Chapter 212: A Good Kind Of Chaos

Audrey stood in front of the restaurant’s entrance with looks of disbelief on her face.It had only been a week since Ethan offered to help...well, more like offered to buy thirty percent of their profits in exchange for getting them back on their feet.

And he wasn’t kidding.

In just a week, the restaurant looked a lot better than it previously was, the sign was now fixed the interior looked as if it was completely rebuilt.

Everything looked different, but at the same time, the same.

The only problem was, getting customers to come back, which she expected to take at least a month, but the scene before her told her otherwise.

Slowly, she pushes the door open and as the bell above it rang, she was introduced to the chaos ongoing within.

"Please take a seat, we’ll be with you in a second," her daughter’s voice came from the kitchen as she heard the bell.

The scene was completely different from the past month, Ethan had somehow gotten the customers to come back overnight and the rehired waiters and waitress were running around taking orders from table to table.

One approached her, about to lead her to a table, only to realize who she was and he immediately greeted.

"Good afternoon, Mrs Harper," the waiter said. "We’re having a bit of a busy reopening, so there’s nowhere to sit right now, but Miss Julia is in the kitchen."

"It’s fine," she waved her hand, "I’ll go help the old man and Julia in the kitchen."

With that, the waiter moved to other tables to take their orders while Audrey moved to the kitchen.

The scene in the kitchen was no different from outside, the old man and Julia were running up and down with other newly hired chefs, waiters were constantly being summoned to take the orders back to the customer’s tables.

It was a sight she hadn’t seen in months.

The moment she properly stepped into the kitchen, an apron was suddenly in her hand thanks to Julia who just winked at her before going back to helping her grandpa.

With a smile on her face, Audrey put the apron on and went to helping with only one thought in her head,

"She liked this chaos."

***

Meanwhile, back in his apartment, Ethan listened to Athena’s report of how well everything was going at the blue lantern restaurant.

In just the first day of reopening, they had seen an influx of customers like never before.

How had he achieved this?

Well it was quiet simple, humans always tend to always follow the majority so all Ethan had to do was get that majority to visit the restaurant and the crowd would follow.

Getting the majority was nothing a few hundred dollars couldn’t handle, after all, all they had to do was go eat for free and talk about how good the food was.

It was basically like being paid for doing nothing, they didn’t even have to exaggerate about the food, it was genuinely good.

And this, the sheep started flocking one at a time and before they knew it, they had started questioning why they left in the first place.

Ethan leaned back on the couch, phone resting loosely in his hand as Athena’s report wrapped up.

{Current projections indicate sustained traffic for the next two weeks,} she said. {If the momentum holds, Blue Lantern’s monthly revenue will exceed its previous peak by forty two percent.}

"That fast?" Ethan chuckled softly. "People really don’t like thinking for themselves."

{They prefer reassurance,} Athena replied. {If many people approve of something, it feels safer to approve of it as well.}

"Mm," Ethan hummed, eyes drifting to the ceiling. "And the reviews?"

{Ninety three percent positive across all platforms. Keywords include ’hidden gem,’ ’finally reopened,’ and ’why did we ever stop coming here.’}

Ethan smiled faintly. That was exactly what he wanted.

The restaurant was only the first step.

Once a place regained its reputation, everything else followed naturally, suppliers became friendlier, local businesses started proposing collaborations, and even city inspectors tended to overlook minor issues when a place was buzzing with life.

{Should we propose phase two of blue lantern’s revival?} Athena asked.

"Not yet," Ethan shook his head, "let’s let the customers get used to it for now, the expansion will come later."

{I see,} Athena responded before going silent.

"What about Olivia?" Ethan suddenly asked.

{She seems to be increasing her efforts of getting closer to Lillian,} she answered, {in the past few days, she has proposed a couple of meetings with Lillian and although she seemed to be avoiding company talks for now, she subtly nudges towards them }

"I see," Ethan muttered, "and how close is Lillian to figuring out her true intentions?"

{Lillian’s staying cautious around her, but she doesn’t let us show,} Athena answered, {though she still can’t figure out what Olivia wants.}

"Then keep observing her," Ethan said as he stood up, "she might be what we need to find out who the collector is."

{Understood,} Athena said and went silent, leaving Ethan to his thoughts.

His thoughts were simple, he needed to get rid of the collector soon if he wanted to move back on track with his plans.

But the man, whoever he was, was extremely careful.

It seems he knew exactly what Ethan Carter..or rather, OmniTech was capable of so he ensured not to leave any type of foot prints when playing this game.

But there were a couple of mistakes on his part, and one of them was Olivia.

If Ethan hadn’t been with Olivia before regression, maybe he wouldn’t have suspected a thing but he had.

And he was going to use that against the collector.

His previous plan was using Ethan Carter, the mole in OmniTech, to get to meet the Collector, but that plan had been quickly scrapped when he realized that the man would only be meeting him digitally.

Deep in thoughts, Ethan was only interrupted by the sudden ringing of his phone and it was from an unknown number.

He looked at the screen for a while before swiping to the right and accepting the call, he already had a clue on who it was.

The other end was silent for a short while, but before Ethan could hang up, the person spoke, "don’t hang up."

"Out of all the things in my bingo card this year," Ethan started with a smile on his face, "getting a call from Leonard Smith was definitely not one of them."

There was a short pause on the other end, as if the person was trying to ignore the obvious mocking tone in his voice.

"What do you want?" Leonard asked after a while.

"Hmm?" Ethan feigned ignorance as he question, "whatever do you mean."

"Don’t play dumb with me," Leonard growled, forgetting that he was supposed to be a calm man, "my company is going down the drains and I know that you’re responsible."

"Ohh that’s what’s this is about," Ethan said as if he just realized what was being spoken about, "you should’ve said so earlier."

Leonard chose to say nothing, since he couldn’t assure that the next words coming out of his mouth would not be some words of profanity.

Ethan’s tone suddenly lost all it’s amusement and after Athena confirmed that the call wasn’t being recorded, he started,

"You seem to forget that you targeted me first, Leonard," he said, "and without reason, targeted people who were in no way involved in whatever you have against me."

"So," Leonard started, "this is pay back for the restaurant and the academy?"

"Well yes," Ethan said, "but also a lesson on how to directly attack the enemy you have a grudge against."

The other end was silent for a short while before Leonard, with all his pride, said something shocking to even Ethan,

"I’m willing to apologize for my actions if you can make my company stop falling into the drains."

In a way, it was understandable that he was ready to swallow his pride for the sake of his company, after all, that’s what placed him above all the other Smith’s potential heirs.

Leonard was determined to show his old man that he could make it without the family’s help in hopes to impress him.

But if his business failed now, then the wolves will immediately start biting at him and use that as an excuse to turn their grandpa against him.

They’d somehow convince the old man that he couldn’t handle a small business, so how did he expect to handle a major one like the ones owned by the Smith family.

Ethan froze for a few seconds, completely stunned by his words, before he suddenly started chuckling, "I guess my bingo card really needs an update, cuz the unexpected just keeps happening."

Leonard said nothing in response, thought that didn’t mean that he was completely fine with Ethan’s words.

"Instead of an apology," Ethan said after a few moments of laughing, "I have a better idea."