He Forced My Parents to Death 15 Years Ago-Now I Let Him Go To Prison Fate Chapter 01
Fifteen years ago, a local thug named Dale Sikes and fifty of his men blockaded the entrance to my family’s diner.
They beat up anyone who tried to come in, then falsely accused my parents of poisoning the food and demanded a huge settlement.
My parents had been honest, hardworking people their whole lives. Trapped and desperate, they both drank industrial pesticide.
Dale took over the diner and built his fortune on my family’s ruin.
I dropped out of school. Over years of humiliation, I worked my way up, eventually landing the job as facilities and food service director at the only private high school in Oak Creek.
The contract to feed the school’s five thousand students was the biggest prize in town.
That morning, my assistant Chloe Davis set a thick stack of contract applications on my desk.
I scanned the familiar name among the bidders and raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s go with him.”
…
Chloe looked surprised. “Jennifer, you just started here. You probably don’t know Dale Sikes.”
“He’s the biggest thug in the county.”
“If we give him the cafeteria, the school’s reputation is done for.”
I stared at Dale’s photo on his application, that broad, ugly face full of arrogance.
Not know him? I’d recognize him if he turned to ash.
I closed the file and handed it back to Chloe. “Call him in to sign the contract.”
She started to argue, but one look from me shut her up. She left reluctantly.
At two in the afternoon, my office door flew open with a kick.
Dale strode in, cigarette dangling from his lips, reeking of whiskey.
But when he saw my face, he hesitated. He squinted, studying me like he was trying to place something.
“Director Morrow, is it? Have we met somewhere before?”
I poured him a cup of coffee, smiled calmly, and slid it across the desk.
“I just have that kind of face. People are always telling me I look familiar. But it’s an honor to meet a man of your standing, Mr. Sikes.”
He puffed up like a peacock. “I’m about to sink three hundred grand into this place. Top-of-the-line imported everything. It’s gonna make the biggest steakhouse in the city look like a dive.”
I kept my smile pleasant while my stomach turned cold. “I’m sure you have the resources, Mr. Sikes. But the school has a rule, cafeteria contracts are year by year.”
I slid a contract toward him, my expression carefully worried. “If someone outbids you next year, you’d lose everything you invested. You might want to think it over.”
Dale was used to throwing his weight around in Oak Creek. He always came out on top and never lost a thing. The second he saw a clause that threatened his profit, his thug nature surfaced.
He ripped the contract to shreds and threw the pieces in my face. “You think I’m gonna drop that kind of cash for a one-year deal? You running a con here, lady?”
He jabbed a finger at me. “Here’s how it’s gonna be. You rewrite this for ten years. Right now. Or I’ll make you and your whole family disappear.”
My heart seized. Under the desk, I dug my nails into my thigh, swallowing the rage burning in my throat as I let my face crumple into fear.
My voice came out shaky and small. “Okay. Okay, ten years. That can be arranged.”
“But for a long-term contract, the school requires double the security deposit.” I hesitated deliberately. “Maybe we should just forget it.”
That doubled deposit plus the new equipment would wipe out most of what he’d managed to scrape together over the years.
I saw him waver and quickly put on my most understanding expression. “No offense, Mr. Sikes. I understand if that’s too much. No shame in a limited education or limited funds, right? I can find another bidder.”
That hit him where it hurt.
Dale hated nothing more than being seen as uneducated. Or broke.
He slammed his palm on my desk. “You think I can’t afford it?”
He sneered. “I’ll bury you in cash right now, you small-time bitch.”
Five minutes later, my desk phone rang. The deposit had cleared.
I stopped pretending.
I pulled out the real ten-year contract, already prepared, already stamped, and slid it across the desk. “Well, Mr. Sikes, you’ve made your point. The cafeteria is yours.”
He smirked, assuming I’d been bought off, and signed without even skimming the pages.
Then he spat a glob of phlegm onto my office floor. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Some people just need a little convincing.”
He turned and swaggered out, belly first, the door slamming behind him.
The second he was gone, I opened my drawer and took out an old framed photograph.
My parents, young and smiling, held my hands on either side of me. The warmth in their faces was like sunlight.
I ran my thumb along the edge of the frame and whispered, “Dad. Mom. Watch this. He took the bait.”
