Chapter 1 - The Cold Front Desk
The heavy glass doors of the Grand Regent Hotel slid open, letting in a bitter autumn wind that swept across the polished black marble floor. Clara Vance stood in the middle of the cavernous, high-ceilinged lobby, her knees trembling beneath her worn pink coat. Her six-year-old daughter, Lily, was asleep against her chest, her soft pink dress bunched around her tiny knees and a plush bunny tucked tightly under her arms. In her left hand, Clara held a massive, overflowing bouquet of deep red roses—a bizarre, heavy contrast to her exhausted posture and messy hair bun.
Behind the obsidian reception desk, Patrick adjusted his navy blue silk tie. He didn't offer a greeting. Instead, he crossed his arms, his icy blue eyes sweeping over Clara’s disheveled hair, her dirt-streaked leather handbag, and the weeping toddler on her hip. A small, sneering smile played at the corner of his lips. Beside him, Karl, a younger front-desk clerk in a gray suit, kept his gaze fixed on his computer screen, uncomfortable with the sudden drop in temperature in the lobby.
"Can I help you?" Patrick asked, his voice dripping with condescension. He didn't touch his keyboard. He didn't even look at the check-in queue. His gaze locked onto Clara's scuffed boots.
Clara swallowed hard, her throat feeling like sandpaper. She adjusted Lily’s weight, taking a deep, quiet breath to steady her trembling shoulders. "Yes," she whispered, her voice barely carrying over the soft ambient jazz playing overhead. "I have a reservation. Under Clara Vance."
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Patrick didn't bother typing the name. He leaned over the marble counter, resting his forearms on the edge, closing the distance between them just enough to deliver a sharp, deliberate insult. "Look around you, ma'am. This is the Grand Regent. Our baseline suites start at twelve hundred dollars a night. With that sleeping child and those flowers, try a cheaper motel down the road."
👉 Patrick’s cruel rejection hung in the cold lobby air, completely oblivious to the paper folded inside Clara’s pink coat pocket.
