Chapter 55: Promise one thing

Robert taps on the photo to enlarge it. Avery sees it from the corner of her eyes: a couple in love kisses soulfully in front of beautiful mountain scenery and a view of the city. The photo is so clear that she can see Evan's tongue brushing against her lips. Intense hormones seem to pour out of the photo.

The woman in the photo is so strange to her—her cheeks are flushed and her face expresses some unrecognizable emotion. Avery doesn't like herself in the photo. Through some trick of the camera, her passive acceptance of the kiss looks like an uncontainable passion.

"Evan, you're so sick for taking this photo!" she hisses.

"You don't like it?" Evan asks playfully, "I think I might have it enlarged and hung on our bedroom wall."

He looks at her flushed cheeks and windblown hair and feels an uncontainable emotion.

"Well," Avery says, smoothing her hair, "Perhaps I'll have my next lover photoshopped in over your face."

"You know how to ruin the romance," Evan says, scowling.

He throws the mobile phone back to Robert, "Send the picture to Dr. Meyer."

"So that was his real purpose!" Avery thinks, "What a possessive chauvinist! He doesn't love or even want me; he just can't bear the thought of another man loving or wanting me. What a pathetic neurotic—he can send it to the whole world if he wants to!"

Knowing that she can't stop him, she decides to stop wasting her time with him. She turns sharply and walks toward the elevator, her high heels clicking on the marble floors with every step. Fortunately for her, he gets a phone call and hurries away talking on the phone.

Avery arrives at her office and flops into her chair. Her lips are hot and she can still smell his unique scent on her skin. She grabs a tissue to rub away the scent, accidentally bumping the mouse in the process. The computer screen lights up and displays her email account. A small pop up tells her that her email to Diana was successfully sent. Then another word appears on the screen: Read!

Read? Avery's eyes flash with surprise. The email address Claire gave her is still in use. What's more, someone has received and read the message! Unfortunately, there's no reply.

"Maybe she didn't have the time to reply," Avery thinks, "She'd respond if she could, right?"

Avery looks at the tissue and sees that she's removed all of the lipstick she applied in the morning. She sighs. Claire knocks at the door and enters the office, and Avery turns off the computer screen.

"I thought you'd want to know that Miss Summers is in the hospital," Claire says.

"Which Miss Summers?" Avery asks, slamming the laptop closed, "Leonie?"

"Yes."

Avery pales. She has a feeling that somehow Leonie's hospitalization is related to her. She recalls all of the nasty tricks that Leonie has played on her and her intuition tells her this is another one.

"It's been reported that she broke out in a nasty red rash after shooting the promotional material for the hotel," Claire says, "She ignored it at first but it got worse and worse and eventually she fainted."

"Is she trying to blame the hotel?" Avery asks.

"She hasn't said anything yet, but there is a consensus in the media that the rash was caused by our hot spring. They're saying it's contaminated."

"Contact Bryan. If we can show that he's fine, we can calm public opinion," Avery says, "Different things can affect different people. If they both have allergic reactions, there must be something wrong with the hot spring. But if Bryan's fine, it means the problem is with Leonie, not the hotel."

"I already tried to contact him but his phone's off," Claire says, "He's still an up-and-coming star and he can fly under the radar. Unfortunately, he still hasn't signed with an agent or a PR person so I can't even contact them."

Avery sighs. It's so typical of Bryan to drop the ball and disappear at the critical moment.

"Should we go to the hospital?" Claire asks.

"Yes, we should," Avery nods.

Leonie has put Zuri Hotel in the center of a media storm. Even though Avery intends to sell her share in the hotel, she doesn't want to call attention to the hotel. If Evan finds out there are problems he'll try to swoop in and fix them and it will become even harder to get rid of the hotel without him noticing.

Avery grabs her mobile phone and stands up and tries to leave the office. Claire stops her and gestures to the corner of her mouth. Avery raises her hand to wipe whatever is there. When she pulls her hands away her fingers are covered in smeared lipstick.

"Wait a minute," Claire instructs before she runs out of the room. She reappeared a moment later carrying a tube of lipstick, "Here you are. This has never been used."

Avery takes the lipstick gratefully. Without lipstick, her mouth looks strangely contrasted with the rest of her makeup. She knows she has to look her best before she faces the press. Avery opens the lipstick and applies it to her lips. It's blood-red—a very trendy color.

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"This lipstick color suits you well," Claire says.

The assistant is captivated by the way Avery looks in the lipstick.

"Thanks," Avery smiles and tries to return the tube.

Claire hurriedly waves it away, "Keep it. It doesn't suit me."

News that Avery is coming to the hospital to negotiate with Leonie leaks out and journalists flock to the ward where Leonie is being treated. Avery gets out of the car with flowers in her hand, surprised by the absolute chaos of the scene. She resists the urge to roll her eyes.

"It's just an allergic reaction. It's not like she's dying," Avery thinks, "Why does she always insist on making such a fuss?

Dozens of microphones are jammed into Avery's face and the insistent crowd practically pushes her into the hospital.

"Mrs. Howel, this is a huge incident on your first day managing the Zuri Hotel. How do you plan to deal with it?" asks one journalist.

"Mrs. Howel, where does the water in the Zuri Hotel's hot spring come from? It's being said that the lead content in the hot spring is more than the allowable amount. When will you release the last inspection report?" asks another journalist.

"Sorry, Mrs. Howel will not comment until she has spoken with Miss Summers," Claire says, trying to clear Avery's path, "Excuse us, please!"

It takes time for them to push their way into the ward. Hospital security guards stop the journalists outside the door to Leonie's room. In contrast to the noise outside, the room is extremely quiet.

Leonie is in a private room reserved for celebrities and the wealthy. She's lying in a bed and the TV is playing in the background. Avery walks to the bedside table and puts the flowers in an empty vase.

"That's so nice of you, Avery," Leonie simpers.

"Don't pretend to be polite. It's just the two of us here," Avery says, "Cut to the chase and tell me what you're trying to accomplish with this, but remember that I won't necessarily agree to your demands."

Leonie is as used to Avery's pride as Avery is used to Leonie's trickery. Leonie looks at Avery and scowls. If it weren't for Avery, Diana would have never had to move so far away. She can't help but resent Avery for interfering and stealing Evan from her and her sister.

"What demands could I possibly have? According to the hospital, I had a severe allergic reaction," Leonie says, "The allergen happens to be in the hotel's hot spring water. I'll be discharged from the hospital as soon as I'm cured."

Leonie raises her hand and admires her nails were manicured in the morning.

"Give me a break—what's your real purpose here?" Avery asks.

"My purpose?" Leonie feigns confusion, "I'm a newcomer in the entertainment industry—a rising star. It's normal for the media to focus on me and try to create a dramatic story. I didn't mean to stir anything up."

"So you're just trying to create hype and get your name in the headlines?" Avery asks disgustedly.

"You're too stressed or inexperienced the handle the pressures of your first day as manager," Leonie says, "I'm not your problem. Your real problem is that there's some toxic allergen or chemical in the water at the Zuri Hotel."

Leonie takes a stack of papers from the bedside table and passes it to Avery, "Here's the full report on all the tests the hospital ran on me. You'll see the water is obviously to blame."

"What a coincidence!" Avery says, pulling a piece of paper from her back and slapping it onto the bedside table, "This is a report on the hot spring water. It was conducted just this morning and it shows that our water is perfectly clean."

Leonie leans back in her bed and shrugs, "I guess it all depends on who the media and the customers choose to believe."

Avery knows what Leonie intends to do. The hotel can provide as many reports as it wants to prove that the water is clean but once they've lost the customers' trust and good opinion, no report in the world can earn it back. Leonie knows this better than she does.

Apart from the exclusivity and the beautiful scenery, the hot springs are one of the main reasons people visit the hotel. If people think there's something wrong with the water, they'll lose a lot of their most reliable customers.

Avery frowns slightly, "I'll ask you one more time: what do you want?"

Leonie grins conspiratorially and says, "I want you to promise me one thing."

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