25

25

Xavier’s heart skipped a beat. "What’s wrong?" he asked, his earlier cheer turning into confusion and concern.

But Anna was too distressed to explain. "Just hurry, please!" she pleaded, her voice breaking.

Xavier’s blood ran cold. He grabbed his keys, already on his way out the door.

Anna sat outside her now-closed restaurant, her hands trembling as she clutched the letter from the FDA. The weight of her world crashing down on her shoulders was almost too much to bear. Tears silently trickled down her cheeks, blurring the words on the page, but they didn’t blur the pain that clung to her heart like a vice.

Her phone vibrated incessantly in her lap, each notification like a fresh wound. Reluctantly, she glanced at the screen, only to be met with a barrage of accusatory messages from her once-loyal customers:

"I trusted you, Anna! How could you endanger our lives like this?"

"My family ate at your restaurant every week, and now I hear you were serving expired food? You should be asha