With the sudden entrance of the three people, the atmosphere in the whole room shifted.

  Conversation halted; a few of the diners gaped at the newcomers with open mouths while some even unconsciously straightened their posture, sensing the weight of the moment.

  The two in the back were the staff members who had rushed inside to fetch the manager while the rude customer was busy making a scene.

  The one walking in the front, the person who truly commanded attention as soon as she stepped out of her office, was the restaurant manager.

  She was a young woman in her twenties, but she contained an aura and grace that did not match her age.

  She strode through the hall with an air of authority.

  Dressed in a formal Japanese kimono, which matched the vibe of the restaurant, her long black hair was tied into a perfectly coiled bun by a jade hairpin, showing a bit of her nape.

  The rhythmic clacking of her pencil heels against the wooden floor now echoed in the silent hall.

  The growing tension in the air unconsciously made the man loosen his grip on Alvin's collar, yet not entirely.

  "Hisss! That guy just had to call that little demoness out of her den." An old man in the corner hissed in annoyance and lingering fear, shaking his.

  He looked at the woman with a lost look as if recalling some traumatic past.

  His wife, sitting to his right, promptly smacked the back of his head hearing his comment, "Old man, how could you talk like that about such a cute lady? Believe it or not, I will smack you in front of everyone."

  'What did you do just now? Kill a mosquito?'

  The old man wanted to curse out loud, but he lacked the guts to do so. Seeing the growing coldness in his wife's eyes, he even stopped thinking of such things, feeling his survival instincts taking over his body.

  He could not take any chances after all the keys to their house were with the woman, and he knew there were no such things as husband rights.

  It was not just this old man who felt scared upon seeing the young woman; some others also showed a similar response.

  As for this young woman, she was Aizawa Rin, the manager of the restaurant and the daughter of the head chef who built this place from scratch through struggle and connections.

  Stepping into the main hall, Rin's sharp and cold black eyes swept over the entire room. The look in her eyes sent shivers down the spine of those who met her gaze.

  But as soon as that cold gaze landed on Alvin, they softened, and a trace of fondness flashed through them, just for a fleeting moment, before they hardened when she took note of the hand clutching onto his collar.

  She tried to hide her clenched fist in the long sleeves of her kimono and walked closer to them; her presence grew heavier with each step she took.

  "What's going on here?" Standing before the two of them, Rin asked with a calm yet cold voice, but her eyes… They stared at the hands that were holding onto Alvin's collar.

  Even though the man could not see Rin's hollow gaze, he felt a sense of forbidding wash over his body.

  He did not even realize it when he took his hand away from Alvin and stepped back to create some distance between the two of them.

  But now that things escalated to this point, the man coughed to hide embarrassment and tried to regain composure, "You are the manager here?" His tone was skeptical.

  Rin said nothing but continued to look at the man in silence with a gaze that could pierce steel.

  She felt the leering gaze of this man before her even though he was trying his best to put on the act.

  Her mind was already thinking of several ways she could deal with him. The man's jaws clenched. He wasn't used to being ignored, especially not a mere restaurant employee. 'How dare this woman look at me like that!'

  Alvin, who was watching this whole scene unfold, scoffed silently. He had enough confidence in Rin to handle matters like this.

  'Why do people like him pop up every now and then?'

  He watched as the man feigned outrage; his acting skills fooled no one. He raised his voice, "I heard a lot about your restaurant from my friends, but I never thought I would be treated like this here!"

  Rin remained composed, her gaze unwavering. "May I ask what my staff member did to warrant such treatment from you?"

  The man, clearly looking down on Rin, puffed out his chest in confidence, eager to make a scene.

  "This man stepped on my shoes—do you see this?" once again pointing at his shoes and snarled, "These are expensive! Yet he not only damaged them, but he also had the guts to argue back."

  Rin merely glanced at his light brown Oxford shoes with a faint imprint of another shoe on them. She moved her gaze to Alvin, who met her gaze patiently. He saw no doubt or blame in her eyes, only a bit of pain.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  He knew why she looked at him like that; after seeing him being subjected to such treatment from time to time, she felt anger and pain that he had to go through that even when she was the one who suffered more than him.

  Rin paused, sighing as she collected herself, "So he is one of them, tch!" she muttered, annoyance dripping from her voice. Her voice, though faint, reached the man's ears due to the silence in the room.

  The customer, creating the scene, misunderstood her words; with a barely suppressed smirk, he said, "That's right! If he had simply apologized to me, I wouldn't have made a big deal out of this.

  But this trash even had the guts to blame me for his incompetence; he said that I was the one who got in his way!"

  Beside him, the woman he had come with sensed something was wrong; she tugged at his sleeve, whispering for him to let it go, but he ignored her.

  "So you are saying that my staff member here stepped on you and pinned the blame on you?" asked Rin.

  "Exactly!" the man replied, his smirk widened as he glanced around as if expecting support from the people around him.

  But his smugness evaporated when he finally noticed the look he was getting, 'Something feels off.' The next second Rin's words hit the final nail in the coffin.

  "Then, I assume you won't be having any objection to confirming your claims through the security camera. I can also use that as proof to fire this guy as well."

  The room fell into deathly silence; the man blinked once, twice, and he finally realized what was happening. 'She never cared about my complaints from the start!'

  The man wanted to protest, but Rin made her move first; she turned around to look at the huge LED screen hanging on the wall, showing a paused video of the music that had been playing.

  The contents of the screen changed…

  "Then, I assume there won't be any problems with us confirming your claims through the security cameras?"

  Rin's cold voice cut through the man's delusions like a blade.

  Though it seemed like she was asking for consent, she had already signaled someone in the back to play the recordings.

  The man had expected Rin to prioritize the reputation of her restaurant rather than some lowly worker, but reality struck him hard.

  Rin was no pushover; she dared to challenge him even with the reputation of her restaurant on the line.

  All the eyes in the hall turned towards the huge LED screen mounted on the wall. The serene cover image of the song shifted to the recording of the restaurant.

  Everyone looked at the screen with a knowing gaze as if they had already guessed what they were going to see.

  Everyone except a certain woman.

  The same woman who came on the date with the man, the scene she saw on the screen, shook her to the core.

  Everyone watched as Alvin on the screen walked with slow and steady steps, but all of a sudden a foot appeared in his tracks, almost making him fall to the ground.

  But the woman was not angry that the man she came on the date with made a deliberate scene; what enraged her was that if by any chance Alvin had fallen, the trays of hot food would have fallen on none other than herself.

  "You! How could you do that to me?!" With a voice filled with anger and resentment, the woman unleashed the rage brewing inside of her.

  A sharp slap echoed through the silent restaurant.

  "You!" Feeling the burning sensation on his face, the man recoiled, fury flashing in his eyes. "Yes, I did it!"

  The man finally snapped; all the smugness on his face was swapped by frenzy as if someone had unleashed a mad dog. He looked down at the woman with disdain and asked, "Do you know why?"

  "I wanted to get rid of you!

  Do you have any idea how much I spent on this date?

  I had to sit there and listen to you rambling about God knows what, and then you had the audacity to refuse to come home with me?!

  How dare you!"

  Gasps of astonishment and whispers of amusement spread through the onlookers like wildfire.

  The respectable elites of the society acted like a common roadside aunty curious about what was happening in her neighbor's house.

  "This is only our second date, you bastard!"

  The woman roared, her eyes glistening with tears and regret. "I knew you were a scum; I shouldn't have even given you a chance.

  Once a scumbag, always a scumbag!" she trembled in rage while bellowing her sorrow, pointing at the man.

  "I will tell everyone we know about you so no one else gets fooled by you!"

  "You!!"

  The man trembled in fury; nothing but a single word slipped out of his mouth, his chest rising and falling erratically.

  He could only watch in disbelief and anger as the woman stormed out of the restaurant, tears still falling out of her eyes.

  Alvin watched the scene unfold with a cold sweat forming on his brow. 'Why did this turn into a melodrama? I can handle fights, but relationship drama? That's way above my pay grade.'

  Rin too was caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, but she instantly composed herself the next second. Staring at the man who was the cause of all of this, her eyes flashed with cold light.

  From the corner of her eyes, she signaled some burly guards in the distance who understood her command without the need for any words.

  "It appears we have concluded what happened here," Rin said coolly, looking at the man with disdain, making him realize that his evening was far from over.

  "Now we have to decide what to do with you."

  Her voice carried a dead calm: "Your actions could have tarnished the reputation of not just our renowned restaurant but also would have smeared dirt on the honest and valuable staff members of this place.

  I usually don't care about the reason, but you really showed me what the worst scums of society look like."

  "Wha—What do you want?" The man stiffened, his voice quivering when he saw the tall, burly, bear-like guards making their way toward him.

  "Nothing much," a slow, deliberate, chilling smile curled on Rin's lips; it was a smile that sent shivers down to the deepest part of everyone's bone marrow.

  "I just want these people to help you finish your meal and help you out of here. Don't worry, this service is on the house."

  "We cannot waste such good food," Rin said and turned away from the man.

  "Wait—" Before he could reach out to stop the woman, his way was blocked by the two guards, their towering presence looming over him.

  He stumbled backward, tripping on his own foot, and he fell back into his seat, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

  But the guards paid no heed to his action; the two of them sprang into action. One of them appeared behind the man, his hand placed on the man's shoulder, preventing him from having any thoughts of escaping.

  The other guard reached out for his leftover bowl of hot ramen on the table and shoved it down the man's throat without flinching.

  "You are getting darker and darker, Rin." Watching the scene with a pale look on his face, Alvin looked at the woman he treated like his little sister with worry etched on his face.

  Rin blushed under his gaze and lowered her head, her initial coldness melting away into vapors of embarrassment.

  "Shut up! I was just standing up for you, and here you are making fun of me!" She tried to regain her composure. "How can I stand someone treating you like that? This is our family restaurant."

  Watching the change in her demeanor, even for just a moment, many around the hall let out a knowing sigh in their hearts.

  Clearly, this was not the first time they had seen such a reaction from the beauty.

  Anyone with a certain emotional IQ could see that she had a soft spot for the boy. Yet they could not help but sigh looking at the two of them.

  Some of the men in the audience gritted their teeth in jealousy. 'It should have been me, not him!'

  "Let's go inside; your shift is almost over anyway." Rin, seemingly noticing the looks they were getting, bit the inside of her cheeks to maintain her composure and turned around to leave; she grabbed Alvin's wrist and dragged him toward the back of the house.