Chapter 2 - THE CONFRONTATION
The following morning, the mansion was a whirlwind of tension. Nathaniel was sitting at the head of the breakfast table, a cup of untouched coffee in front of him, as Grace entered to start her shift. She stopped dead when she saw the crates of food stacked near the back exit—crates that had been meticulously organized and marked.
She walked toward him, her head held high, ready for the axe to fall.
"I suppose you'll be deducting this from my wages, Mr. Ashford?" she asked, her voice steady. "Or perhaps you'd prefer to call the police for theft."
Nathaniel looked up. He studied the woman who had transformed from a simple employee into a mirror reflecting his own apathy. "I’m not calling the police, Grace. I’m asking why you didn't tell me."
Grace looked him in the eye, and for the first time, he saw the depth of her exhaustion. "Because you are a man who measures the value of things by the cost of their acquisition, Nathaniel. If I had told you, you would have written a check to ease your conscience and then forgotten it existed. Those children don't need a check. They need to know that someone shows up every night."
Nathaniel stood up. "I followed you last night."
Grace’s face paled, then flushed with anger. "Then you saw."
"I saw that my kitchen is being used to sustain twenty children in a condemned building. I saw that you are working twice as hard as any chef I've ever hired. And I saw that I am a fool."
"What do you intend to do?"
"I intend to fix the building," Nathaniel said.
May you like
Grace blinked, taken aback. "It’s not just about the building. It’s about the fact that they have nowhere else to go. Their parents are gone, in jail, or working three jobs. That building is their only stability."
"Then I will make it stable," Nathaniel replied. "Starting today, that building is part of the Ashford Trust."
