“Suite 904,” she whispered. “Corporate reservation. Confirmed two weeks ago.”
Lupita looked at the roses. “They’re beautiful, sir. Are they for someone special?”
Ethan lowered his eyes. “My wife. Tomorrow marks three years since she passed.”
Lupita’s face softened. “I’m so sorry. Let me get a vase. Flowers like that shouldn’t be left to wilt.”
As she walked away, Karla muttered, “This is why you don’t give cleaning staff too much freedom. They start thinking they own the place.”
Ethan looked up.
“Repeat what you just said.”
PART 2
Karla’s smile disappeared.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Yes, you did,” Lupita said quietly. “And it’s not the first time.”
Ethan turned to Patricia. “Get the general manager.”
“He’s busy,” she said.
“Then tell him Ethan Vance is waiting at the front desk.”
The name hit them like ice water.
Within minutes, Robert Sterling, the hotel’s general manager, rushed into the lobby. The moment he saw Ethan, his posture collapsed.
“Mr. Vance… I had no idea you were arriving tonight.”
“That was the point,” Ethan said.
Robert tried to blame “administrative confusion.”
“It wasn’t confusion,” Ethan replied. “It was profiling.”
Lily stirred. “Daddy… are we at the room yet?”
“Almost, sweetheart.”
Lupita offered to escort them upstairs and bring warm milk. Lily looked at her and asked, “Can you carry my bunny too?”
Lupita smiled. “Your bunny gets VIP treatment tonight.”
Robert tried to defend his staff, calling it security protocol.
Ethan’s voice sharpened.
“What protocol allows staff to mock a guest because of his jacket? What protocol lets someone deny a valid booking without checking properly? And what protocol says housekeeping employees don’t deserve respect?”
No one answered.
