Chapter 5 - FIRED BEFORE DINNER
At 4:40 P.M., Emily's manager called.
By 4:43, she no longer had a job.
“Richard Whitmore complained about me?”
Her manager sighed.
“He didn't exactly complain.”
“What exactly did he do?”
“He called the owner.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Of course he did.
“What did I supposedly do?”
“Behaved unprofessionally. Became involved in a private family matter. Made a guest uncomfortable.”
Emily almost laughed.
“He publicly mocked me.”
“I know.”
“He mocked his own son.”
“I know.”
“And I'm fired.”
A long silence.
“I'm sorry, Emily.”
The call ended.
Rose was furious.
Mason offered to egg Richard's house.
Emily appreciated the loyalty but rejected the strategy.
Noah stood near the window watching her.
She signed before he could.
Don't.
He frowned.
Don't what?
Feel guilty.
His hands stopped.
Emily continued.
You didn't fire me.
Noah looked at her for several seconds.
Then he typed something on his phone.
MY FATHER DID THIS BECAUSE HE THINKS MONEY MAKES CONSEQUENCES DISAPPEAR.
Emily read it.
“Then prove him wrong.”
Something changed in Noah's face.
He made a call through a video relay service to his attorney.
Twenty minutes later, two things happened.
First, Noah's lawyer agreed the guardianship filing was potentially discriminatory and based on questionable evidence.
Second, the lawyer discovered Bellamy Café's lease.
The building wasn't owned by Richard.
It was owned by Whitmore Family Properties.
And thirty-four percent of that company had transferred to Noah at midnight.
Emily stared at him.
“No.”
Noah raised an eyebrow.
“You are not buying the café to get me my job back.”
He signed:
I wasn't going to.
“Good.”
Then:
I was thinking of buying your manager.
Emily laughed despite herself.
“He's not for sale.”
Everyone is for sale, Mason signed from the doorway.
Emily pointed at him.
“Homework.”
Mason disappeared.
Rose shook her head.
But Noah wasn't finished.
His attorney had discovered something else in the property records.
Whitmore Urban had quietly purchased eleven houses in Emily's neighborhood through shell companies during the previous eighteen months.
Rose leaned forward.
“Why?”
Noah opened a confidential project file accessible through his shareholder portal.
A rendering appeared.
Luxury apartments.
Retail towers.
Parking structures.
Across the top were the words:
EAST CHARLOTTE REVITALIZATION PROJECT.
Emily recognized the streets immediately.
Her street.
Mason's street.
Rose's house.
All of it.
The first demolition phase was scheduled for spring.
Emily felt sick.
Then she saw the signature authorizing the project.
NOAH J. WHITMORE.
She turned toward him.
“You approved this?”
Noah went completely still.
Then he shook his head.
He zoomed in on the signature.
His expression hardened.
May you like
And he revealed the next secret with three furious signs:
That's not mine.
