All the Chefs Quit, and I Got Rich

At Riverbend, Evelyn announces $280,000 net for the year and $7,000 bonuses for every employee. Derek, her fiancé and head chef, complains about gratitude, says the kitchen wants half the profits, then pulls the engagement ring off Evelyn's finger and drops it into a wine glass. Vivian, the front-of-house manager and Derek's affair partner, backs him. Evelyn points to the restaurant she built and refuses to hand it over. Derek and Vivian argue the customers follow his cooking and her service; Evelyn answers that the customers are not there for either of them.

Evelyn then gives the line the room laughs at: “They come here because my father is Logan Hart.” Derek accuses her of lying to keep him. Vivian challenges the idea that the richest man in the US would have a daughter running a small restaurant and engaged to her own chef. An employee jokes that his father must be the president. Vivian puts down a contract and treats the claim as a bluff; Derek demands fifty percent ownership and half the net profits to stay. Evelyn refuses to sign. Vivian counts the servers, cashier, and purchaser as loyal to her. Rosa, the dishwasher, defends Evelyn's pay record; Derek orders her back to the dish pit.

Derek announces a new place across the street, three times the size; Vivian claims the cooks, front-of-house staff, and regular customers will follow them. Derek warns Evelyn to sign or watch every employee walk out. Evelyn points out the lease is in her name and she funded the place, then refuses. The staff choose. Kayla, who leaves, treats the three months' salary Evelyn advanced when her mother was sick as Evelyn's choice. Rosa stays because Evelyn paid her son's medical bills without demanding anything back. Derek leaves with the crew.

After they go, Logan's call brings news: Hartwell Group has hired several hundred more employees, and Riverbend will be busier once the holiday break ends. He also confirms the Hartwell employees had long disliked Derek's cooking; Evelyn's company meal program and pickup system kept them coming. Evelyn orders a contractor to knock through four neighboring units, combine all five spaces, and convert the second floor into private dining rooms before the campus returns, doubling the budget to meet the deadline.

Kayla photographs the construction and brings it to Derek and Vivian. They dismiss it. Vivian puts the original Riverbend crew on every flyer. Derek has put up his savings, the house, and every dollar borrowed. Evelyn warns that if they lose, they will only have each other. She leaves them with that.