Chapter 2: The Name Missing From the Deal
The ballroom had become so quiet that I could hear the ice shifting inside someone's abandoned champagne glass.
Vanessa grabbed Liam's arm.
"Don't listen to them. They're upset because I changed the seating arrangements.""
Liam gently removed her hand.
"Why did Claire leave?""
"She has another meeting.""
"At nine-thirty on a Saturday night?""
"She has a demanding job.""
Aunt Joyce gave a short, humorless laugh.
"That's certainly one way to describe it.""
I looked between them.
"Can somebody explain what is happening?""
Grandma gestured toward the nearest empty chair.
"Sit down, sweetheart.""
I didn't.
Not yet.
"Grandma, I want to know why Claire was asking about me.""
Grandma took a breath.
"Because Aster Hospitality believes you no longer work at the Blue Lantern.""
I stared at her.
"What?""
Vanessa stepped forward.
"That's not exactly what I said.""
"Then tell us exactly what you said," Aunt Paula challenged.
Vanessa glanced around the ballroom. Several guests had started pretending not to listen.
Her cheeks flushed.
"The company needed a clear management structure. I explained that Nora had moved away from daily operations.""
"I live ten minutes from the restaurant," I said.
"That's irrelevant.""
"I opened the kitchen this morning.""
"You handle food preparation. That's not executive management.""
I almost laughed.
Food preparation.
Fifteen years of managing the kitchen, supervising thirty employees, negotiating supplier contracts, designing menus, and keeping the restaurant profitable had apparently become food preparation.
Liam looked confused.
"I thought Nora was the operations director.""
"She was never officially appointed that," Vanessa replied.
Aunt Joyce stepped closer.
"Because Richard never signed the paperwork.""
I turned toward my father.
He was staring at the white tablecloth.
"Dad?""
He rubbed his forehead.
"Nora, this is complicated.""
"No. It's actually very simple. Did you tell Aster that I had left the restaurant?""
He hesitated.
That hesitation answered everything.
My throat tightened.
"How long?""
"Please don't do this here," he whispered.
"How long, Dad?""
Grandma reached for his arm.
"Tell her.""
Richard swallowed.
"Since January.""
I felt the floor shift beneath me.
January.
Nine months.
Nine months of opening the restaurant before sunrise. Nine months of dealing with angry suppliers, broken equipment, sick employees, and rising food costs.
Nine months of believing that my father and sister were working toward the same future I was.
And all that time, they had been telling investors I was gone.
"Why?"" I asked.
Vanessa answered before he could.
"Because Aster wanted one clear leader. I was negotiating the expansion, and they didn't want confusion about who controlled the business.""
"Who controlled it?""
"I did.""
"You don't even know the current price of our cooking oil.""
"That's not the point.""
"Can you name our head chef?""
She glared at me.
"Stop trying to embarrass me.""
I took a step closer.
"What's his name, Vanessa?""
Silence.
Grandma closed her eyes.
Liam looked at his wife as if he were seeing a stranger.
"Vanessa, you told me Nora had stepped away voluntarily.""
"I was simplifying things.""
"You told me she was difficult to work with.""
"She is!""
"Then why did she spend this morning fixing the refrigeration schedule?""
Vanessa's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
I looked at Claire's abandoned chair near the window.
"Did Aster ask for a photograph of the management team?""
Nobody answered.
Aunt Joyce finally spoke.
"They wanted a public announcement showing the people who would lead the restaurant group after the investment.""
I nodded slowly.
"And I wasn't supposed to be in the photograph.""
"Correct," she said.
"Because I wasn't supposed to exist in the new management structure.""
Vanessa threw up her hands.
"Oh, for heaven's sake! You make everything sound sinister. It's a business transaction!""
Grandma looked directly at her.
"Then why did you ask your father to sign a document removing Nora from the restaurant?""
My blood went cold.
I turned toward Richard.
"What document?""
He didn't answer.
Grandma reached into her handbag.
It was a small brown leather bag she had carried for as long as I could remember. She opened the clasp and removed a folded sheet of paper.
"I was given this on Wednesday," she said.
Vanessa lunged forward.
"Grandma, give me that.""
Grandma pulled the paper against her chest.
"No.""
"That document is confidential!""
"So is the truth, apparently.""
She handed it to me.
At the top was the Blue Lantern's familiar logo.
Beneath it, a document title:
*CHANGE OF OPERATIONAL CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.*
I read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
My name appeared halfway down the page.
NORA ELIZABETH MERCER — RESIGNATION FROM ALL OPERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.
My signature was printed beneath it.
I looked closer.
The signature wasn't mine.
It was similar, but the final letter was wrong. I always crossed the end of my surname twice.
Someone had copied my name.
"Who signed this?"" I whispered.
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"It was a preliminary document.""
"Who signed my name?""
"Nobody was trying to hurt you.""
I looked at my father.
He finally lifted his head.
"Richard?""
His eyes were wet.
"I thought it was temporary.""
"Did you sign it?""
He nodded.
The room seemed to tilt.
My father had approved a document claiming I had voluntarily resigned.
He had done it without speaking to me.
Without asking me.
Without even warning me.
Grandma stood beside me.
"There's something else, Nora.""
I turned.
She looked older than she had an hour ago.
"That isn't the only document I found.""
Vanessa went completely still.
Grandma reached deeper into her handbag and removed a second envelope.
This one was sealed.
It had my name written across the front in my grandmother's familiar handwriting.
NORA — OPEN ONLY IF THEY TRY TO TAKE THE RESTAURANT.
I stared at it.
"Grandma, what is this?""
She looked toward my father.
"Something I should have given you years ago.""
May you like
Then she turned to Vanessa.
"And something your sister has been trying very hard to keep hidden.""
