The Oceanus Hotel lived up to its na as one of the largest hotels in downtown Anworth. Situated on a pri piece of real estate, its interior was luxurious and grand, exuding an air of extravagant wealth.
Compared to the Nimbus Hotel across the street, the Oceanus Hotel’s layout was far more conventional.
The concierge and reception staff inside were highly professional, all dressed in standard suits and looking very proper. It was completely devoid of the debauched scenes lody Sumrs had anticipated.
lody Sumrs had previously reported the Oceanus Hotel’s dual pricing sche and "special services" to Officer Pierce, but she hadn’t heard anything back since.
Presumably, the relevant authorities had investigated and found no issues.
lody was inwardly puzzled. ’Thanks to the knowledge from my past life, I’m one hundred percent certain that Hector Hayes is a bad man.’
’But the Oceanus Hotel seems so normal right now. Is it because Hector Hayes hasn’t started his illicit activities yet, or are they taking place sowhere other than this hotel?’
For a mont, lody couldn’t figure it out.
She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. ’It’s so hard for an ordinary person like to go up against these tycoons. I have no connections, no ins. If I want to investigate further, I’ll have to find another way...’
Now that they had arrived at the tea house where she was eting Holly Rhodes, lody could only push her jumbled thoughts aside and walk in with Sophie Thorne.
Holly Rhodes had already been waiting in the restaurant for a while.
She lived in a luxury apartnt in the city center, not far from the Oceanus Hotel, so it had only been a few minutes’ drive. She had co over to wait as soon as she hung up the phone.
The tropolis Residences was quite far from downtown, and Holly Rhodes was growing impatient. She fud inwardly, feeling more and more that lody Sumrs was just as ill-mannered as Simon Lancaster had described. ’I’m her sister-in-law, for crying out loud, and she’s making wait this long!’
If it weren’t for Simon Lancaster’s career, Holly wouldn’t have wanted to et lody Sumrs at all.
With Rhodes at its zenith, Holly Rhodes fancied herself a great heiress. She looked down on the now-fallen Lancasters, so naturally, she looked down even more on lody Sumrs, who had been raised in the countryside.
According to Simon Lancaster, lody Sumrs was nothing more than an uncouth girl raised by a villager. She had no manners, recognized no family ties, and had even attacked and injured her own biological brother.
Holly felt that a woman like that wasn’t even qualified to speak to her.
At this thought, she irritably picked up her phone to check the ti, preparing to call and hurry them along.
Just then, two people walked over and sat down across from her.
Holly Rhodes looked up, startled. One of them was her cousin Ronan Rhodes’s fiancée, Sophie Thorne.
Holly quickly put on a smile and greeted Sophie, feigning pleasant surprise. "Sophie, what are you doing here? What a coincidence! Are you here for afternoon tea?"
Holly had always felt that Sophie Thorne held herself in high regard. Her attitude toward the family’s side branches like hers was always lukewarm, making her difficult to get along with. She was a bit flattered that Sophie would take the initiative to co and greet her.
She then turned to lody Sumrs beside her. Assuming lody was a friend of Sophie’s, she also put on a fawning smile and asked, "And which family’s young lady might this be?"
lody Sumrs smiled. "Hello, Ms. Rhodes. I’m lody Sumrs. You’re the one who called to ask here."
Holly Rhodes froze, her eyes filled with disbelief.
lody Sumrs was the complete opposite of the big, brawny, dark-skinned country bumpkin she had imagined. She was strikingly beautiful and carried herself with the air of soone who had received an excellent education.
Holly was montarily at a loss. She had planned to put lody Sumrs in her place from the start, but now she didn’t know how to begin.
’And why did lody Sumrs arrive with Ronan Rhodes’s fiancée? What’s their relationship?’
As if sensing Holly’s confusion, Sophie Thorne spoke up. "lody is a good friend of mine. I just ca with her."
Holly was stunned silent for a mont, her eyes wide. The news was such a shock that she couldn’t imdiately process it.
’lody Sumrs and Sophie Thorne are friends?’
’How could a country girl like lody Sumrs be connected to Sophie Thorne, the heiress of the Thorne Family?’
’What in the world is going on?’
Seeing Holly staring wide-eyed without saying a word, lody couldn’t resist prompting her. "Ms. Rhodes, you asked here. What was it you wanted to discuss?"
Holly snapped out of her shock. She glanced from lody to Sophie, her mouth opening and closing, unsure of what to say.
Holly’s original plan had been to promise lody Sumrs a janitorial job at Rhodes. The condition was that lody would have to explain to the Rhodes internal investigation team that Silas Lancaster’s knife attack had been an act of self-defense and that she, lody, had deliberately frad him.
Her plan was to wait until Simon Lancaster was reinstated and then find so random excuse to fire lody.
After all, with unemploynt skyrocketing and Rhodes offering excellent benefits, a janitorial position there was a job people would fight tooth and nail for.
But with Sophie Thorne sitting right there, Holly didn’t dare utter a single word of her prepared speech.
Everyone knew that Ronan Rhodes would one day take over the Rhodes Family business. Holly would have to be out of her mind to offend a friend of Sophie Thorne’s.
Not only that, but Holly suddenly rembered sothing her father had said: upper managent had specifically ordered a strict investigation into Simon Lancaster’s case.
At the ti, both her father and Simon had assud that a competitor with powerful backing had gotten to upper managent.
But looking at it now, who was to say it wasn’t because Sophie Thorne had stood up for her friend and whispered in Ronan Rhodes’s ear?
Seeing the two won across from her looking at her quizzically, Holly forced a smile and began tentatively, "Hello, Miss Sumrs. I’m the girlfriend of your older brother, Simon Lancaster."
But lody Sumrs just shook her head. "Simon Lancaster is not my older brother, and I have nothing to do with the Lancasters. Ms. Rhodes, you should just get straight to the point."
At lody’s words, Holly gave an awkward laugh and forced herself to continue. "Miss Sumrs, it’s like this... I heard you had a little misunderstanding with Simon’s younger brother, and now Simon has been demoted because of it. I was just thinking... since you’re all family, it would be best to clear things up."
She carefully watched lody’s expression as she spoke. Seeing that it remained neutral, Holly breathed a sigh of relief and pressed on tentatively. "At the end of the day, this whole thing really has nothing to do with Simon. It was all his brother’s fault... So, how about you show a little rcy, Miss Sumrs, and give Simon another chance...?"
When lody lowered her gaze and said nothing, Holly quickly added, "Don’t worry, Miss Sumrs, I’ll make sure Simon keeps his brother in line. He absolutely won’t dare to offend you again."
Then she turned to Sophie. "Sophie, Simon is really a very capable person. Wouldn’t it be better for the company to reinstate him and let him continue to generate profit, rather than having him do nial tasks?"
lody looked at Holly’s nervous expression and let out a long sigh.
Holly clearly looked like soone who had been spoiled by her family her whole life. To see her humbling herself and begging them for Simon Lancaster’s sake... lody suddenly felt it was a complete waste.
It would have been one thing if Simon Lancaster’s feelings for her were genuine, but lody knew his heart belonged to Sylvia Lancaster.
lody then looked at Holly and said with sincere earnestness, "Ms. Rhodes, the Lancaster Family is bankrupt. Why are you wasting your ti on Simon Lancaster? Forgive for being blunt, but I’m afraid he is not a good match for you. If you’re planning to give him your heart, it would be best... to be more cautious."
Holly hadn’t expected lody to say sothing like that, and she was stunned.
Holly was actually very satisfied with Simon Lancaster.
In the ti they had been together, she felt that Simon was both accepting and patient with her.
After Simon was demoted, Holly’s parents had urged her to break up with him and find soone else.
Holly understood her parents’ reasoning, but ever since she started dating Simon, she found that no one else asured up.
Other n either weren’t as handso as Simon or weren’t as gentle. None of them had his Ivy League education, let alone his uniquely noble and refined air.
That was the kind of air that could only be cultivated through generations of accumulated wealth.
Holly suppressed her annoyance and said to lody, "Miss Sumrs, I know you and your brother have your issues, but you don’t know anything about my relationship with Simon, so there’s no need for you to judge it. Simon... he’s very good to !"
lody sighed in resignation. She knew there was no getting through to a girl in love.
But Sophie Thorne spoke up. "Cousin, have you ever heard of a certain type of man? When he’s down on his luck, he’ll be incredibly good to the woman by his side, grateful that she’s sticking with him through thick and thin."
"But the mont he makes it big, the first thing he’ll do is dump her. Whether it’s by giving her the cold shoulder or through open hostility, he’ll use every trick in the book to force her to be the one to break up with him."
Holly was confused. She frowned, completely bewildered. "What... what are you two trying to say?"
Sophie and lody exchanged a look, each seeing the resignation in the other’s eyes.
Then Sophie looked at Holly and said seriously, "It’s not really my place to say this, but you are Ronan’s cousin, so I have to warn you. Simon Lancaster’s feelings for you may not be genuine. He’s always had improper feelings for that switched-at-birth sister of his."
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