CHAPTER 6 — THE SECRET SOCIETY OF CHEFS
Gabriel watched the old recording in complete silence.
His face turned pale.
"I know those men," he whispered.
"They called themselves The Black Table."
It wasn't a restaurant group.
It wasn't a cooking club.
It was a secret network of wealthy investors who controlled food empires around the world.
Any chef who refused to sell their recipes...
either disappeared...
or was destroyed financially.
Gabriel had been one of them.
Richard had been another victim.
But instead of fighting...
Richard chose to betray the only friend who trusted him.
The next morning, Ethan arrived at Laurent & Son and found every window smashed.
The kitchen had been destroyed.
Their recipe notebooks were gone.
Spray-painted across the wall were six chilling words:
"Some recipes should stay buried forever."
Gabriel slowly picked up a broken photo frame.
"I hoped they had forgotten us."
"They never did."
Hours later, a black limousine stopped outside the restaurant.
A woman in an elegant white suit stepped out.
She introduced herself with a calm smile.
"My name is Victoria Hale."
"I'm here to buy your restaurant."
Ethan shook his head.
"We're not selling."
Victoria smiled even wider.
"I wasn't asking."
She handed Ethan a folder.
Inside were legal documents proving that almost every building on the street—including theirs—had quietly been purchased over the past year by the same investment group.
Within thirty days...
Laurent & Son would be demolished.
Unless Ethan accepted one condition.
Victoria slid a single invitation across the table.
THE BLACK TABLE – PRIVATE DINNER
"One dinner," she said softly.
"Refuse... and everything you've built disappears."
As she walked away, Gabriel whispered something that made Ethan's blood run cold.
May you like
"I've seen everyone who receives that invitation."
"...None of them ever come back."
