My mother-in-law showed up at my restaurant with 38 friends and announced, “Order the most expensive things. I’m treating everyone today,” even though she knew she had no intention of paying. Instead of throwing them out, I looked at the manager and said, “Serve them everything.” Three hours later, when she saw the $23,289 bill and the folder I placed on the table, she stopped smiling.

“You mean the money you stole from my restaurant account?”

“It was not all spent on the other woman!” he blurted out defensively.

I remained completely still, glancing down atmy desk where the phone call with the detective was still actively connected on speaker.

 

“Then tell me where the rest of the stolen money went, Lucas.”

Lucas slumped heavily into an armchair, covering his face with his hands.

“I was sending more than half of it directly to my mother…”

I felt the temperature in the room drop instantly.

“How much did you send her?”

“More than twenty thousand dollars…”

Gavin, who was wiping down the pass outside my office, stopped dead in his tracks.

“Why were you sendingher my business money?”

 

Lucas groaned, refusing to look me in the eye.

“For designer bags, expensive clothes, luxury trips, and hosting fancy lunches for her social friends! She kept saying that since your restaurant was making so much money, it was absurd that she had to live like an ordinary woman.”