3: 3

This tearful little performance had every heart in the room in her hand.

"Oh, poor thing, she's such a sweet, well-behaved girl!"

"Tutored the kid for free, and now she just wants a place to get some experience, and she gets shot down this cold?"

"The girl's so sincere, she only wants to learn a little. That owner's got no heart at all."

"And she came right out and said she hates kids. A child's feelings are simple. How's she supposed to swallow something like that?"

Even the few customers who'd been on my side had a strange look in their eyes now.

Beside them, Mercedes let a flicker of triumph slip through.

She stepped up and wrapped an arm gently around Madge's shoulders.

"Silly girl, stop begging. We won't force ourselves on people."

Watching the two of them play off each other, mother and daughter, the anger shot straight up in me.

Last semester my daughter's grades fell off a cliff.

I'd already lined up a tutor.

It was Mercedes who came knocking, asking to send Madge over every day to help.

Back then I cooked something different every single day, laid out all kinds of fruit.

Terrified of not treating Madge well enough.

But a whole half a semester went by, and my daughter's grades didn't just fail to improve, they dropped even harder.

Only after I pressed her again and again did my daughter quietly tell me the truth.

This so-called free tutoring was a scam from start to finish.

Every day Madge came to my house, she left little Shelby to grind through the practice problems on her own.

While she sprawled on the couch playing video games.

There was no tutoring at all.

Furious and full of regret once I knew, I told Mercedes right then that Madge didn't need to come anymore.

For the sake of all those years between us, I stuffed a thick red envelope of cash into Madge's hands.

Saw the little princess off politely, all smiles.

Gave Mercedes every bit of face.

I thought that was the end of it.

And yet here they were today, still shameless enough to milk it for sympathy.

I looked at Madge and said coldly,

"Are you sure you were seriously tutoring Shelby?"

Madge's crying caught in her throat.

"I've still got the full security footage from my study, you know."

The moment I said it, Madge went white.

Her mouth opened and closed, and she didn't dare get out another word.

I let my face go cold.

"If you don't want me airing your dirty little secret, get out. Now."

Mercedes shot me a vicious glare, then slunk out.

My dad had been standing at the back kitchen door, watching the whole thing.

He came over to me and couldn't help asking under his breath,

"Weren't you and Mercedes always close? How'd it turn into this today?"

Looking at how unguarded my dad was,

my nose stung, and the tears nearly spilled over.

"It's nothing, Dad."

"I just suddenly realized some people don't deserve our sincerity."

I thought that had finally closed the book on the whole thing.

But the next day at noon, right in the middle of the lunch rush,

Madge actually showed up again.

Like she knew the place inside out, she walked in and started clearing tables.

She even started waiting on customers.

The whole routine, smooth as anything.

As if she'd already decided she was staff here.

I strode over and demanded coldly,

"Who said you could come? Wasn't I clear enough yesterday?"

"We will never take you on. Leave, right now!"

At the sound of my voice, Madge's hands jerked to a stop.

The next second, her tears came down.

"Aunt Sally, I, I came on my own…"

Her shoulders trembled, and she looked at me carefully.

"I don't want any pay. I just want to quietly get some experience here."

"I promise I won't affect your business at all, I swear!"

Before I could answer, she gripped the rag tighter and scrubbed the table even harder.

"No."

I stepped forward and took the rag straight out of her hand.

"I'm asking you to leave. Right now!"

4: 4

But the words had barely left her mouth when one of the customers, who had no idea what was really going on, cut in.

"Boss, don't you think that's enough?"

"The poor girl's being so decent about it, and you're bullying her like this. That's a terrible attitude."

"No sense of common decency at all. We won't dare eat here again if this is how you treat people!"

The accusations came at me from every side.

Watching it happen, I was shaking with anger.

Just as I was about to explain, my father hurried over.

"All right, all right, Sally, don't take it so hard."

"Just let her stay and give it a try. It's not a big deal."

I stared at him in disbelief, my voice climbing:

"Dad!"

I wanted to tell him she couldn't stay.

This girl was poison. Keep her, and there'd be no end to the trouble.

"Thank you, Uncle Myron!"

Like a drowning girl grabbing a lifeline, Madge bowed to my father.

"Don't you worry, I'll work hard! I won't slack off, I promise!"

The customers around us all breathed easier at that.

"Now that's more like it. Cut people some slack when you can."

"Such a good girl. See, everybody's happy now."

I closed my eyes, helpless, the powerlessness washing over me from head to foot.

For the next two days, Madge was the picture of a well-behaved girl.

She showed up early every morning.

She threw herself at the dirty jobs, the exhausting ones, never once complaining.

And her mouth was pure sugar, greeting every single customer.

The regulars all praised how sweet she was.

Even my father let his guard down.

More than once he took me aside and muttered that I was too prejudiced against her.

I said nothing the whole time.

Then, the evening of the third day, another weekend.

It was the grill restaurant's busiest peak.

Every seat was taken.

Every worker was on their feet, no time to breathe.

My father stayed in the back kitchen prepping food, never stepping out once from start to finish.

Only Madge, her eyes kept darting around.

In the space of ten-odd minutes, she used running plates as an excuse to slip in and out of the back kitchen several times.

Finally, the moment she walked into the back kitchen again, a scream tore through the air.

"Ah!"

The next second, Madge came bursting out of the back kitchen, her clothes torn.

She stumbled to the doorway, tears pouring down.

"Uncle Myron, he, he tried to grope me!"

Right behind her, my father came out too, stammering to defend himself:

"I didn't... I really didn't!"

"I was working the whole time, I didn't do anything!"

He'd been an honest man his entire life, never once slandered like this.

But to everyone watching, his panic only looked like guilt.

Madge cried harder, sobbing like her heart was breaking.

"It was you!"

"You grabbed my clothes just now, when there was nobody in the back kitchen, you tried to put your hands on me!"

At that exact moment, Mercedes came charging out of nowhere.

"Madge! My baby girl!"

She swept the girl into her arms and threw back her head, wailing.

"Sally Finch, damn you! Damn your whole family!"

"I sent my child to work at your restaurant for free out of the kindness of my heart! I didn't ask for a cent in wages, I only wanted her to get some honest experience!"

"And this is how you treat my daughter? Your father actually groped her!"

"My girl is pure and innocent. What did she ever do to deserve this kind of shame?"

Mother and daughter clung to each other, the very image of two people wronged beyond words.

The tearful accusation lit a fire in everyone.

"Oh my God! Is this for real?"

"The old guy looks so decent, and he could do something like this?"

"What an animal! The poor girl was helping out for free and this is what she gets!"

"Somebody call the police! You can't let an old creep like this off the hook!"

"Trash the place! We've got to get justice for that girl!"

The shouts rose one after another.

Exactly the same as the scene in my past life. Down to the smallest detail.

But this time, instead of panicking, I laughed out loud.

"Are you sure about that?"

Madge's body went rigid, and she cried harder.

"You think I'd joke about something like this?"

"Aunt Sally, how can you be so cold-blooded, questioning me at a time like this..."

Beside her, Mercedes screamed too:

"Exactly!"

"My daughter's a pure, innocent girl, why would she throw away her own reputation to make something up!"

"Your family does something wrong, and now you're twisting the truth to bully us on top of it!"

The onlookers' fury swelled.

Someone had already clenched his fists and shoved forward a few steps.

Clearly ready to smash the place apart.

I gave a small nod, wearing a thoughtful look.

"Oh really? Well, that's quite the coincidence."

"These past couple of days we've been complying with the city health and sanitation inspection, so we set up an open-kitchen live-stream broadcast online, running in real time."

"All day today, the back kitchen's been streaming live online the whole time!"