Chapter 31
Ambush
Robert flung the door open roughly as he stormed out of Alex’s office, shoving it closed behind him in anger.
The wooden door, inset with glass panels, creaked loudly as if screaming out the emotions he couldn’t voice, the sound echoing through the office like a noisy protest.
Many hotel staff turned toward the sudden crash, startled, but Robert stood rooted to the spot, saying nothing.
In the corner of the office, his gaze was unexpectedly drawn to one of the cleaning staff—the woman he often passed in the hallways.
A young woman with silver-blonde hair tied in a ponytail.
For some reason, she caught his attention, tugged at something inside him.
No way…
He found himself staring.
But she simply finished the attendance sheet, joining a small group of coworkers as she clocked out, then walked away.
The thought that she—she, of all people—might be working here, in one of the lowest positions of the hotel staff, was so absurd he brushed it off immediately.
Yet something inside him tugged stubbornly.
He felt, irrationally, that he needed to follow her.
His heart was pounding—like it had during that spectacular, unforgettable moment.
At first he thought it was just anger, heart palpitations from frustration and breathlessness.
But he realized it wasn’t that.
That woman…
The one who had called herself Sena—connected somehow to the Palstein ducal family.
It hadn’t even been half a day since she vanished from in front of him.
And yet here he was, noticing another woman?
What’s wrong with me…?
He pressed a hand to his forehead, shaking his head as if to clear it.
Maybe he had been lulled into carelessness by the almost mystical way they had met.
Perhaps—just perhaps—she really had been a con artist.
And if she wasn’t…
Then he did need to rethink everything, just as Alex had said, and choose the best course of action.
“What a day this is!”
Shame washed over him.
Feeling the weight of all the office staff’s stares, he strode away quickly.
Sena signed out on the daily attendance sheet and was finally done with her shift.
Now she had a short break before her evening shift at the bar began.
She planned to return to the dormitory and sleep—but as she turned, a violent slam of a door hit her back like a physical force.
Just hearing her name called during work made her heart leap into her throat these days.
The guilt of running away from Robert, and the fear of him discovering that the noble lady and mask were gone—that she was now nothing more than a cleaning girl—twisted inside her like alternating waves of dread.
One feeling at a time, or sometimes both together, they wrung her conscience dry.
Just thinking about losing this job made her hands shake so badly she could hardly work.
As if being a “bad girl” invited more misfortune, her supervisor Bald wasn’t there today—but the supervisor above him, who often ate with Bald at the bar, and Kati had decided to take it upon themselves to bully her in his place.
Your attitude is awful.
Your memory is awful.
You’re slow.
And you’re an immigrant, at that.
With curled lips and the same condescending tone Bald used, they spent more than ten minutes harassing her with words and authority.
Because of them, her shift ended nearly an hour late.
Kati dumped her own tasks onto Sena and then left early with the supervisor, leaving her behind.
Normally, Sena would welcome overtime pay more than she cared about emotional pain—but not today.
Cleaning cheap guest rooms—not the suite floors—made her painfully aware of how far she had fallen.
She found herself crying quietly while scrubbing a bathroom.
After a while, crying helped a little.
But the thought of facing the two bullies instead of Bald from now on made her stomach twist.
Then came the sharp, angry sound—the door slammed earlier—and she nearly jumped.
She hugged her shoulders, shrinking away, trying not to get involved in whatever chaos was happening.
But something—she didn’t know what—made her turn around.
Her ponytail swayed as she looked behind her.
And there he was.
Robert.
Furious, staring straight at her.
Her blood froze.
Her spine locked in place.
Her veins tightened, refusing to let her move.
That look meant he had found her.
A coworker behind her, waiting to sign out, snapped irritably, “Move if you’re done,” breaking the spell.
The brusque coworker even shoved her lightly to claim her place, giving Sena the chance to escape toward the employees’ locker room without looking back.
Inside the locker room, she leaned against the wall and tried to steady herself.
The blood drained from her face, and her body nearly gave out.
She never imagined he would be here.
I have to get out. Quickly.
She opened her locker and pulled out the clothes she had borrowed from Mia, beginning to change.
As she unbuttoned her uniform, her thoughts drifted back to the conversation she’d had that morning…
