“Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM,” Ethan announced, looking directly at Robert, “I want every single internal employee grievance and guest complaint log from the last twelve months on my desk. Unfiltered.”
Robert nodded stiffly. Patricia began to cry openly now, while Karla stared blankly at the floor, completely hollowed out.
Ethan gently took the crystal vase from Lupita’s hands. “Thank you, Lupita.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Vance,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Not for them… but for the hotel. No child should arrive at a place completely exhausted and be met with this.”
Lily, half-asleep again, murmured into Ethan’s neck, “Mommy always said flowers shouldn’t be left to feel sad.”
Ethan felt a sharp, heavy ache pierce his chest. He watched Lupita carefully arrange the bent roses in the water with practiced, delicate hands. Looking at that simple act of devotion, Ethan made a decision that would completely dismantle the power structure of the Grand Regent Hotel.
But before he could say another word, Robert’s phone buzzed aggressively in his hand. The manager looked at the screen, and his face turned entirely gray.
Someone had just accessed the secure server and wiped the digital logs.
PART 3
“Who deleted the files, Robert?” Ethan asked, his voice deathly quiet.
The general manager didn’t answer. His smartphone was visibly shaking in his hand. Patricia stopped crying instantly, her breath hitching, while Karla glanced toward the staff exit door, subtly calculating how long it would take her to walk out and never look back.
Lupita remained perfectly still. Lily had drifted completely back to sleep against her father’s shoulder, entirely insulated from the corporate disgrace filling the room like heavy smoke.
“Robert,” Ethan repeated, stepping closer. “I asked you a question.”
