PART 4: Whispers in the Boardroom

PART 4: Whispers in the Boardroom

General managers face sudden midnight audits.

Downstairs in the private administrative offices behind the lobby, a very different kind of drama was unfolding.

General Manager Arthur Pendelton—a polished, silver-haired executive who prided himself on running the Grand Regent with iron-fisted efficiency—was leaning over his mahogany desk, furiously signing event contracts for the corporate gala.

The heavy office door burst open without a knock.

Patrick stumbled into the room, his face pale and sweating, followed closely by a deeply anxious Karl.

"Arthur! You have to help us," Patrick choked out, slamming the door shut behind him. "We made a catastrophic mistake."

Arthur didn't look up from his papers. "Patrick, I'm knee-deep in catering budgets for the board members arriving tonight. Unless the kitchen caught fire, handle it."

"It's worse than a fire," Karl blurted out, gripping the edge of the desk. "We turned away a woman with a child... and she turned out to be the corporate booking for Suite 904."

Arthur stopped writing. Slowly, he lifted his head, his sharp gray eyes narrowing behind his designer frames.

"Suite 904? That suite is permanently blocked for the executive ownership group. Only board members or the founder herself can authorize that key."

"She had the digital confirmation code," Patrick whimpered, shaking his head. "And when I checked the secondary terminal after Lupita intervened... it wasn't a guest reservation. The system listed her name as Clara Vance."

The air in the office went dead.

Arthur Pendelton’s face drained of every drop of color. He stood up so fast his leather executive chair rolled backward and slammed into the wood-paneled wall.

"Clara Vance?" Arthur whispered, the name tasting like ash in his mouth. "The founder? The majority shareholder of Vance Hospitality Group? You turned her away?"

"She was wearing a faded jacket!" Patrick defended himself frantically. "She looked like a hitchhiker! How were we supposed to know?!"

"By doing your damn jobs!" Arthur roared, slamming his fist down on the desk with a force that rattled the glass water tumblers. "Do you have any idea who Clara Vance is? She doesn't just own this hotel—she evaluates our entire regional management based on front-line service metrics! If she reports this to the national board, we won't just be fired; we'll be blacklisted from the hospitality industry forever!"

Arthur grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the chair, his hands shaking as he struggled to slide his arms through the sleeves.

"We need to go up there right now," Arthur muttered, panic driving his every movement. "We need to beg for forgiveness before she formalizes a complaint."

Before Arthur could reach the office door, his desk phone rang.

It wasn't an external line.

May you like

Mafia boss Bennett Hale thought the young maid in his mansion was only t...

Mafia boss Bennett Hale thought the young maid in his mansion was only there to clean, until he came home early and found her cryi...

My mother-in-law moved my sister-in-law into my home to give birth. When...

My mother-in-law moved my sister-in-law into my home to give birth. When I objected, my husband slapped me: 'Watch your mouth!' I...

My stepmother had already hidden my newborn daughter inside the ice box...

"My stepmother had already hidden my newborn daughter inside the ice box by the time I heard the muffled crying from the utility r...

It was the direct internal extension from Suite 904.

Arthur froze, staring at the flashing red light on the telephone base as if it were a venomous snake ready to strike.