Chapter 2: They Changed the Locks
Grandma Margaret tightened her grip on my arm when she saw my face.
"What is it?" she asked.
I handed her the page.
She read it slowly.
Then she read it again.
"Richard." Her voice was quiet in a way that was worse than shouting.
"Did you sign this?"
Dad finally looked up from the tablecloth.
He didn't answer.
That was its own answer.
"The Long Table feeds sixty people every Sunday," I said.
"Families who have nowhere else to go.
You knew that."
Vanessa stepped closer.
"It's not profitable.
Aster made that clear from the beginning.
You knew the terms were changing."
"You never showed me any terms."
"You're not on the ownership documents, Nora."
The room had gone very still.
Even the band had stopped pretending to tune.
Liam was staring at his new wife like he was seeing a stranger in her dress.
"You told me the Blue Lantern was a family operation.
Equal shares."
"It is a family operation," Vanessa said.
"I'm family."
Grandma set the paper down on the nearest table.
"I built that kitchen.
I put it in your father's name because I trusted him to protect it." She looked at Richard.
"Not sell it out from under the woman who runs it."
Dad stood up slowly.
"Margaret, the deal was already done before tonight—"
"Then why," Grandma said, "did that envelope need Nora's approval before midnight?"
Nobody had an answer for that.
Not even Vanessa.
My phone buzzed again.
Eddie.
One new message, three words: *They changed the locks.*
---
May you like
What Nora found when she got to the Blue Lantern that night — and what was hidden inside the kitchen walls — changes everything.
Click the link below to read the full story.
