Chapter 3Raise My Rent and I'll Raise Hell

Duncan glanced at the people behind him before saying to me, "Either you sign the lease today, or we'll submit a joint petition to have you kicked out of the fourth floor."

I looked at the others. Edwin kept his eyes fixed on the floor, while Natasha trembled as she stared at her phone. The others hiding behind them didn't even dare to let me look at them.

Snorting, I stared right into Duncan's eyes until he started averting his gaze.

"I see how it is. I won't forget every single word you people said today." My eyes shifted to Edwin and Natasha. "You guys had better not forget your words, either."

Duncan's lips parted, but in the end, he said nothing.

Once the tenants left, Cameron handed me his phone to show me a message Walt had sent to the fourth-floor tenants two days ago.

"Kindly take note, everyone. The routine maintenance work for the fourth-floor air-conditioning system will begin next week. If Fred Connor of Unit 402 cooperates with the mall management by signing the new lease contract, the maintenance work will end immediately. I suggest you all have a proper chat with him."

He even sent a smiling emoji with his message.

I took a screenshot and saved it in a folder I'd specifically set up. I'd already collected over a dozen pages of evidence in there.

That night, I stayed at the restaurant late at night.

For two days in a row, the kitchen staff stopped preparing extra fish in advance. Due to the heat, the freezer unit was severely overworked, and we were afraid it would break down. Lionel kept heading over to check the compressor with a temperature gauge.

At 1:00 am, I called up Kevin Whitman, the man in charge of Avant Plaza.

"It seems like I'll be making the move sooner than expected, Mr. Whitman. Can the renovation crew come in to start the work the night after tomorrow?"

"They can come by anytime! The unit has already been cleared out for you. We look forward to welcoming you!"

After ending the call, I checked the mall tenants' group chat. It had been silent all day. Walt hadn't sent any additional notices.

It was going to be Friday tomorrow. When I locked up the restaurant, I noticed that the lights in the other restaurants were still on. I could hear the buzz of the exhaust fans coming from the barbecue restaurant next door.

…

At 6:00 pm on Friday, I had over 230 tables on the waiting list. The waiting area was completely full, so the later arrivals had to stand along the corridor.

Cameron stood behind the counter, taking the reservations with one hand cupped over his ear.

Back in the kitchen, every stove was running. Lionel shouted, "We're out of cod!"

Eric immediately dashed toward the freezer unit.

At 6:15 pm, the lights in my restaurant went out. It wasn't a brief flicker. The lights simply died and never came back on. Every single bulb in the restaurant, along with the cash register and even the exhaust fans in the kitchen, went out.

But it was as bright as day out in the corridor.

The massive sign of the barbecue restaurant next door shone strongly, shining through the glass door and landing on table six, which was right by the entrance. The neon glow illuminated the piping hot grilled fish on the table, but every other table in the restaurant was covered in darkness.

My restaurant was the only one that lost power.

The dining area erupted. Some of them were still holding the serving spoon in midair. While the exhaust fans had stopped working, the grills were still sizzling away. The spicy smoke began to choke the customers, and some started to cough and sputter.

The situation in the kitchen was even worse. The door to the freezer unit couldn't be opened as the electronic lock had sealed shut after losing power. The 40 servings of fish that had been prepared in advance were now out of reach from us.

The residual heat from the grills remained, and without proper ventilation, the kitchen turned into a sauna.

Several customers stood up and opened the glass door. The cool air from the corridor rushed in, standing out starkly against the stifling heat inside the restaurant.

Someone glanced at the barbecue restaurant next door—brightly lit and filled to the brim with customers—before glancing back at the darkness of my restaurant.

Duncan was standing right behind the glass door of his restaurant, watching from a distance. When his eyes met mine, he hid behind a menu and ducked into the kitchen.

Even though he didn't say anything, I knew exactly what was going on.

I called Walt, but his phone was turned off. The receptionist at the mall management office said to me, "Mr. Sutton has left for the day. We don't know what's happening with the power circuit either."

I dropped the call and went back into the kitchen.

The electrical breaker box was at the very back of the storage room.

I crouched down and pulled the main switch. It wouldn't move. A brand-new lock hung over the breaker. It was still shiny and completely free of dust.

I returned to the dining area. The light from the emergency lamp only illuminated a small patch in front of the counter. All of the customers' faces were mostly shrouded in darkness.

Standing on a chair, I called out, "Everyone, may I have your attention?"

Some of the commotion subsided.

"Everything will be on the house today."

That got everyone quiet at last.