He Thought the Food Was Free, I Made Sure the Lesson Wasn’t Chapter 07

He Thought the Food Was Free, I Made Sure the Lesson Wasn’t Chapter 07

Evan’s face flushed red. He stammered.

“H-he’s my brother. Can’t you just cut him some slack? We’re married. We’re family. Why do you have to nickel-and-dime everything?”

“Family?”

The word tasted foul in my mouth.

“When your brother was slapping me around, you didn’t seem too worried about us being family. Now that you owe someone else a pile of money, suddenly I’m family again?”

Evan’s throat worked, but nothing came out. Derek’s face twisted with impatience.

“Evan, don’t let her twist this around. She set this whole thing up. Her and this thug-they’re

running a con on us.”

Patricia jumped in right on cue, “Exactly! Half a million dollars for one dinner? They might as well be robbing us! This is a scam! A setup!”

“Claire, you tell me the truth right now-are you sleeping with this bald bastard? Is that why you handed my son’s restaurant over to him? So you two could fleece this family together?”

She was spiraling into dangerous territory. My voice hardened.

“Watch your mouth. I sold this restaurant through a legitimate agency. Third-party appraisal. Lawyer-supervised closing. Full business registry update. The paperwork is spotless. Keep slandering me, and I promise you-I will call the police and file a defamation report.”

Patricia blinked. She hadn’t expected that. Her lips pressed into a thin, defiant line.

“Don’t threaten me with the police. I should be the one calling them on you and your little scam

operation.”

Derek’s eyes lit up. “Yeah. The police. This is fraud! A setup! We need to call 911.”

He already had his phone out and was dialing.

“Hello? I need to report a crime. There’s a shady restaurant here. The owner’s in bed with some thug and they’re trying to squeeze us for money. They’re trying to force us to pay half a million dollars. You need to send someone now.”

He rattled off the address and hung up. Then he turned to me and Vincent with a smug, triumphant grin, “Just wait. The cops are on their way. We’ll see how you talk your way out of this one. Extortion and fraud-that’s prison time. Years.”

Vincent folded his arms and let out a short, sharp laugh.

“You called the cops? Perfect. Let’s let them figure out who skipped out on the bill and who’s crying

wolf.”

Sergeant Miller arrived within minutes. A few officers flanked him. He scanned the room and got

straight to it.

“Who made the call?”

Derek’s hand shot up. “I did! Sir, this place is a scam. My sister-in-law teamed up with some thug to set me up. They’re trying to charge me half a million dollars for one meal. You’ve got to do something.”

Sergeant Miller looked at me, then at the contract in my hand.

“What’s going on here?”

I handed him the documents without rushing.

“Sir, this restaurant was legally transferred to its new owner this morning. All the business filings are complete. Every procedure was followed.”

“Derek Hartley here decided to throw himself a birthday party this afternoon. He invited all his friends and family, specifically demanded the most expensive food and liquor we had, and made

that clear in front of everyone.”

“We have full surveillance footage, itemized order logs, and server confirmation records. They ate

the food. Drank the liquor. Packed up the leftovers. And were about to walk out without paying a cent when the new owner stopped them. Now they’re trying to cry fraud to dodge the bill.”

Sergeant Miller flipped through the contract. Then he looked at Derek. “Is that accurate?”

Derek scowled and immediately deflected, “No. That’s not how it went. I had no clue the restaurant

changed hands. If I’d known, you think I would’ve ordered all that? She kept it from me on purpose. She trapped me.”

Sergeant Miller’s expression flickered. “You didn’t know the restaurant changed owners. Fine. But you do know food costs money, right?”