Chapter 9: Fragile Friendship

Twenty minutes later, in the conference room.

Except for a few employees who were on duty, none of those who had left earlier with excuses had returned. The atmosphere was quite awkward.

Victoria didn't seem bothered at all. She sat at the head of the table, flipping through the Hotel Management Regulations in her hand, her pen occasionally scratching notes in the margins, looking like someone who had everything under control.

Colin, the logistics coordinator, came rushing in, drenched in sweat, looking like he was about to cry. "Ms. Hughes, I'm so sorry. I called everyone who took leave, but they either said they couldn't make it or just hung up on me. And Mr. Walsh said he's very sick, getting an IV at the hospital, and absolutely can't come."

"Really sick?" Victoria didn't even look up, her tone completely flat. "Colin, send another message in the department group chat. Anyone who doesn't show up for today's meeting will lose their perfect attendance bonus. Do it now."

The moment those words left her mouth, the faces of the few veteran employees present changed slightly.

Although Maplewood Hotel wasn't exactly swimming in profits, the benefits system was still in place. The administrative department's perfect attendance bonus was a full three thousand dollars per month. That wasn't pocket change for regular workers.

Victoria was betting that these people wouldn't give up three thousand dollars to fight Connor's battles.

Sure enough, within five minutes, the ones who had left so smugly with their approved leave slips started trickling back into the conference room, looking unhappy.

Grant, who had led the group, challenged her as soon as he sat down. "Ms. Hughes, we get that you want to set new rules now that you're in charge, but you can't just do whatever you want, right? We followed proper procedures to request leave. What gives you the right to dock our attendance bonus? This isn't following the rules!"

"Exactly! Too domineering!" Others chimed in.

Facing the group's attack, Victoria calmly stood up and slammed the Employee Management Regulations down on the table.

"Not following the rules?" Her gaze swept across everyone like a knife. "Your leave slips only have Connor's signature. But according to hotel policy, when a department head position is vacant, all leave approvals require not only the deputy manager's signature but also the signature of the supervising executive to be valid!"

She let out a cold laugh. "Do any of your leave slips have an executive's signature? No! So your leave requests don't follow proper procedure at all! I'm canceling your attendance bonuses for unauthorized absence. Which rule am I breaking?"

The conference room fell dead silent.

No one expected that this seemingly delicate Victoria had already mastered the hotel's rules and policies in just a few dozen minutes!

If they really lost three thousand dollars for going along with Connor's scheme, that would hurt.

"Taking leave is too much trouble. I'm canceling mine and working while sick," one employee caved first.

"Right, right, I'm canceling mine too."

Seeing everyone back down, Victoria pressed her advantage. She turned to Colin. "Since Connor is so sick that he needs to be hospitalized long‑term, let him rest and recover properly without worrying about work. I'll immediately apply to upper management to appoint a new acting deputy manager."

Then Victoria's gaze landed precisely on Grant, who had led the trouble earlier.

She had done background research before coming. Grant was a very shrewd employee in the department. The reason he had led the disruption was clearly because Connor had promised him benefits—like if Connor got the permanent position, the deputy manager job would be his.

The best way to break a fragile friendship built on self‑interest was to shatter it with bigger self‑interest.

"Grant," Victoria suddenly called his name.

Grant tensed up, bracing himself to be chewed out.

"You've worked in the administrative department for years. You know the business inside and out. While Connor is in the hospital, would you be willing to serve as acting deputy manager?"

Grant's eyes went wide, stunned by this sudden surprise.

Hadn't he been stirring up trouble with Connor just to get the deputy manager position? Now Victoria was directly giving him the position—why would he still care about Connor?

"Yes! Thank you for your trust, Ms. Hughes!" Grant's voice shook with excitement as he immediately switched sides.

"Good. Connor—I mean Grant—get yourself ready. In ten minutes, come report to me on the department's recent work priorities." Victoria sat back down, hands folded on the table, her presence commanding. "My name is Victoria. Starting today, I run the administrative department. I hope today's circus doesn't happen a second time. Now, let's begin the meeting!"

Stick and carrot. In just twenty minutes, Victoria had completely won them over.

After work, Victoria was planning to return to her rental apartment to rest when she received a call from Charles.

"Come back to the villa. I need to talk to you about hotel management."

Although she really didn't want to see Charles, since it involved the hotel, Victoria drove back to The Hughes Villa.

Charles was sitting on the living room balcony drinking coffee. When he saw Victoria walk in, his expression soured.

"I heard you threw your weight around quite a bit in the administrative department today?" Charles started with a reprimand.

Victoria walked over and sat across from him, her tone cold. "I was just doing my job. If you called me back to praise me, there's no need. My time is valuable."

Charles was caught off guard, his brow furrowing. "Management isn't about acting on impulse! Connor is very capable, and he's related to Jade. Tomorrow, go to the hospital yourself, apologize to him, and ask him to come back to work."

Victoria understood immediately. No wonder Connor was so bold—he was Jade's relative. His backing was Jade.

"You want me to go beg him? Dream on." Victoria refused without hesitation. "If he's willing to come crawling back to work tomorrow, fine. If he keeps putting on airs, I'll fire him immediately. Dad, the hotel is mine now. How I arrange the staff is my call."

Charles was furious, feeling powerless, like being choked. He suddenly regretted transferring the ownership so quickly!

"Enough, Dad," Victoria precisely hit his weak spot. "You're getting old. Just focus on managing the Hughes Group. I heard the Hughes Group recently lost two hundred million dollars on a bad decision? Instead of worrying about my hotel, you should worry more about your own cash flow."

That landed right on the sore spot, and Charles's face darkened. The Hughes Group did desperately need the Nelson family's investment to survive.

He suppressed his anger and switched to a concerned tone. "Work is work, but personal matters can't be delayed. How are things going with Jerry? If there's no problem, I'll arrange for you to meet his parents in the next couple of days."

"Arrange whatever you want, I'm available anytime. I'm leaving now." Victoria didn't want to say more and got up to leave. After all, she was already married to that "Jerry," Charles could do whatever he wanted.

"Wait," Charles stopped her. "Sarah is bringing her boyfriend home for dinner. We're all family. You should stay and meet him too."

"No thanks." Victoria's refusal was quick and decisive.

But the moment she finished speaking, the door opened. Sarah walked in, arm-in-arm with Ethan, looking very affectionate.