After becoming
7

Chapter 7

The call ended abruptly with a cold response, leaving James standing awkwardly with his phone. I sneered and said calmly, “You want to speak to Mr. Feldman? Let me help you.”

I took out my phone and called, “Mr. Feldman, come to private room 777 within three minutes.‘ “Janina, are you out of your mind? You’re a broke ex–con. Don’t pretend to be someone important here. We know exactly what kind of person you are. Is there any need to put on this act?” James sneered at

1. me.

The other relatives looked at me like I was a clown, their faces filled with mockery and disgust. Melanie wiped the sweat from her forehead and said in embarrassment, “This is so humiliating. How did I raise a daughter like this?”

Seamus also looked exasperated. “Janina, just leave. Stop pretending. You’re making a fool of yourself and your family.”

“Exactly. Some people are so poor they’ve lost their minds and developed delusions. James couldn’t even get Mr. Feldman here, and you think you can? It’s ridiculous,” Greta scoffed, her tone dripping with contempt. She looked at me as if even acknowledging my existence was beneath her.

But just as she finished speaking, a middle–aged man in a suit arrived at our side,

“Mr. Feldman, you’re here!” Seeing the man, James immediately turned into an obsequious flatterer, rushing to greet him with a sycophantic smile.

He then pointed at me and said indignantly, “I was just about to tell you, this woman is a broke nobody trying to crash our banquet. You should get her thrown out before she brings down the hotel’s reputation…”

“Shut up! Ms. Kessler is the hotel’s chair.” Lucious Feldman’s stern shout cut off James‘ rant

mid–sentence. Then, Lucious walked over to me, bowing respectfully. “Ms. Kessler, what can I do for you?” “Chair?” James, who had been so arrogant moments before, was suddenly dumbfounded. He looked at me, then at Lucious, incredulous. “Mr. Feldman, you must be mistaken. She’s just a worthless ex–con. How could she possibly be the chair of your hotel?”

Lucious glared at James and said firmly, “James, if you disrespect the chair again, I won’t be so easy on

you.”

That shut James up. My parents, Greta, and all my relatives were utterly dumbfounded. They looked at me with eyes full of shock, as if their entire world had just been turned upside down.

“Janina, what’s going on here?”

“Yeah, how did you suddenly become the chair of this hotel?”

My parents stared at me in amazement. This time, their tone was no longer arrogant but filled with a mix of caution and respect.

I remained calm and cold as I said, “I should thank you for kicking me out of the house. If not for that, you’d have bled me dry.”

I might have foolishly shared my wealth with them if they hadn’t been so heartless in throwing me out. Given their greed, they would have found a way to take every last penny of that hundred million.