Millionaire's Wife Humiliated the Waitress — Her Epic Response Silenced the Room!
Chapter 4
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Catherine met her eyes. "You asked me to prove I could read."Harold smiled faintly; Howard did not."Evelyn," he said, "go home."She froze. "What?""Please leave.""You cannot be serious!""I am."Evelyn glanced around the restaurant. "Everyone is watching."Howard looked toward the other tables. "They were watching when you humiliated someone who was doing her job.""So now I'm the villain because she embarrassed me?""No," Howard said. "You embarrassed yourself."His voice was not loud; that made it worse.For a second, Evelyn looked less angry than frightened. Catherine suddenly saw what had been beneath much of her cruelty: Evelyn needed to appear intelligent because she was terrified someone would discover she did not belong in the role she had created for herself. She gathered her purse and left.Almost immediately, Daniel Price, the restaurant manager, hurried toward the table. "Mr. Hayes, Mr. Lawson, I am terribly sorry." He turned to Catherine. "Go to the office. Your shift is over."Howard looked up. "Why?""She interfered in a confidential conversation.""She prevented me from making the worst financial decision of my life."Daniel swallowed. "Our policy—""—If your policy requires employees to remain silent while guests insult them and someone signs a dangerous document, your policy needs improvement."Harold nodded. Howard looked at Catherine. "Miss Jenkins, I want you at my office tomorrow morning.""For what purpose?""To review the revised agreement."Catherine glanced at her apron. "That would be professional consulting work.""Yes.""Then I expect professional compensation."Harold smiled. Howard nodded. "Name your fee."Catherine thought of the hospital bills piled beside her textbooks. "$250,000, as an immediate consulting retainer."Daniel made a startled sound. Howard never blinked."Done."Catherine untied her apron. "I'll be there."Howard took out his phone. "My office will send a car."Catherine placed the apron neatly over an empty chair. "For tomorrow, that will be fine."Then she walked toward the kitchen. For three years, she had left that dining room carrying dirty plates. That night, she left knowing she might never carry one there again.Catherine barely slept. She sat at the small kitchen table in her Cambridge apartment, staring at the banking notification on her phone. The retainer had arrived before midnight.For years, she had checked her balance before buying groceries; she knew exactly how much money could safely leave her account before rent, tuition, and hospital expenses became impossible. Now the number on the screen looked unreal.She called Julia; her mother answered sleepily. "Catherine, is something wrong?""No.""You never call this late when nothing is wrong."Catherine laughed, and the laugh suddenly became a sob. She explained what had happened. She left out some of Evelyn's cruelty, but Julia understood enough.When Catherine finished, Julia was quiet. "Pay the hospital," she said."I already started the payment.""And your tuition tomorrow. And eat a proper breakfast."Catherine smiled through tears. "That is your advice?""You cannot save companies on coffee."The following morning, a black sedan stopped outside Catherine's building. She wore the navy suit she had bought months earlier for mock trials and interviews; it was not expensive, but it fit well. She polished her shoes and carried the leather portfolio Professor Cole had given her.Hayes Capital occupied several floors of a glass tower near Boston Harbor. An assistant named Mia Reynolds met her downstairs. "Mr. Hayes asked me to bring you directly to the boardroom." As they entered the elevator, Mia smiled. "For what it's worth, the legal department has been here since before sunrise."