Chapter 5 - The Loop of a Butterfly
The entire dining room went dead silent.
Richard Sterling lowered his gold pen, glaring at my eight-year-old daughter. “Excuse me, little girl?”
“I said, that’s not Mommy’s name,” Sophie repeated, pointing her small, crayon-stained finger at the bottom of the legal document.
Julian let out a frantic, breathless laugh. “David, control your child. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
I didn’t look at Julian. I looked at Sophie. “What do you see, sweetheart?”
Sophie reached into her small pink backpack resting on the empty chair beside her. She pulled out a faded, dog-eared birthday card.
“Mommy always looped her R’s like a butterfly,” Sophie said, placing the birthday card down right next to the legal document.
I looked at the birthday card. To my darling Sophie, Love Rebecca.
The capital ‘R’ in Rebecca was distinct. The upper loop didn’t just close; it crossed over itself, flaring out slightly like a delicate wing. It was a quirk she had developed in culinary school when signing off on quick orders.
I looked at the legal document Julian had just slammed on the table.
The ‘R’ was perfect. Textbook. A clean, closed loop without the wing.
My heart began to hammer in my chest.
“She didn’t sign this,” I whispered, looking up at Julian. The realization hit me like a physical blow. “She was in a medically induced coma for the last four days of her life. She couldn’t have signed anything.”
Julian’s face went completely white. “She woke up! Just for a few minutes! The notary was there!”
“A notary you hired?” I stepped toward him. My voice wasn’t loud, but the sheer, compressed fury in it made Julian stumble backward. “You forged her signature, Julian. You stole your dead sister’s legacy to sell it to the man she despised.”
Richard Sterling’s cold demeanor finally cracked. He looked at Julian, his eyes narrowing into slits.
“Julian,” Richard said dangerously. “Is this document forged? Because if I sign a fraudulent transfer of ownership, the SEC will bury me under a federal prison.”
“No! No, Richard, I swear!” Julian pleaded, sweating profusely. “The kid is making it up! It’s a childish story!”
I reached into my canvas jacket again.
“I have three hundred original, handwritten recipe cards in this notebook, Julian,” I said, pulling the leather book out. “Every single one is signed by Rebecca. Every single one has the butterfly ‘R’. You copied her signature from a typed corporate memo, didn’t you? You didn’t even know her well enough to know how she wrote to her family.”
Julian backed away, bumping into a tray stand. Silverware crashed to the floor.
“You’re crazy!” Julian shouted. “Claire! Call the police! Have this man arrested for trespassing!”
Claire didn’t move. She stood perfectly still, her hands clasped in front of her. She looked at the forged document, then at Marcus, the dishwasher standing by the kitchen doors, and finally at my muddy boots.
“Mr. Vance,” Claire said softly, looking directly at Julian. “I am the general manager of this restaurant. And according to the corporate charter on file in my office, David is the majority owner.”
She reached into her apron and pulled out her walkie-talkie.
“Security,” Claire said into the radio. “We have an aggressive individual in the main dining room attempting to commit corporate fraud. Please send two guards to the front immediately.”
Julian’s eyes bulged. “You’re firing me? You work for me!”
“Not anymore,” I said.
Richard Sterling quickly capped his gold pen and slipped it back into his tailored suit. He looked at Julian with utter disgust.
“You wasted my time, Julian,” Richard sneered. “And you tried to make me an accessory to a felony. I’ll be calling my lawyers from the car.”
Richard turned and marched out the glass doors, his two silent associates flanking him.
Julian was left entirely alone.
May you like
He looked at the front doors, then at the security guards rushing into the dining room. Desperation twisted his face into something ugly and feral.
“You think you won?” Julian screamed at me, spittle flying from his lips. “You think you saved this place? Look around, David! We’re bleeding cash! I sold Rebecca’s clock to cover payroll last month!”
