CHAPTER 494 REAL OR FAKE
“It’s not abuse. But the dining table is like a black, heavy cloud that’ll rain if not being careful when eating at Daddy’s place. It makes me lose my appetite.” Annie lifted her hand up to wipe her mouth. Seeing that Alan was staring deeply at her, she couldn’t help but stuck out her tongue, “Dad, are you not happy with what I said?”
It wasn’t that Alan was upset, but felt like he owed his child. He reached out to rub the top of her hair, “You’re telling the truth and dad isn’t unhappy, but I feel a little sorry for you and mommy.”
Chloe murmured, “There’s no difference. Consider you have conscience.”
Olive put a food into his bowl and smiled, “Enough. Nothing’s to feel sorry of. Consider I’m lucky to have taken a good man like you to Luo City. It’s quite normal for the old lady gets a little angry.”
Olive’s parents secretly sighed. It was really sad seeing the relationship between their daughter and her mother-in-law still had no progress.
That afternoon, Olive couldn’t take a break and went to the hotel. She had brought small fights for everyone in the general manager.
“I want it too,” her secretary exclaimed with joy.
“Of course. You even get couple set with Ted. Think of them as my wedding gift in advance for you two. But, open them after you guys finish your work,” Olive smiled. She swept her eyes around the room and couldn’t find her assistant’s shadow. “Rou, call Ted to my office.”
“Okay.” Her secretary hugged Ted’s gift in her arms and happily returned to her seat to make a call.
Although they weren’t allowed to open it now, when Olive was gone, no one could stop their impatience and there was rustling noises.
“Wow. It’s my favorite perfume.”
“The lipstick that I want.”
“My dream, out-of-print Jackson’s disc. Cool.”
What’s yours?”
“An autographed photo of my prince charming.”
Amidst the joy, someone asked suspiciously, “How does Director Steele know that these are what we like?”
“Yeah. This is amazing.”
Not really. It was that Olive sometimes hung out with them and occasionally attend their after get off work parties. Men and women played together and talked about everything, including what hobbies they usually had. They spoke unintentionally, but she listened tentatively.
Not all of these gifts were prepared by her alone. There were some things that she wasn’t capable of, but it didn’t matter. Someone was, for example, Kent Bai, the capable people and strangers under him. They weren’t useless. Besides, those things were easy for them, but for some people who desired it, they were hopeless.
Ted rushed over after receiving the call, “Olive, you’re back.”
“Yeah. I just got off the plan. There aren’t any problems with the hotel, right?”
Ted answered, “No, but…”
Olive slightly frowned at his hesitation, “But what?”
“I don’t if you’ve heard that the chairman has found his biological daughter.”
So that was what it was. She thought it was something big. She was surprised at first. “I’ve heard. What’s the problem?”
“Nothing. But you won’t leave not that she’s back, right? As far as I know, that woman named Susan is quite capable. Not only she’s a top business student, she also holds an important position in a large foreign company. I think the chairman has the meaning to ask her to resign and come back to take care of the hotel. I know that Mr. Hoyle has long wanted you to work for him. You won’t take this opportunity to leave the hotel, right? We don’t want you to leave.”
Ted was being sincere and not flattering her. On the surface, he was mixed up with this hotel, but in the end, he was just a worker.
If a worker could meet a good boss who appreciated and used his potential, it was his luck. And he cherished this luck.
“I haven’t said I want to leave. Why are you being nervous here?” Olive rolled her eyes at him. If she wanted to leave, she had to figure out the truth first before that. She couldn’t give the hotel to someone with unknown origin.
Ted snickered, “I’m just worried. If you’re leaving, where are we going to find a good leader like you?”
“Hmph. Stop flattering me…”
Olive was about to ask him about the woman named Susan, but she didn’t expect a hearty laugh came from the outside and it interrupted their conversation.
The old man from the Geve walked in with charisma and accompanied by a young woman. It seemed that the old man had been well and felt very happy.
“Who said about leaving? Olive, you can’t leave this sick old man.”
“Look at your refreshing appearance. You don’t look like a sick old man at all,” Olive smiled and stood up from her seat to welcome him. She helped him to sit on the sofa, then turned to Ted, “Prepare us tea.”
“Look at your sweet mouth,” Norton beamed with joy. He looked a bit like a Maitreya Buddha, but his body had grown thinner than before because of his illness. Fortunately, his still had his good spirit.
“My mouth still wants to say that seeing you’ve come to the hotel today, it seems that you’re recovering well. I initially wanted to wait until I got off work to visit you. I didn’t expect you to be one step ahead of me.”
“The moment I heard you’ve returned, I wanted to go out, so I came. Lest you run away, right?”
“Uncle Norton, look at you. You’ve recovered a lot. How about you come back and take charge of everything?”
Norton waved is hand, “I’m old and it’s the world you young people. This hotel really can’t go on without you. Don’t even think to run away from me after marrying that Alan Hoyle.”
“Look at what you said. I don’t have that great ability. You think too highly of me,” Olive chuckled. Then she turned her attention to the young woman. She had seen her picture, so she looked familiar. “Uncle Norton, I’ve heard that you’ve already found your daughter. It must be this beautiful lady, right?”
Norton was puzzled, “Huh? Your news is pretty well-informed. Who told you? I obviously told them not to tell you because I want to personally announce it when you’ve come back.”
“I just knew it too,” Olive smiled and stretched out her right hand. “Hello, my name is Olive Steele.”
The woman also stretched out her fair hand and clasped with hers. She faintly smiled, “Hello, I’m Susan. I’ve heard about you from my father these days. I’m very thankful that you take care of him and the hotel during his period of serious illness.”
Susan’s Chinese wasn’t that fluent and she had the unique accent of a foreigner. She wasn’t used to talk in Chinese, but her meaning was well understood.
“It’s my job. You’re welcome.” Olive couldn’t help but stared. The woman before her was capable and fitting. She should be a veteran who had been in the workplace for many years. She was different from a weak heroine what TV series usually depicted nowadays.
It looked like it wouldn’t be easy to see her flaws with naked eyes.
Ted had made tea and brought them over. “Enjoy.”
“Shall we have dinner together with your kid tonight?” Norton suggested.
Olive naturally agreed and the location was set at the Angel Hotel. She couldn’t let outsiders to handle it, so she let Ted to do it.
Norton laughed and said to Susan, “Try the food of our family’s hotel. The chef was hired personally by Olive herself.”
Susan also smiled, “Really? It seems that Director Steele is really responsible for everything. It’s no wonder that in a short period of time, she can bring a hotel that was on the verge of bankruptcy back to life. And it grows better now that it’s in her hands.”
“Thank you for Ms. Susan’s compliment,” Olive said modestly.
But Norton felt the conversation go awkward, “Okay, okay. You two don’t have to call this Director Steele, call that Ms. Susan. Susan, Olive is older than you for a few days, so you have to treat her like a sister now, understand? If it weren’t for her and her man, your father won’t be alive until now and the hotel won’t be able to survive. So, they two people are people we’re, the Geve, grateful for. You have to remember.”
“I know, father. I’ll remember them,” Susan said obediently, then stood up and bowed to Olive, “Thank you, Olive.”
“Oh, stop. This is making me feel embarrassed. Uncle Norton, why did you say these emotional things?” Olive was afraid that she couldn’t bear such honor.
Norton was in a high spirit and the smile never left his face. “Fine, I won’t say it anymore. I’ll remember that.”
“Uncle Norton, I’m being serious with you. Now that your daughter has been found too, shouldn’t it be the time for you to lessen my stress?” Olive asked with a smile, eyes glancing with meaning to Susan. She was prettier than in the picture. At first glance, she indeed looked like a likeable person. But she didn’t know what she was thinking at the moment.
She was afraid that she was another face of beauty but with a snake heart. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
Norton felt a little pissed. “You can’t leave this hotel. We have a deal—you’ll help me taking care of Angel Hotel.”
Olive smiled, “Uncle Norton, I don’t mean that. I mean, Susan has returned now, shouldn’t we let her take over some stuffs of the hotel? Sooner or later, she has to get familiar with the hotel’s business, right? This hotel will have to be left to her in the future.”
“No, no, no. Olive, don’t say that,” Susan hurriedly declined. “The hotel is in perfect order under your management. The staffs are all like you. So, I won’t intervene. Besides, I’m working now in a company in the United States. This time I was on a business trip to Luo City and I happened to meet my biological parents. This was an unexpected gain—a gift from the Lord. I already feel very happy. My adoptive parents have passed away a few years ago. I have no relatives in the United States. Now, I have a father and a mother, I’m ecstatic. I want to spend more time with them, so I plan to submit an application to the US headquarters to transfer my job to Luo City. I love my job very much, so you still should take care of Angel Hotel. My father is relieved to leave it to you.”