I set the teacup down without a sound. “Tyler,” I said, “before I sign anything, let’s make sure the paperwork is correct.” He rolled his eyes and gestured at his lawyer to explain it slowly, like I was a child. I let him finish. Then I reached into my apron pocket and pulled out a thin blue folder of my own. “This restaurant,” I said, sliding it across the lacquered table, “was placed into a family trust in 2003. Your father was the trustee. When he passed last spring, the trust did not transfer to you, sweetheart. It transferred to the person listed as successor. That person is me. I never stepped down. I only let you play manager because you cried at the funeral.”
Tyler’s smile cracked. His lawyer flipped pages, faster, faster, and then went very still. “Furthermore,” I continued, “the forty-thousand-dollar ‘consulting fee’ you wired to yourself last month, and the vendor contracts you signed with your fiancée’s catering company — those were unauthorized. My attorney, Mr. Lin, has been documenting every transaction for six weeks.” From the corner booth, a quiet man in glasses raised his hand in a small wave. Tyler hadn’t even noticed him eating wonton soup.
“You can’t,” Tyler stammered. “Grandma, I’m family.”
“Yes,” I said softly. “That’s why I’m not pressing charges today. But effective this moment, you are no longer employed at Lotus Garden. Your access cards are deactivated. The apartment upstairs — the one you offered me so generously — was already mine.” I turned to his fiancée, who had gone pale. “Dear, the ring he gave you was bought on the restaurant’s card. You may keep it. Consider it severance.”
I stood up, untied my apron, and folded it neatly over the back of my chair. The kitchen staff, my staff, were watching from the doorway. One of them, little Mei who’d been with me twenty years, started clapping. Then the whole dining room joined her. Tyler gathered his papers with shaking hands and walked out past tables of regulars who had eaten my dumplings since he was in diapers. I sat back down, picked up my chopsticks, and finally ate my lunch in peace.
