Chairman's Office

At that moment, the scene was set on the 33rd floor of the Golden Leaf Hotel, inside the Chairman's office. The General Manager, Sean Caldwell, was standing across from a man in his thirties who sat reclined in the Chairman's chair with his legs propped up on the desk. This man was none other than the Chairman of the Golden Leaf Hotel and its largest shareholder, Hugh Greene.

"Sean, has anything noteworthy occurred at the hotel recently?" Hugh inquired. He had come to the South River Province for business and decided to stop by the hotel coincidentally. Typically, he only visited once or twice a year.

"Mr. Greene, everything has been excellent at the hotel. Business is steadily rising, and we've experienced a 20% growth compared to the same quarter last year," replied Sean.

"Well done, Sean. Your end-of-year bonus will be doubled, and the staff's bonus will increase by 50%," Hugh complimented.

"Thank you, Mr. Greene!" Sean bowed gratefully.

"Alright, if there is nothing else, continue with your business. I just came by to take a look, and I'll be leaving soon," Hugh said nonchalantly.

After a moment of thought, Sean spoke up, "Mr. Greene, I need to inform you of something. Yesterday, a customer signed up for a membership card here and immediately deposited 100 million."

"Oh? Did he use his name or his company's name?" Hugh inquired with interest.

"Yes, but just his name. Yesterday, he had a meal that cost one million five hundred thousand dollars and even asked the hotel to prepare his meals every day using only the best ingredients. If he can't come, he instructed us to throw it away," Sean reported.

"Why does he sound like a parvenu to me? How old is he?" Hugh asked.

"Based on his information, he's 21 and seems to be a student from SRU," Sean replied.

"A 21-year-old student spending 100 million just on food? Have you met this person?" Hugh exclaimed.

"No, Mr. Greene. The lobby manager, Pearl Warner, served him yesterday," Sean said.

"Get me Pearl Warner," Hugh commanded.

"Yes, Mr. Greene!" Sean replied, quickly barking into the walkie-talkie, "Is Ms. Warner here? Answer if you hear me!"

After a moment, a voice responded from the walkie-talkie, "Mr. Caldwell, Ms. Warner went out this morning and she's not back yet."

Sean turned to Hugh and said into the walkie-talkie, "Which one of you knows what she's doing?"

"We have no idea. She didn't tell us," the voice from the walkie-talkie replied.

Sean fell silent, looking at Hugh, and then said into the walkie-talkie, "I'll call her now, Mr. Greene."

"No need. We'll wait here and see when she comes back. Sean, a staff member is not in the hotel during work hours, and she even left without saying anything. Is this how you manage your staff?" Hugh scolded.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Greene. It's my mistake. I'll manage them better, and I'll reorganize the hotel," Sean replied, choosing his words carefully.

Inside, Sean was feeling a little angry. Pearl was usually good at her job, so why had she let him down at this crucial moment and caused him to get scolded?

The two men fell silent, with Hugh lowering his head to play with his phone while Sean stood rooted to the spot, not daring to move and only hoping that Pearl would come back soon.

...

After they returned to the hotel, David went straight to his private room for his meal.

Meanwhile, Pearl ran to Sean's office. Someone at the front desk had informed her that the general manager was looking for her.

When Pearl saw that Sean wasn't in his office, she took out her walkie-talkie and asked, "Mr. Caldwell, hello, this is Pearl. I'm in front of your office now. May I know where you are?"

Sean's legs had gone numb from standing in the chairman's office when he finally heard Pearl's voice. He replied, "Pearl, come to the chairman's office."

When Pearl heard Sean ask her to go to the chairman's office, shock rippled through her. Judging from his tone, something must have been amiss. If the chairman was summoning her, it had to be important. Mr. Greene was an enigmatic figure; despite working at the hotel for three years, she had only met him once during the annual dinner. Now, he was asking to see her, but she wasn't even on duty. If she handled this poorly, she would lose her job. She wasn't yet confident in David, and losing this job would cause a lot of trouble. Pearl hastened her steps towards the chairman's office.

Moments later, Pearl arrived at the door of the chairman's office and knocked twice. "Come in," a deep and powerful voice boomed from within. Pearl pushed the door open and saw the general manager, Sean, standing inside. The chairman, Hugh, was seated opposite him.

"Mr. Greene, Mr. Caldwell," Pearl said, introducing herself timidly. She closed the door behind her and approached them.

As Hugh laid eyes on Pearl, he scrutinized her carefully. She was stunning, with a figure that drew attention. Her uniform highlighted her professional demeanor, making her all the more attractive. He couldn't believe that such a remarkable woman worked as a lobby manager. Her talents were being wasted.

"Ms. Warner," Hugh addressed her sternly, "you left your post during working hours without informing anyone. How did you even become a lobby manager?"

Pearl felt nervous as she listened to Hugh's scolding. She had never been comfortable around people in leadership positions. Nevertheless, she spoke up, "I'm sorry, Mr. Greene. I left my post without explicit approval because I needed to accompany a guest."

"Accompany a guest?" Hugh repeated, his voice sharp. "Since when did our lobby manager need to escort our guests? Is this required by the hotel or are you trying to curry favor with that person?"

Hugh had dealt with many women who sought to rise to fame and fortune overnight. He knew that they would do anything to achieve their goals, and he felt that Pearl was no different.

Upon first seeing Pearl, he had a favorable impression of her. However, upon learning that she was going to accompany a hotel guest, he began to think that she was the type of woman who engaged in such behavior. He believed that women like her would do anything for money, including sleeping with guests.

"Mr. Greene, you can penalize me or even fire me, but please don't insult me," Pearl retorted, feeling upset. "Mr. Lidell wanted to purchase a car today and drove it here, so he asked me to help drive it back. As a VIP of our hotel, I agreed to assist him."

Pearl was hurt by Hugh's insinuations that she was promiscuous. She was only 27 years old and found it difficult to resist temptations in a society that was saturated with them. Nevertheless, she refused to compromise her values.

"Who is Mr. Lidell?" Hugh inquired.

"He's the VIP who topped up 100 million yesterday," Sean answered.

"Where is he now?" Hugh asked.

"Mr. Lidell is currently dining in Private Room 3," Pearl replied.

"Let's go meet this VIP. I want to verify your story, Ms. Warner," Hugh suggested before rising from his chair. Sean and Pearl quickly followed him out of his office.