Chapter 40
Raven’s stare felt like it could turn the room to ice, and everyone held their breath without even realizing it.
For a second, a weird quiet settled over everything.
Raven scanned the frozen crowd, her vibe getting even colder.
“Didn’t you hear me?” she asked, her voice sharp and frosty.
“Y–yeah, we heard…” a couple of the shyer ones muttered under their breath, almost on autopilot.
The rest kept their mouths shut, but nobody dared to talk back.
The rest kept their mouths shut, but nobody dared to talk back.Amber watched Raven take over the room, her fists balling up tight.
To her, some nobody she’d almost pushed into a pile of crap back in middle school had no right acting this big in front of her.
But as she peeked at Raven standing there, calm and untouchable, Amber couldn’t find the nerve to stand up and say a thing.
Her resentment started boiling up, practically strangling her.
Just then, a firm, no–nonsense voice broke through from across the room.
“What’s going on here?” the man demanded, low and steady.
Everyone turned toward the voice at once.
A few in the crowd recognized the middle–aged guy walking over and greeted him quick with respect.
“Mr. Wentworth!” they called out.
It was Richard Wentworth, the hotel’s service manager.
A spark of desperate relief flashed across Amber’s face.
In the next moment, she looked at Richard, her voice shaky and rushed.
“Sir, my friend’s been knocked out cold,” she said. “Could you see if there’s a doctor around to help her out fast?”
“Knocked out?” Richard’s face turned grim right away.
“Who did it?” he asked, his tone stiff.
Amber’s eyes darted to Raven without thinking.
But just as fast, she flinched back, like a scared rabbit, looking away quick.
Richard caught the gesture–he immediately got who it was.
He locked eyes on Raven, his expression tightening.
He snapped, “You’re the one who did it?”
Raven looked back at him, steady as ever, and nodded without missing a beat. “Yeah, that was me.”
Richard squinted at her bold attitude.
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Chapter 40
“You’ve got guts,” he sneered. “Think you can strut around like you own the place?”
With that, he turned to the security guards nearby and barked an order.
“Take this reckless kid down!” he said.
Raven glanced at the dozen guards moving in quick and gave Richard a laid–back heads–up.
“I’m here looking for someone,” she said. “I’d rather not mess up this party before I find them. You might wanna check with your boss before you try anything with me.”
Richard let out a scoff, thick with scorn.
“Check with my boss to handle you?” he said. “Who do you think you are? Getting a bit too full of yourself, aren’t you?”
He swung back to the guards and saw they stop in their tracks.
He barked, “What are you waiting for? Grab her!”
The crowd caught Richard’s words, and their eyes lit up with smug grins as they looked at Raven.
‘Let’s see you act tough now,’ they thought.
They figured this nobody actually thought she was untouchable here.
Causing trouble in the Century Globe Hotel? She must be begging for trouble!
They remembered the last guy who started something here–ended up with both legs busted.
And this loser didn’t just hit someone–she had the nerve to talk back to Richard’s face.
If he let her slide, they figured, he might as well toss his manager job out the window.
At the same time, Amber watched Raven get boxed in, a chilly smirk creeping onto her lips.
Five years ago, she had Raven eating dirt. And now she was acting like a big shot in front of her? Amber wouldn’t let that happen.
Raven had her little moment, but Amber was set to see her eat pavement.
Back in middle school, Raven was just a nobody to her.
Sure, she’d climbed a step or two since then, but to Amber, she was still a clueless dope.
Right now, Amber’s eyes were locked on Raven, practically seeing her flattened by the guards, groveling for mercy on her knees.
Under her gaze, two of the guards‘ hands edged closer to Raven.
Almost there.
Just a bit more,
One second from smashing her into the ground..
But right as their hands were about to nab her, a voice–high–pitched and frantic–sliced through the air from afar.
“Stop! All of you, stop right now!” a guy yelled.
The two guards locked up mid–step, like the order was drilled into their bones.
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Chapter 40
At the same time, every head in the room snapped toward the sound.
Then they saw him–the hotel’s CEO. He’d just raced back from some pressing errand, booking it over as fast as he could.
Maybe it was their imagination, but the crowd could’ve sworn they saw pure panic splashed across his face.
And there seemed to be sweat on his forehead.
“Mr. Sinclair, what’s up?” Richard asked, visibly surprised.
He even hustled over with a slimy, kiss–up grin.
James Sinclair, however, didn’t even toss Richard a look.
His eyes zeroed in on Raven, pinned by the guards, and his heart nearly skipped out of his chest.
Swallowing hard to choke down the dread, he glared at Richard, trying to keep his voice level.
“What’s happening here?” he asked.
Richard picked up on James’s weird energy and figured he was just mad someone was messing around in the hotel.
He flashed a cocky grin and said, “Mr. Sinclair, this dumb kid’s causing a scene.”
Then he promised, “You go chill–I’ll get her legs snapped and smooth things over with the rattled guests…”
“Smack!”
Before Richard could wrap up, James’s hand whipped up and smacked him square across the face, hard.
In a flash, Richard was left dumbstruck by the hit.
The rest of the room wasn’t far off, staring in total shock.
Before anyone could wrap their heads around it, James stepped toward Raven, practically shaking with nerves.
“Slap!”
“Smack!”
Another sharp smack echoed out.
This time, though, he didn’t slap Richard.
Mr. Sinclair slapped himself!
Then, under the crowd’s stunned looks, James bent low to Raven, practically oozing humility.
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