All Chapters of Cast Aside Chef: I Swap to the Competition: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Julia's touched the back of my hand. Her tone softened. "Sean, I know you're upset. Once the brand is on solid footing, we can make whatever changes you want. Just bear with me for now, okay? I need you to check on tomorrow's preparations tonight. William can't handle it all by himself."With that, she walked away.The sound of her heels faded down the hallway. At the far end, I heard her lower her voice as she spoke to William, but I couldn't hear what she said.We'd been married for seven years.For the first two years, she introduced me to suppliers as "the successor to Lockhart's Kitchen".In the third year, William came along. She saw him on a cooking show and decided to hire him as the restaurant's celebrity chef.From that day on, she never called me the successor again. A celebrity chef was worth more to the brand.Someone who could charm an audience and pronounce every dish properly could put a three-digit price tag on a plate far more easily than a man who had spent

The next morning, there was a knock at the door.It was Sophia Gibson, Julia's mother.She wore a dark green cashmere coat and an Hermès scarf. She made no effort to enter the house."Julia sent me," she said.She pulled an envelope from her purse and placed it on the doorstep. "Julia's offering you 300,000 dollars and the house in Eastbank. There's just one condition. You have to sign over the rights to your recipes so William can use them.""Julia told you to offer me this?""Yes."I picked up the envelope. It seemed like severance pay for seven years of marriage.I set it aside."Sophia, tell Julia something for me," I began. "Tell her to send the court papers to Sullivan's Kitchen. That's where I work now."Sophia's expression faltered. "Sullivan's Kitchen? The restaurant owned by Madelyn? That's the Foster family's biggest rival. Have you lost your mind?""I didn't. You guys never thought I'd actually leave."She was stunned but soon turned and hurried away.Less than

"Sean, don't try to steal William's spotlight in front of the whole kitchen next time," I repeated Julia's words. "With more than 40 media outlets at the food festival today, if I'd gone there, I wouldn't just be stealing his spotlight. I would've ruined the whole event, too."Julia fell silent."You don't actually want me there. You just ran out of options.""Sean, don't do this—""I'm busy."Julia paused. "Busy with what? I thought you were taking time off.""I'm in a new restaurant's kitchen. Sullivan's Kitchen."There was a full five seconds of silence on the other end.Then, her voice changed. She wasn't pleading anymore. She was ice-cold."You're with Madelyn.""I am.""You did this on purpose.""No," I said. "She gave me something you never have.""What?""A place with my name on it."I hung up.Madelyn was watching me from nearby. She didn't ask a thing and simply handed me a key."Here's the key to the walk-in. The seafood and meat deliveries arrive next week.

Julia took her copy of the agreement and put it away. She didn't leave, though. Instead, she sat by the window and watched the open kitchen for a while.I was cooking shrimp on the stove. I tossed the shrimp in the pan, letting them slide through the oil before flipping them.She watched my hands. They moved with the same steady precision every time I flipped the pan.I'd spent five years cooking in the kitchen, but she had never watched me once."Snow-Capped Shrimp isn't on the menu," she said."It is. It's on the wall."The handwritten menu hung above the open kitchen."Number 32: Snow-Capped Shrimp. Created by Holden Lockhart in 1963. Limited to ten orders a day. Chef: Sean Lockhart."She stared at it for a long time.Then, she stood up, walked to the door, and then turned around. "Where did you get the oak sapling?""I took cuttings from the tree in the courtyard back home."The wind blew through the doorway, gently swaying the wooden sign above it."Sean, if your grand