Veronica's mom, Carol, had been running a hair salon for years. She had so savings—not a lot, but definitely five figures.
Still, that money was sothing she'd scraped together bit by bit for retirent…
Handing it over so Kevin and Veronica could renovate the Alibi Room?
That wasn't an easy decision. It needed serious thought.
So Carol decided to co in person—partly to talk things through with Veronica, but more importantly, to et Dexter, the guy investing in the Alibi.
Kevin got Carol settled, then went straight to find Veronica and explained the situation.
The restaurant was slamd at the mont. Fruit platters were flying out, and Veronica really didn't have ti. She hurried over to Carol and said, "Mom, the owner and I are both busy right now. Can you wait a bit?"
Carol had heard about this restaurant and wanted to try the food anyway. She smiled and nodded. "Sure—but you're buying. I can't afford to eat here."
Veronica laughed. "What do you want?"
"You order for ," Carol said. "I've never had this kind of food. I don't even know what's good."
"Okay," Veronica replied without hesitation. She brought over a fruit platter first and set it in front of Carol, then headed into the kitchen to talk to Dexter.
"Kevin and your mom—two people, right?" Dexter asked.
"Just make food for my mom," Veronica said awkwardly. "Kevin doesn't need any."
"That'd make look cheap," Dexter laughed. "Relax—just wait."
Back at the table, Carol picked up a piece of fruit and popped it into her mouth. She looked around at the packed restaurant again, clearly amazed.
"food this expensive, and it's still this crowded? How much do you make in a day?"
Kevin smiled. No jealousy—just genuine admiration. "At least a few thousand. Maybe ten grand."
Carol had run a business herself. She'd already done the math.
A hundred-plus dollars per entrée. Sixty-eight bucks for a fruit platter. This many custors…
Just lunch alone was probably five or six thousand.
A full day? Easily over ten thousand.
She couldn't hide her envy. "Kevin, your friend here… he's impressive."
Kevin grinned. "That's why I told you—Veronica and I really need to grab this opportunity. If this works, we might finally live a decent life."
Carol's eyes sparkled with a different kind of excitent. "I'm looking forward to that day. And when it cos… you and Veronica should have a baby, don't you think?"
Kevin loved kids. "That's not sothing I can decide on my own. I've gotta talk to V."
Carol wasn't letting it go that easily. "Speaking of talking—when are you two getting married? You proposed days ago. Why hasn't anything happened yet?"
Kevin looked a little embarrassed. "We've just been crazy busy. We'll do it soon."
"That's more like it," Carol nodded approvingly.
They chatted for a while.
Svetlana, with nothing better to do, had been quietly eavesdropping. Sitting so close, she'd picked up a lot and glanced over at the busy Veronica.
Looking at her, Svetlana was genuinely surprised. She hadn't expected Veronica to be on the verge of marrying a tall, built, good-looking white guy like Kevin.
Damn, she's lucky, Svetlana thought, then looked back at Kevin.
Kevin noticed and turned slightly, flashing her a toothy grin in greeting.
They'd t before, but nothing formal.
"Hi, I'm Svetlana," she said with a smile. She had a pretty good impression of him.
"Kevin," he replied.
That was it. Svetlana went back to eating her fruit.
Karen, who was also at the table, had zero interest in any of this. More accurately, she had no interest in the three people sitting next to her.
After all, they were broke.
She was, however, very interested in the other custors.
People who ca all the way from other neighborhoods to eat here? Those were the ones with money. And so of the guys were pretty good-looking, too.
Karen's mind wandered.
—
Ti flew by.
Karen finished a basket of soup dumplings with obvious enjoynt, wiped her mouth, and casually strolled into the kitchen like she owned the place, smiling as she said goodbye to Dexter.
When soone that fake suddenly starts acting extra sweet, there's always an agenda.
Dexter had already figured it out. Without hesitation, he said with a smile, "Tell Vivian to pack you a fruit platter to take to school."
"Thank you, boss! You're the best," Karen said happily. Earlier, Svetlana, Kevin, and Carol all had fruit platters, and she didn't. It had definitely bothered her.
Dexter smiled. "No problem. Go—don't be late for school."
"Okay, see you next ti," Karen replied brightly and left.
The kitchen door closed.
Dexter glanced over and found it kind of amusing.
It's easy to go from having nothing to having everything—but once you're used to the good life, going back is brutal.
Soone like Karen—fake-sweet and addicted to pleasure—once she got used to nice things…
What would she beco?
Dexter was genuinely curious.
After finishing her food, Svetlana also went into the kitchen and said goodbye.
She acted completely natural.
So did Dexter.
The morning BJ was nothing more than a tiny, aningless side note.
"Boss, if you ever need , just call," Svetlana said with a smile before leaving.
Dexter smiled back. "Will do."
Before he knew it, it was 12:30.
They'd made over thirty dishes at lunch. Dexter was a bit tired. He stretched, stepped out of the kitchen, and walked over to Kevin and Carol.
"Nice to finally et you," he said with a grin. "Now I know why Veronica's so beautiful—it runs in the family."
Carol lit up instantly. Complints worked on her like magic.
"Boss, you sure know how to talk. If I were younger, I'd probably fall for you."
Oh wow.
Hard pass. Way too old.
Dexter laughed. "Co on—you look like you're in your twenties. Still young."
Carol blood like a flower.
Kevin was stunned. Wait… sothing feels off here.
Was Dexter hitting on Carol?
If this kept going…
Would his buddy turn into his stepdad?
Veronica was shocked too. She was genuinely worried that if Carol kept getting praised like this, sothing weird might actually happen.
That would be beyond awkward.
After all, Carol was single.
Veronica panicked and rushed over, cutting in quickly. "Mom, stop laughing—everyone's staring. Co on, let's talk business."
She wasn't wrong.
Almost everyone left in the restaurant really was looking at Carol.
Which made sense.
These custors ca from other neighborhoods and had a certain level of class. They wouldn't laugh hysterically in a restaurant like Carol had been doing.
Carol cared about appearances. After Veronica's reminder, she felt embarrassed and imdiately toned it down.
"Alright, alright," she said. "So, boss—when you have ti, let's talk about what Kevin ntioned."
"Sure," Dexter said, taking a seat.
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