Chapter 3 - The Manager's Trap
When the elevator doors opened into the glowing lobby, Darla Haskins was waiting.
Darla had been the night manager for eleven years. She was a bitter, cruel woman who ruled the cleaning staff with an iron fist, constantly threatening them with termination to force them to work unpaid overtime.
Darla saw Hadley holding the baby and immediately sneered, brandishing her clipboard like a weapon.
"I told you to keep that brat out of sight, Rowan!" Darla hissed, marching toward them, completely oblivious to the tall man standing just behind Hadley in the elevator shadows. "You are done! You are fired! Give me your badge right now, and don't expect a single dime of your holiday pay!"
Hadley flinched, clutching Mae tighter as the baby let out another terrifying, wheezing cough. "Darla, please, my baby can't breathe, I have to go to the hospital—"
"I don't care if she's dying!" Darla shrieked, her face twisting with arrogant cruelty. "You broke company policy! Security is going to drag you out of here like the trash you are!"
Jude stepped out of the elevator.
The lobby lighting hit his face. Darla stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth opening and closing in absolute horror. The color completely vanished from her face.
"Mr... Mr. Tolbert!" Darla stammered, frantically trying to hide her clipboard. "I didn't know you were here, sir! I was just handling this insubordinate cleaner—"
Jude didn't even look at Darla. He walked straight past her, pushing the heavy glass lobby doors open.
"Rowan," Jude said calmly, looking back at Hadley. "The car is out front."
Hadley rushed past the stunned manager.
Jude stopped in the doorway for a single second, turning his cold, piercing gaze onto Darla.
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"Stay exactly where you are, Darla," Jude ordered, his voice dropping to a lethal, icy whisper. "We will have a very long conversation about your employment when I return."
👉 How will the billionaire save the struggling mother's baby?
