Chapter 2

Nicki came hurrying toward us in big strides. She heaved a deep breath as her gaze fell on me.

"Stop causing a fuss here, Gene Sherman. You should've let me know before coming here."

Nicki wiped the sweat off her forehead.

Meanwhile, Joseph placed his hand on Nicki's arm and fixed me with a contemptuous gaze. "So, you're Mr. Sherman. For a second, I really thought you were my future brother-in-law since you kept insisting that you're Ms. Surridge's younger brother."

I inhaled deeply. It turned out these two were in a relationship. That explained why Joseph was so rude and brazen.

"What do you think?"

Nicki looked at Joseph. "Why don't you give him a discount?"

My heart sank.

"Nicki, when do we ever have any rule regarding the hotel fining customers over something so trivial? Do you have any documents to support that? Otherwise, what you're doing is against the law!"

Joseph seemed completely unbothered. "Hmph! Ms. Surridge's orders are the rules! Building and maintaining this fancy restaurant costs a fortune.

"You're just sitting here and making use of our restaurant's extravagance to reel in ladies who come from wealthy backgrounds. Do you think you can act all righteous just because I've been staying silent?

"I'm the manager, so I have a say in this! You have to pay the fine!"

I turned to look at Nicki, who had calmed down a little. "That's enough, Gene. Stop messing around and just pay the fine."

I was exasperated. Nicki knew that I came here for inspection purposes. Yet, she implied that I was messing around. I was so furious that I let out a chuckle.

"Nicki, have you forgotten who owns this hotel? You dare talk to me like that?"

Joseph covered his mouth as he laughed scornfully. "The hotel belongs to Ms. Surridge, of course. You can't possibly say that it's yours.

"Ms. Surridge is rich, pretty, and capable. It's no surprise that she has many admirers. However, it's a really foolish move if one tries to cause a scene here while trying to catch her attention."

Joseph slammed the bill down onto the table. "Enough with the excuses. It's either you pay the fine. Or you can shout 'I'm sorry' three times loudly and admit that you're after rich ladies and you're just here to take nice photos of yourself. If you do, I'll forget about what happened.

"This will serve as a warning to other men so that they won't shamelessly throw themselves at Ms. Surridge. I understand that anyone would want a rich, pretty lady as their partner. Still, they shouldn't do it this way."

Joseph's comments were extremely insulting.

The other customers were starting to give me looks of doubt and scrutiny. Luke was irate. "What nonsense are you talking about? Do you even know who he is? He's—"

Nicki cut him off and shouted, "That's enough! Since we know each other, it'll be enough if you just pay one million dollars in fine!"

I was in disbelief upon hearing her words.

Had she forgotten how she had begged me desperately to help her manage the hotel? Yet now, she wanted me to pay the fine?

I stood up. Joseph subconsciously took a few steps backward. "What are you doing? I'm warning you! You shouldn't solve issues through violence."

"I'm not going to hit you. Instead, I'm going to pay the fine. However, you need to provide me with the receipt as I've requested.

"Also, I'm sorry that everyone else has had an unsatisfactory dining experience today. All of you can line up and claim from my assistant ten thousand dollars as compensation for the emotional distress we've put you through.

"I'll also take care of all your bills. Please allow me some time to talk to these people," I said.

The other customers could tell I had deep pockets and that I knew what I was doing. They got up, one after another. Then, Luke transferred ten thousand dollars to every one of them by scanning the QR code of their bank accounts.

The general dining area was deserted once the other customers had left. It was only then that Nicki seemed to have realized something.

"Gene, you…"

"Let's add everything up, then. How much do I have to pay in total?"

On the other hand, Joseph hadn't realized what was going on. He had a waiter total up all the bills, which amounted to 6.2 million dollars.