Percy noticed that the manager looked anxious and dared not to take the credit card from him. He frowned and repeated again, "The bill, please!"
"Yes, sir!" The manager had no choice but to take Percy's credit card. "A moment, please."
After taking Percy's card, the manager walked out of the private room, signaled to the waitress, and instructed her in a low voice, "Go check the women's restroom and see what happened to the mirrors!"
"The mirrors?" The waitress was puzzled. What could be wrong with the mirrors?
"Just go and check," the manager instructed firmly.
"Yes." The waitress dared not to delay any longer. She practically jogged over, heading to the women's restroom.
As she pushed the door open, she looked at the sink area. When she saw the mirrors, she could not help but be surprised.
The perfectly fine mirrors had been smashed to pieces!
The waitress quickly glanced around. There were no tools around that could have smashed the mirrors, and there was no bloodstain around the area. They definitely were not smashed by hand.
She felt puzzled and hurried back to inform the manager, "Manager, the mirrors have been smashed."
"How could the perfectly fine mirrors crack?" The manager did not pay attention to what the waitress said. He only thought that the mirrors had cracked.
The waitress shook her head and repeated, "Manager, they're not cracked. I think someone used something to smash them!"
"The mirrors were smashed?" The manager was dumbfounded for a moment. Was it not said that the mirrors cracked with just a touch?
However, Percy's wife did not have a reason to smash their mirrors. He shook his head, glanced at the credit card in his hand, and decided to set the matter aside for now.
He walked to the cashier counter. Then, he said, "Give a 10% discount for Room 10. Oh, and add the price of the mirrors in the women's restroom."
"Yes, sir." Even though the cashier was confused, she still took out the restaurant's price list, glanced at it, and calculated the price to process the payment.
After the payment was made, the manager took the credit card and walked back. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
The waitress asked, "Manager, what should we do about the restroom mirrors?"
"Contact the store. Have them send new ones to replace them. We can't leave the broken mirrors be.
It’ll affect the image of the restaurant. It's best to have them fixed tonight."
The manager instructed the waitress, then took the credit card and the receipt into the private room.
In the private room, the four people were still sitting there. They had lost interest in discussing matters because of what Karen did.
The manager entered the room with a forced smile on his face. "Mr. Mallory, please sign this bill."
Percy glanced at the bill handed to him. The price must have included the cost of the mirror. He signed his name on the bill.
The manager noticed that Percy did not ask about the price. He let out a sigh of relief and handed back the credit card.
After receiving it, Percy gave a meaningful look to Luke. "I haven't had enough to drink today. After I finish handling Mallory Corporation’s matters, let's drink together again."
"Okay." Luke also stood up and left with them.
The manager escorted the four of them to the entrance. After they left, he brought the waitress to the women's restroom. He first made sure there was no one inside before entering.
When he entered the restroom, he finally saw the mirrors. As the waitress had said, they did not look cracked but rather like they had been smashed.
His expression turned strange, and he went straight to the security office.
He pulled up the restaurant's surveillance footage. Not many people went into the restroom during this period. Aside from Luke, Percy, Nina, and Luca, there were two other individuals—one middle-aged woman and a young woman.
The manager frowned. Even though Percy's wife took responsibility for everything, he could not shake the feeling that the middle-aged woman was more suspicious.
Before she went in, she even flipped the cleaning sign upright. When she came out, she put the sign back in its original place and then went into the adjacent utility room, where she took a tool similar to a wrench before entering the restroom again.
"Who is this?" The manager frowned. Since the surveillance footage was not aimed right, he could not see the person's face clearly.
Although the surveillance could not capture the person's identity, he followed the footage and saw that the woman came out of Room 13 and returned there after leaving the restroom.
"Bring in the reservation records for Room 13." The manager pressed the intercom, notifying the cashier to send him the data.
They kept records of every dining reservation for a month.
After a while, the cashier's attendant brought the reservation records to him.
"Manager, these are the reservation details for Room 13."
"Why is there a table reserved by a man?" The manager frowned when he saw 'Mr.' written on it.
"I remember the guests in Room 13. It was a lady, and the man accompanying her seemed to be her subordinate. Anyway, when they came to pay the bill, it was the lady who handed me the credit card." The cashier's attendant already knew about the restroom incident.
Even though the restaurant was upscale, it was not a large establishment. Anything that happened could be known in no time.
"Did you pay attention to the information on the credit card?" asked the manager.
"Yes, her family name is Ruiz," replied the cashier.
"Ruiz? Why would Mr. Mallory pay for this woman?" The manager was even more puzzled.
"Manager, have you forgotten? Mr. Mallory's mother's family name is Ruiz, and her name is Karen," whispered the cashier.
She was keen on all kinds of gossip news. The news reports clarifying Karen's situation had not subsided yet, so when she saw Karen, she recognized her immediately. At the same time, she knew that Karen was Percy's mother.
"Oh, yes, Karen!" The manager slapped his forehead. He had forgotten such important information.
"No wonder Mr. Mallory paid for the broken mirrors!" added the manager. His mother caused such trouble. That was why he had to handle it. Otherwise, if he found out later and investigated the surveillance, it would still be revealed.
This was not a glorious matter. Thus, Percy willingly took responsibility. This way, he did not have to worry about any negative rumors spreading.
"Alright, the money's been compensated. We know who did it, and fortunately, no one got hurt. Let's end it here. Also, don't go out and tell others about this. Don't let the others in the restaurant know about this either, or you'll be in trouble, got it?" reminded the manager. He knew the personalities of his employees.
The cashier had a big mouth, and she would talk about anything.
"Yes, I got it. Don’t worry, I won't say anything,” replied the cashier. After the manager's reminder, she dared not say anything about it.
"You may leave. Ask them to hurry and come and fix it," the manager reminded the cashier once more.
After the cashier left, he could not help but heave a sigh. "When this woman loses her temper, it's truly terrifying. She didn't care about the occasion and just smashed the mirrors. I wonder who offended her."
After that, he let out another cold shiver. This matter was really hard to explain...
Fortunately, Karen did not cause trouble for their restaurant. Even though she went about it sneakily by smashing their restroom mirrors, it was a good thing she stopped herself from causing more trouble openly. It was likely because Percy was around.