you won't just lose every cent you own; you'll also end up in prison for five or six years, and your daughter will never be able to pass political background checks in the future if she wants to become a civil servant or join the military.

"I won't make things difficult for you either. Give me 15 grand as hush money, and I'll delete the video right now and act like I was never here today. I can even help promote your restaurant on my account in the future. What do you say?"