All Chapters of Seafood Feast on My Tab? Think Again: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

"My family doesn't own the seafood restaurant. We own the small diner next door. You guys got it wrong."The moment I hit send, the group chat went dead silent for a couple of seconds.Then, my coworker, Stanley Graham, dropped a video into the chat.In the clip, I walked into the seafood place. The hostess saw me and smiled, "Hey Dylan, welcome back. What do you feel like eating today?"Stanley sent a string of question marks."You call this 'not your restaurant'? If it isn't, why did she say 'welcome back' and ask what you wanted to eat?"Look, Dylan, nobody's trying to freeload off you. I'm paying to support your business, and you're putting on airs and making excuses? That's pretty uncool."My heart sank. Someone had secretly filmed me after work yesterday.Just as I started typing an explanation, Hector Weaver, who usually joked around with me, chimed in first. "Come on, Dylan. Is this really necessary? Nobody's after your money.""Exactly. It's not like we can't afford s

Chapter 2

After taking a deep breath, I aggressively tapped my screen."Look, I'm just neighbors with the owner next door. He's a nice guy and invites me over for dinner sometimes."I'm telling the truth. But if you guys don't mind, we can have the party at my family's diner. I can ask my mom to buy some fresh seafood from the market. She's an amazing cook, and I promise you won't be disappointed."After I hit send, the group chat fell dead silent again.A long moment passed before someone finally replied, "That greasy diner next door? Gross. If we're going there, count me out for Saturday.""Same here."Stanley immediately chimed in, tagging everyone. "Don't worry, guys. We're going to the place in the dropped pin I sent earlier. There's no mistake. See you all Saturday."The chat erupted instantly."@Dylan, I want lobster crudo. Slice it thin.""Steamed king crab for me. Don't crack the legs too much.""My kid only eats fatty tuna belly. Make sure you prepare extra portions."A male

Chapter 3

Someone tagged me in the group chat. "Dylan, my wife is allergic to shrimp, so make sure you steam a whole grouper just for her. Your family's loaded anyway. A single fish is nothing to you."Another message popped up right after. "My dad has gout and can't eat shellfish. Prepare a bowl of sea cucumber millet risotto for him. Make sure it's made to order. Don't try to fool us with overnight leftovers."I scoffed. Free food and drinks weren't enough. Now they were treating me like their personal servant?I didn't reply to a single message.The next morning, I went straight to Landon's office. He was sitting on the couch sipping coffee.I got right to the point. "Mr. Todd, did you see the messages I sent you yesterday? That seafood restaurant really isn't mine—"Landon's expression instantly darkened, and he set his cup down with a sharp clink. "Dylan, your attitude is a serious problem."My heart sank.Frowning, he tapped the desk forcefully with his finger. "Do you honestly thi

Chapter 4

The next day was Saturday.Around noon, my front door was suddenly pounded on with brutal force."Dylan! Open up!" Stanley's booming voice cut straight through the door."We're here to pick you up! Dylan!"The pounding turned into heavy fist thuds, making the entire hallway vibrate.A next-door neighbor poked their head out to see what the commotion was. Stanley quickly explained, "We're Dylan's coworkers, just picking him up for lunch."When he turned back to the door, his smile turned malicious. "Dylan, your grandma is still at that nursing home, right? If you don't open this door right now, we're going to pay her a visit!"A surge of fury rushed through me. I yanked the door open, but before I could utter a word, a hand aggressively gripped my collar."What took you so long?" Stanley had an incredibly strong grip. Without another word, he began dragging me toward the elevator.Two other male coworkers flanked me, pinning my arms so I couldn't break free."Dylan, you're the

Chapter 5

Stanley's lips trembled, and he let out a panicked shriek, "No way! Dylan must have hired you to put on a show, didn't he? This is his restaurant. He's the owner. You're teaming up to scam me!"He pointed aggressively back and forth between Charles and me, jumping around like a cat that just got its tail stepped on.Charles slammed his business license onto the table and pointed at the legal representative's name impatiently."Look closely. My last name is Marsh. This place has nothing to do with Dylan. His family owns the small diner next door."A dead, heavy silence fell over the room.The truth was clear as day, completely undeniable.The crowd erupted into a frenzy."Then this place is…"David bolted upright. His chair clattered loudly as it flipped backward onto the floor."The owner of this place was on the news before. Someone tried to skip out on their bill, and then…"His face went deathly pale, his lips turning blue as he stammered, "T-The owner's connected to a gan

Chapter 6

David was the first to slam his hand on the table and stand up. "Stanley Graham!"His face was flushed red, his veins popping as he jabbed his finger right at Stanley's nose."You were the one who kept saying this was Dylan's place! You were the one inviting everyone in the group chat! Now that things blew up, you better take responsibility!"Stanley scrambled up from the floor and roared back like a madman, "Hey! All of you ate too! Who ate the lobster? Who chewed on the king crab? Did all 24 bottles of whiskey go into my stomach?"He pointed a finger directly at David's nose. "You finished three pounds of lobster meat. Don't act all innocent now!"Willow Holmes from HR slammed her doggy bags onto the table and crossed her arms with a cold sneer. "Stanley, you were the one who started the sign-up list for this dinner in the chat. We're all victims of your scam.""Victims?"Stanley's piercing laugh grated on everyone's ears. He pointed aggressively at the four bulging gift bags

Chapter 7

The lights in the police station's mediation room were blindingly white.The mediator gathered the 53 ID registration forms and tapped them neatly against the table."I've logged everything. This is the agreed-upon arrangement. Mr. Stanley Graham covers 40% of the total, Mr. Landon Todd takes 20%, and the remaining 40% is split equally per capita among everyone else. Please sign here."Stanley's hand shook so violently he could barely hold the pen.When Landon signed, his expression was as dark as a storm cloud, and the veins on his temples were throbbing.The rest of the group lined up one by one. With every signature came a muttered curse or a slammed pen.The colleague who brought his family of six owed nearly 3,000 dollars under the breakdown. His eyes were rimmed red as he signed. When he glared at Stanley, he looked like he wanted to rip him to shreds.Only a few people actually had the cash on hand to pay on the spot. The rest had to write out IOUs, signing and stamping t

Chapter 8

That night, Stanley posted a lengthy update on his Instagram, spinning a massive sob story packed with crying emojis."I must have been blind to ever treat Dylan like my friend. He set me up from the very beginning, keeping quiet on purpose and watching everyone jump straight into a trap. His family's diner is at the address below. Does someone so malicious even deserve to be in business?"Below the text, he attached clear photos of our diner's storefront, capturing the address and unit number perfectly.Feeling that wasn't enough, he forwarded the post to every single group chat he could find.Instantly, his comment section erupted into a frenzy. People who didn't know the truth started echoing the insults, some screenshotted the post to share it around, and others messaged him privately to ask what happened.Stanley replied to every single person, getting more and more worked up as he went. He sounded as if he'd been hit with the world's biggest injustice.I looked at the scree

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