“You looking for a beating?” Xavier lifted his eyes, glaring darkly at him.
The young man shivered and quickly sat down properly on the sofa. “Everything you asked for is done! We should be getting results by tomorrow.”
“You confident?”
“Come on! Don’t you know how capable I am?” The young man thumped his chest with pride. “I’m Falcon, the top hacker in Vernon! There’s no system in this world I can’t break into. Just wait and see!”
“Hmm.” Xavier nodded, then pointed to the door. “You can go now.”
But Falcon didn’t move. “Boss, we haven’t seen each other in forever! As your top employee and key team member, shouldn’t you have a nice long chat with me to boost morale? Otherwise, I might get some evil ideas about jumping ship.”
As he spoke, he kept stealing glances toward the bedroom.
“There&rsqu
Back in her room, the moment the door closed, Karina couldn’t hold it in any longer.Leaning against the door, she screamed at the top of her lungs to vent her fury.She only stopped when her throat began to hurt.Lifting her head, she glared in the direction of Serena’s room above and growled viciously, “Serena Knowles, how dare you humiliate me like this—I won’t let you get away with it! Just you wait!”Outside the presidential suite on the 36th floor.After Karina left, Xavier waved his hand and said to Brody, “Keep all the footage from today safe. It might come in handy later.”Brody asked in confusion, “Sir, didn’t Miss Knowles promise just now that the videos wouldn’t be made public? If that’s the case, what use would they be?”With a slight frown, Xavier’s lips curled coldly, “When did you become so talkative?”Brody’s f
Clenching her teeth so hard it felt like they might break, Karina finally looked up, forcing a smile in Serena’s direction.“M-Miss Knowles…” Each word was painfully difficult to say. “It was my fault! I shouldn't have disturbed your rest or spoken so rudely to you. I… sincerely apologize and hope… you can forgive me.”Serena nodded with satisfaction. “Mhm! Now that’s more like it.”Karina secretly let out a breath of relief.But in the next second, she heard Serena say, “What if I don’t forgive you? After all, your insults earlier were truly vile. Even after washing my ears several times, they still feel dirty!”“...” This time, Karina was on the verge of exploding!She felt her tolerance being pushed to the absolute limit.She was clenching her fists so hard that her nails were nearly digging into the flesh of her palms.But in
The man first gave her a thorough once-over, and after confirming she was fine, he offered a polite, businesslike smile and replied, “Miss Knowles, I brought Miss Carter here to apologize to you.”“Apologize?!”Serena was genuinely surprised and turned her gaze to Karina.At this moment, Karina was standing stiffly, her face stern and brows furrowed, looking arrogant and domineering—nowhere near an apologetic attitude.Originally, Serena didn’t need or even care about her apology.But Karina’s haughty posture really rubbed her the wrong way.So she crossed her arms, raised a brow, and with a sweet yet sarcastic smile, said, “Sir, look at Miss Carter! Does she look like someone here to apologize? Someone who didn’t know better might think I was the one in the wrong and owed her an apology!”Xavier turned back at the sound of her voice, just in time to catch a flicker of irrita
Karina furrowed her brows, heart in complete turmoil.If she refused to apologize to Serena, Xavier would definitely pull up the front desk footage. By then, wouldn’t he find out she’d actually hit the receptionist?Her image in his mind had already taken a massive hit because of her verbal abuse toward Serena—she couldn’t afford to make things worse.“Xavier…” Holding onto one last hope, she softened her voice, almost begging, “Can’t we let this go for the sake of my father? I just… I can’t bring myself to apologize to a woman who humiliated me.”Pulling out her father now, huh?Xavier sneered inwardly!If he were intimidated by her father or the Carters, he wouldn’t have tried every possible way to reject the arranged marriage with them.But appearances had to be maintained—for now, he didn’t want to completely tear things apart.So he
“No need, really! There’s no need!” Karina was still struggling to make a final effort.But Xavier’s tone was unusually firm. “No, this matter must be thoroughly investigated both emotionally and rationally! Not only to give you an explanation, Miss Carter, but also to provide one to the entire hotel staff and every guest staying here!”“Brody is someone I personally selected and transferred to be the team leader. If he did mishandle things, then I also bear responsibility, and I must apologize to all our employees!”“Moreover, this is a matter of public order! If not properly investigated and it spreads, other guests might begin to doubt the hotel’s security, which could affect our business!”“So, I hope Miss Carter will stop obstructing me and allow me to carefully finish watching this surveillance footage, alright?”Every word he spoke was reasonable and left Karina speechless.
Both people in the room turned toward the source of the voice.At the office door, Xavier stood tall, one hand casually in his pocket. His already commanding presence was further amplified by the sharp, dark-gray tailored suit he wore, making him look impossibly striking—impossible to look away from.Karina’s eyes sparkled as she called out sweetly, “Xavier, you’re done already?”“Mhm. Sorry to keep you waiting. They were doing the final prep run for the opening ceremony in the main hall. This hot spring resort is X Group’s biggest hospitality project this year, and as the person in charge, I can’t afford to be careless. I took extra care checking the setup—ended up taking more time.”“There’s no need to explain so much to me.” Karina lowered her gaze shyly, her tone both bashful and pleased. “The Carters’in business too. I’ve grown up around this stuff—I