Tessa asked whether Marco knew anyone outside the restaurant who could explain the figures.

He gave her the worker clinic’s telephone number but said she should make her own choice.

At noon, Victor returned and found only two signatures on the statement.

One belonged to a new employee who had not worked Saturday, and the other belonged to a shift leader who had been on vacation.

Victor folded the paper sharply and said the schedule would change for anyone who refused to cooperate.

Tessa held up her phone and asked whether he wanted the threat included in the written minutes.

For a second, Victor looked ready to seize the device.

Then he smiled, told everyone the meeting was over, and walked into his office.

The kitchen resumed its ordinary noises, but everybody heard the office lock turn.

CHAPTER 6: A DINNER TABLE WITHOUT DINNER

Lily’s brother Noah arrived that evening carrying two grocery bags and an expression that suggested he had been rehearsing an argument during the bus ride.

He was seventeen, still in school, and fiercely protective of his sister despite being younger.

He set canned soup, rice, eggs, and apples on the counter before announcing that he had received his first training stipend.

Lily thanked him but said he should save the money for his own expenses.

Noah replied that he was capable of buying groceries without asking her permission.

Denise arrived twenty minutes later with a small pot of lentil stew and found her children standing on opposite sides of the kitchen.

She made them sit down and eat before either could continue the argument.

During dinner, Lily told them about Samuel, the clinic, and the pressure on workers to sign false statements.

She did not mention the possibility of a lawsuit because the attorney had not yet told her what claims the records would support.

Denise listened and then asked whether Lily wanted the old job back.

Lily considered the question for a long time.

She missed the regular customers, the rush of the lunch shift, and the way Marco could make a whole kitchen laugh with one crooked impression of their espresso machine.

She did not miss Victor’s unpredictable anger or the way employees apologized for things they had not done.

“I want to work somewhere I can do my job without begging to be treated fairly,” she said.

Noah asked whether that place existed.

Denise replied that good workplaces were built by people who refused to accept bad ones as inevitable.

After dinner, the family sorted bills into three piles according to urgency.