Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 17

The worries in her heart dissipated one by one, and for once, Larissa slept soundly.

After the morning meeting, she was once again asked to stay behind by the general manager.

Larissa thought he was about to tell her to leave immediately. Unexpectedly, the general manager’s expression was a picture of happiness when he told her, “You don’t have to leave.”

“But why?” Larissa hardly mirrored his joy, but she was curious, all the same, regarding the reasoning behind his words.

She did not think that Travis and Amber would let her off the hook so easily. Furthermore, Mr. Fox had a much higher rank than the general manager of the Regal Dynasty Hotel. Mr. Compton should not have had the courage to ignore his demands.

“I’ve reported the entire incident to Mr. Rogers, and he said that he will take care of everything. Mr. Rogers instructed that your position should be reinstated and for you to return to work as normal.” ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Mr. Rogers? Kevan Rogers?” Larissa was a bit surprised.

The general manager frowned. “You might be able to get off from calling Mr. Rogers by his full name here, but don’t you ever do the same thing outside of this room! If Mr. Rogers catches wind of you disrespecting him like this, he might ask you to leave and when that happens, I can no longer cover for you anymore!”

Larissa thought to herself that it seemed that Kevan’s position in Soaring Corporation was ranked higher than Mr. Fox’s.

But considering the fact that he too, was the president of Microworks Corporation, along with his position on the board of senior executives of Soaring Corporation, would he be too busy to handle everything?

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she chided herself promptly. How ridiculous of her! It was pointless for her to worry about him at all anyway.

Whether he could handle it or not was his own business. It had nothing to do with her.

“I don’t think there’s a need to bother Mr. Rogers,” Larissa said. “With the years of training and guidance I have received from you, even if I leave Regal Dynasty, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding another job.”

“But if you want to continue working in the hotel industry, Regal Dynasty is your best option.”

The general manager’s words had successfully swayed her firm heart.

He was not wrong. There were only two seven-star hotels in the nation, and both of them were under the Regal Dynasty.

In terms of the working environment, salary and benefits, and even future development opportunities, the Regal Dynasty was at the forefront of the industry, having left its runners-up in the dust.

Larissa was certain that she would not have been able to find another job better than the one she currently had.

“Moreover, I have already bothered Mr. Rogers about this matter.” The general manager glared at her. “If you insist on resigning, you will not just be disappointing me and Mr. Rogers, but you’ll also be making it extremely difficult for me to explain things to Mr. Rogers.”

Larissa thought about it for a long time before she finally spoke. “Fine, I’ll stay. But I can’t guarantee that President Fox will not target me again. I feel bad having to bother you and Mr. Rogers to settle things for me every time that happens.”

The general manager remained silent.

After a few moments, he replied, “Just don’t be hasty in resigning yet. Wait and see for a bit.”

…

Larissa did not take the general manager’s words to heart. Instead, she continued quietly handing over her work to her two assistants.

When it was her turn to work the night shift that night, she did not return to Foxtail Garden but chose to stay in the private staff room.

Andrew called her at about 9.00 pm.

It was then that Larissa remembered that it was Friday, which was also the day he and his girlfriend would be in Covenford.

Larissa hadn’t wanted to pick up his call at all, but now that Andrew was here in Covenford, he was also a guest at the Regal Dynasty Hotel, which made him her customer, and customers were supposed to be treated as “gods.”

She inhaled deeply.

“Hi,” she said, struggling to regulate her emotions. She did not want to channel her anger toward his brother onto Andrew.

“I’m already in the Regal Dynasty. I’m checking in.” Andrew’s voice was cold and hard. “Come to the front desk right now,” he commanded.

Larissa was stunned. Instinctively, she asked, “Is something wrong?”

Andrew replied impatiently, “Of course, there’s something wrong! I wouldn’t have called you if there wasn’t!”

Larissa bit her lips. “He is a guest; endure it,” she repeated in her heart.

“Alright, please just wait for a moment. I’ll be right down.”

She rushed to the front desk.

There were four or five customers lined up in a total of three lines at the front desk, all waiting for their check-in. In one of the lines was a tall and skinny young man.

Larissa took a closer look. It was Andrew.

He leaned against the counter, his head lowered as he scrolled at his phone.

In front of him, the woman managing the front desk grimaced, her face filled with awkwardness and helplessness.

“Andrew.” Larissa tapped him on his shoulders, forcing a smile.

Andrew raised his head. His expression was unpleasant as he complained, “What took you so long?”

Larissa suppressed the anger rising within her and asked, “What happened?”

Andrew began interrogating her coldly, “Didn’t I ask you to book a room for me?”

“I booked it right after you asked me to that day.”

Larissa swept her gaze over the three receptionists working at the front desk that night before she realized that Livie was not among them. “Is there an error in the system? Couldn’t you find his booking information in the database?” she asked the receptionist attending to Andrew.

“I found it.” The receptionist’s answer came quickly. “But the guest refuses to pay for the room fees—” Her voice gradually faded. “He said he’s your brother-in-law, and he wants to place all of his expenses

on your tab. Our hotel doesn’t have policies that allow situations like this, and—”

And so, the two of them were at a standoff, and it was starting to affect the other guests.

“Isn’t your hotel a seven-star hotel? Don’t your employees know how to adapt?” Andrew scowled at the receptionist. He huffed coldly, “You’ll be fired tomorrow!”

The receptionist had evidently taken his words seriously. Her big eyes were helpless as she glanced sideways at Larissa.

Andrew’s self-serving and toxic attitude as a bully made Larissa sick to her stomach.

She stepped forward to console the receptionist, “You did what was right. In the future, if the same thing happens, you should stick to what you did just now.”

The receptionist was startled, and she let out a sigh of relief. A joyful smile lit up her face. “Understood, Ms. Seymour!”

Andrew, on the other hand, turned his head in shock and stared at Larissa.

“What do you fucking mean?”

“My point is—” Larissa took back her smile, staring directly into his eyes, and spoke seriously. “Our hotel does not keep tabs, and no one is ever allowed to break this rule.”

Her expressionlessness gave her a cold, arrogant bearing. When she was serious, the air she radiated made a majority of the people around her feel easily intimidated.

Andrew naturally happened to fall into that category too.

He avoided her gaze somewhat guiltily. Since he was afraid of Larissa, he could only lash out at the innocent receptionist. “Can you give me my damn room card now?” The volume of his voice was considerably lower than before.

Seeing that he and Larissa really knew each other, the receptionist hurriedly went to hand him his room card.

“Wait.” Larissa stopped her.

The girl stared at Larissa dumbfounded, not knowing what she should do next.

Larissa raised her chin and pointed at Andrew. “He hasn’t paid for his room yet.”

Her words made both the receptionist and Andrew freeze in shock.

“Aren’t you—aren’t you paying for him?” the receptionist asked in a small voice.

“Of course not.” Larissa’s refusal was direct and firm. She reminded Andrew, “Our hotel requires its guests to pay their room fees before they check-in. You can pay the remaining charges—if any—when you check out.”

Andrew stared at her in disbelief, his mouth slightly agape, and his face flushed in shock.

When he’d returned to his senses, he scolded, “Is this how you treat me as my sister-in-law?”