The Vengeance Feast​

Summary

For Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law Eleanor visited from the countryside. To celebrate, I took her to my husband Ethan’s upscale downtown restaurant, "Aria."

I ordered her favorite—Braised Sea Bass—but when she took a bite, her smile faded. The fish was ice-cold, with frost still on it.

I called the manager, a sharp-looking woman who glanced at the plate indifferently.

“We forgot to microwave it,” she said.

“You serve pre-packaged meals?” I asked.

Her face flushed. “What’s wrong with pre-packaged? You think we have time to cook from scratch?”