foreign [Music] the last dish from a large pile of dirty dishes and breathed the sigh of relief she wiped her sweaty forehead with the sleeve of her robe she had been working at the fancy restaurant the king's crown for the past two months the work there was Non-Stop Olivia's responsibilities included not only cleaning the kitchen but also taking out the garbage and doing the dishwashing she also had to sweep the patio of the restaurant every morning since the janitor only cleaned the main entrance of the establishment despite all of her responsibilities Olivia was only paid
a modest salary it was just enough support her two children and pay for her rented housing by the time she came home in the evening she was too exhausted to cook or help her kids with their homework but she had no choice but to push herself more for the day this difficult situation was a result of her being a single mother growing up in an orphanage Olivia always dreamed of having a big loving family after graduating she was fortunate to meet her soulmate Wyatt a kind and caring person they got married and eventually had twin
boys Noah and Liam who became the most precious treasure in their family despite working tirelessly as a taxi driver Wyatt struggled to provide for his family as his own parents were unable to offer any support due to their alcoholism despite the challenges the young family did their best to make ends meet with the money Wyatt earned from cab driving since she couldn't afford to leave her kids and find work the financial responsibility of supporting her family fell solely on Wyatt he went to Great Lengths to earn as much as possible working night shifts and even
breaking the cab driving rules by working illegally despite his efforts the percentage of income from driving a taxi was small unfortunately one day Wyatt fell asleep at the wheel from exhaustion and got into a fatal accident the death of her husband was a devastating blow for Olivia she was now left alone to raise her two young children who were just starting first grade without any help or support overcoming her own shyness and fear of leaving her sons alone Olivia began to slowly earn money in low-paying jobs at first she would go door to door twice
a day Distributing flyers and free newspapers and mailboxes she also put up ads and special stands near public transportation stops although the pain was minimal these jobs helped Olivia and her family to survive three years have passed since her husband's death Olivia still thought of Wyatt every day and missed him greatly however her two beautiful sons helped her to keep going and not give up getting a job in the restaurant was a stroke of luck for Olivia although the pay was still low it was much more than what she had been earning by posting ads
this was more important for her at the time she had grown accustomed to the various difficulties of making ends meet working as a dishwasher didn't seem so bad to her the only thing that constantly worried Olivia was the way her sons Noah and Liam were treated at school they were often bullied and made fun of because of their family's poverty and modest possessions Olivia's children dressed as simply as possible practical trousers and sweaters cheap Cotton shirts if something got torn she would try to fix it instead of buying new clothes the only thing Olivia couldn't
control was time as her children inevitably grew and needed new clothes and shoes that fit them unfortunately Olivia herself couldn't afford to buy even the simplest new blouse and had to make do with worn out clothes that were close to falling apart your last name should have been broken not Richie Noah and Liam were teased by their wealthier classmates the children didn't understand that their family was forced to live modestly against their will look at them they can't even afford a donut their classmates laughed at the brothers in school cafeteria get out of here you
bastards how do we know maybe you're stealing from others while you're standing in line you're not getting anything anyway get out of here it was very painful for Olivia to hear such accusations against her children but the school administration was indifferent we don't know why the other kids are behaving like that maybe your children did something to provoke them they said Olivia often wished she could take her twin sons and enroll them in a school far away where they wouldn't be bullied because of their difficult comb situation however she knew she didn't have the means
to do so at the moment even though the school the boys attended was close to their home Olivia still held on to the hope that one day she would be able to break free from the daily struggles they faced in the meantime she did her best to comfort her voice and support them one day while cleaning the restaurant Olivia noticed several plates of leftover food in a corner of the kitchen next to the garbage can upon closer inspection she realized that these were not just scraps of cold food many of the dishes were still untouched
customers had paid for them and then for some reason left them uneated now they were about to be thrown away Among The Leftovers were not only cold appetizers and cheese plates but also side dishes pasta soup and even broccoli mashed potatoes as Olivia looked at the edible treasure her stomach growled loudly she hadn't eaten since the previous night and had given the last bit of porridge to her children for dinner with undisguised appetite she looked at the plates of food after a moment of thought she quickly took out a couple of empty plastic containers from
the refrigerator and began to transfer the leftover fruit into them today my children will not go hungry or have to eat thick porridge with water again she thought today they will eat until they're full she was excited that evening the Richie twins got to taste cheese and real meat sausage they devoured the containers of streets that their mother had brought for them with Incredible speed Olivia on the other hand wept with happiness seeing the healthy color and flush slowly appearing on the pale and thin faces of her children she could only swallow a couple of
spoonfuls of vegetable puree as she was overwhelmed with emotions from then on every evening Olivia would discreetly take away the dishes that the restaurant guests had barely touched and bring them home to feed her sons she would only take what the guests had clearly refused to eat and never took what was prepared for future service she knew that the customers who refused the food they had paid for wouldn't ask for it again the main patrons of the king's crown were usually very wealthy people for whom the cost of a refused dish was insignificant they could
spend hundreds of dollars in one evening in a restaurant and not considered as significant expense one day Olivia took in a stray dog that she had found in a garbage yard near her house Cooper was very handsome and obedient his Shaggy ears were constantly twitching in different directions as if he was trying to catch all the sounds around him his black eyes Shone defiantly whenever he saw Olivia or her twins at first Olivia had simply fed the poor animal on the street but her children eventually convinced her to take him home especially since she had
grown attached to him Chef Fred and the waitresses at the restaurant laughed at Olivia they didn't know she had children and thought she was taking the food home for her dog God she's like a skeleton herself Fred would sometimes joke it would be better if Olivia herself ate something she just gives everything to her dog for several months everything went well until the king's crown changed hands a man named Stephen Brooks became the new owner of the restaurant he was young and ambitious but had an obsessive desire to control everything and everyone as a businessman
he was afraid that his restaurant would be constantly robbed by his own employees and that's why he moved from the big city to the province trying to prevent theft before it could happen Mr Brooks installed several video cameras throughout the establishment and personally monitored the employees when he had the chance one evening while staying late at work he saw on the monitor how Olivia was taking leftovers of food that customers had not finished he saw her putting them in containers and leaving with them outraged by what he saw as her audacity Steve immediately summoned the
chef and pointed to the video and then he started questioning him what the hell is this Fred the owner asked clearly upset I gave you the race you asked for and this is how you repay me handing me a pig in a dishwasher's rope why is this woman taking food out of the kitchen so easily did you let her the chef turned pale he did not expect the owner to be so angry over some food well Mr Brooks Fred began hesitantly I mean we got paid for that food these leftovers were just going to be
thrown away in the morning at least now she'll be able to feed her dog then Fred seemed to have an epiphany and quickly at it you know what I don't know Olivia's almost always the last one to leave so I don't know we should check on her the chef eloquently fell silent Mr Brooks let Fred go and began to ponder the only way to stop the increasing thefts would be for him to personally confront the dishwasher and shame her if need be he would even threaten her with firing determined to get to the bottom of
things the businessman located Olivia's home address got into his car and headed straight to her house on the way he spent a long time rehearsing his speech in which he would berate the woman for her pity theft so he pictured himself saying what were you doing there young lady how can you so easily take and steal food from the restaurant kitchen sure maybe it's leftovers for which the full amount of the bill has already been paid but how can you feed raw food to a dog I understand that some waste is tolerable but these ingredients
are expensive the economy is in crisis right now food prices are exorbitant and what you're doing is equivalent to stealing money from the company Mr Brooks was approaching the house he didn't realize that he had driven to the outskirts of the city to one of the poorest and most run-down neighborhoods as he climbed the worn out stairs Mr Brooks hesitantly rang the doorbell a second later Olivia herself answered the door she quickly silenced her barking dog and looked in surprise at her unexpected late-night guest uh good afternoon Mr Brooks began briskly are you Olivia Richie
if I'm not mistaken Olivia continued to look at him with a confused expression finally the bewildered woman replied yes it's me but who are you forgive me for asking Olivia had not yet met the new owner of the restaurant and therefore didn't know what he looked like oh I apologize for coming at this hour I'm the new owner of the king's crown I have a very serious conversation with you may I come in the doc continued to bark Olivia struggled to calm the animal before she could let the businessman inside once he was inside Mr
Brooks immediately noticed the difficult conditions the family was living under the hallway had sagging wallpaper and an old electric floor lamp instead of a chandelier without meaning to Mr Brooks looked past Olivia and saw a small square kitchen where to his great surprise two twin boys were sitting happily eating the very leftovers from the restaurant uh uh uh Mr Brooks got surprised you have children uh yes as you can see Olivia answered calmly Mr Brooks went pale oh my god um I'm really sorry I I came here to reprimand you I thought you were stealing
fruit from the kitchen and feeding it to your dog I'm really sorry I had no idea you had children oh uh yeah those were for my children Olivia said with a bitter smile our guests hardly tried these dishes and at the end of the shift me or Fred still had to dispose of them please understand I would never have done this if it were dishes intended for the customers but after all the customers themselves refused them after paying for them I mean in terms of money the restaurant doesn't suffer any losses Mr Brooks felt extremely
embarrassed oh no no no no don't worry it's all good it's all good um you know what uh let's do it this way let me just go and I'll see you tomorrow okay and I'm really sorry again for bothering you this late um yeah take care guys he apologized humbly and left Olivia's apartment quietly the following day Mr Brooks decided to do something he has never done before that day he woke up early and was in a great mood she was excited about work since the restaurant was something he really enjoyed growing he put on
his best outfit as he was accustomed to doing it whenever he was in a good mood as he arrived at the restaurant he immediately headed for the kitchen everybody was doing their jobs Fred was quickly giving orders to other workers to prepare salads and sauces Miranda who was one of the oldest waitresses greeted Mr Brooks with her broad smile good morning Mr Brooks would you like your hot chocolate as usual she asked no I'm good today I'll actually take wine but later you look special today Miranda said thanks I feel special Mr Brooks normally did
a briefing every morning with all the staff but today he headed straight to the kitchen as Olivia was dealing with another pile of dishes Mr Brooks walked in and asked her to come to his office Olivia's heart dropped she didn't know what was going to happen she made eye contact with Miranda who just smiled back at her don't worry I don't think he's going to fire you I'll tell you more he kind of seems different today Olivia knocked in Steven's office and asked if she could come in there was a loud sound inside his office
as he jumped out from his desk and ran to the door hi yes Olivia please come in take a seat how are you today can't complain got a pile of dishes I gotta do of course hey uh listen I apologize for last night once again don't worry it's all right uh thank you for letting me take the leftovers it's really helping me a lot oh man I think you shouldn't take the leftovers anymore Olivia in fact you know what I'll take care of the food for your kids all right oh Mr Brooks um you don't
have to Olivia call me Steven please and please take this he handed her an envelope with cash is this my salary I think it's too much and it's only the beginning of the month no that's your bonus for doing so many dishes Olivia knew that she really needed the money but she felt so embarrassed at that moment she asked Stephen if there's more work she can do in the restaurant to pay back to which Stephen said there is something you can do for me do you think you and the twins can accompany me on a
trip somewhere long story short she came out of Steven's office beaming with light Miranda noticed it and smiled gently from then on Stephen tried to help her all the time eventually the dishwasher and the restaurant owner developed more serious feelings for each other although Olivia knew that Steven could never replace her children's father she still considered them a kind and loving person for her and her kids meanwhile Stephen was still trying to reduce the financial losses in his restaurant the true culprit behind the theft of valuable Goods was finally discovered he was the chef Fred
he was an excellent chef but it turned out he had some problems with local gangsters before coming to work in the king's crown he had worked as a chef of a gang leader at his house he made good friends and started dealing drugs as a side Hustle but soon he had accumulated debt with drug dealers and was unable to pay them back a large sum as a punishment they obliged him to find products and cook at the gang's Leader's house until he repays his debt as a result he began stealing high-end items from the kitchen
Fred was caught on camera while he was taking expensive fish from the fridge after everything that had come up Fred was expecting to be fired immediately Stephen coldfred to his office and they talked why didn't you tell me Steve began I'm sorry Steve I just I'm sorry I was gonna say it but I was just desperate these guys they were threatening to hurt my family why didn't you go to the police man these are serious matters you can't just try to fix things by stealing man Fred was one of the best chefs in town before
Steve became successful in the city he used to live in this town he started his journey with a food cart Fred was the first employee that Steve had hired Fred just loved his job and often went the extra mile to help Steve when Steve decided to move to the city they fell off for a while Fred you're one of the best chefs I've known you since we were young I want to trust you all right yeah Steve don't get me wrong man I'm not making millions here but I'm going to give you another chance you've
been really good to me and helped me a lot when I was starting out I will never forget that but please be honest with me okay sure Steve thank you so much how much what what's your debt oh it's 20 grand man all right consider it covered I'm gonna talk to them Steve didn't want to fire Fred also because if he wasn't stealing he wouldn't have ended up learning more about Olivia and her sons and now he was seriously considering proposing to Olivia and adopting Noah and Liam he had asked Olivia to move into his
place with the boys they all now live together in a large spacious apartment Stephen's heart was completely healed as he had divorced his wife six months ago because she cheated on him with his business partner now after some time the businessman was ready for a serious genuine relationship and so he decided not to go too far and chose the pure and honest love of Olivia what are your thoughts on the story and characters how would you handle things differently share your thoughts as they may be helpful for those experiencing difficult times if you enjoyed the
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