The shouting continued until the police arrived. Mrs. Peterson thought the police were there to protect her, but as soon as she
showed her face, she was handcuffed.
“It’s not what you think, officer! You’ve got it wrong! It was them banging on my door–you should arrest them!”
The officer remained unflinching. “We’re arresting you. You know exactly what you’ve done, poisoning so many kids. You really
think you can escape the law?”
Mrs. Peterson’s legs gave out, and she looked up at me. It was as if she saw a lifeline and began to desperately throw mud at me.
“Even if they’re in the hospital, there’s no proof that they got poisoned by my food. Emily Haber used to cook for those kids too, so maybe it was her food that poisoned them! You should arrest her too!”
I snorted. “Mrs. Peterson, don’t falsely accuse anyone. You need proof when you talk.”
The police had thoroughly investigated, including my previous service. They found I’d only used certified organic ingredients, each batch traceable and meeting international food safety standards. My detailed recipe logs and nutrition plans showed careful
consideration for children’s health.
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As they led Mrs. Peterson away, she kept shouting.
“I’m just a simple woman—I didn’t know any better! If there’s blame, what about the parents? They chose to bring their kids to
- me. Nobody died, so what’s the big deal?”
Someone threw a rotten egg at her.
The crowd, including parents from nearby schools, held various projectiles, their eyes burning with hatred.
“Our kids would be healthy if it wasn’t for your toxic food.”
“You’re pure evil, profiting off children’s health. Karma will get you!”
Mrs. Peterson stood defiant. “Why blame just me? Mrs. Thompson started this! She said we should destroy Emily’s business first.
I even paid her $500 to help!”
Mrs. Thompson’s face turned scarlet. “Stop lying, you witch! My son suffered the worst!”
Now, it all made sense to me. Mrs. Thompson had been at the front of everything.
She did all this for five hundred bucks.
“You deserved it,” Mrs. Peterson laughed. “Five hundred wasn’t enough, so you had your son eat here for free. Every time, I’d
add a little extra to his bowl. Hahaha.”
Mrs. Peterson had lost it. Mrs. Thompson stumbled back a few steps, then in a rage, grabbed another egg and threw it at her.
“You old witch, may you never rest in peace!”
The air was filled with the stench.
After the chaos, I was about to head home when Mrs. Thompson rushed up to me, startling me.
“What are you doing? Everything that happened was Mrs. Peterson’s doing, not mine!”
Mrs. Thompson’s eyes were red. “We know now. The police told us about your fresh ingredients and healthy cooking. You really cared about our children. We were wrong about you. I’m so sorry, Sarah.”
Other parents joined in with apologetic smiles.
Their attitudes had flipped completely in days.
I knew it wasn’t genuine remorse. With Mrs. Peterson arrested and her service closed, they needed someone to feed their kids.
Sure enough, after the apologies came the requests.
“Emily, we’ve talked it over, and we want you to manage the kids‘ lunch again. The price can stay at $5 per meal like before.”
“Yeah, we trust you with the kids.”
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Looking at their insincere smiles, I didn’t feel at ease at all.
I crossed my arms. “I can’t take care of it anymore. We don’t even have a proper contract between us. Who’s to say you won’t turn
on me again when the next cheap caterer
opens?”
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