Chapter 3 - The Public Exposure
The following week, the City Gazette ran a front-page investigative piece titled: The Hidden Architect: The Blood and Sweat Behind 'Le Prestige'.
The article detailed everything. It featured sworn affidavits from former kitchen staff, suppliers, and line cooks who remembered Evelyn carrying fifty-pound sacks of flour while Victor posed for local magazine photos. It included the testimony of Dr. Aris Thorne, the surgeon who had operated on Evelyn's ribs after an uninspected commercial dough mixer had collapsed on her eight years ago—an incident Victor paid off corrupt building inspectors to cover up.
Public sentiment shifted overnight. Diners cancelled reservations by the dozens. Food critics who had once praised Victor as a culinary genius began withdrawing their endorsements.
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Victor tried to hold a press conference outside Le Prestige to save face. Dressed in a wrinkled suit, he stood before reporters claiming he was the victim of a bitter ex-wife’s smear campaign. But as he spoke, Melissa walked out of the restaurant's front doors carrying three luxury suitcases, got into a waiting ride-share, and drove away without looking back.
The reporters captured every second of Victor shouting after her, his composure completely shattered on live television. The "untouchable" restaurateur was crumbling before the entire city.
