Free Web NovelChapter 59: Chapter 59 Facing the Past
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Nadia walked into Park Hotel Group the next day.
Her heels clicked sharply on the marble floor as she marched through the lobby. She was angry. Elara had been ignoring her calls and texts.
Every unanswered ring had made her angrier. It was time to deal with this face to face.
The employees she passed quickly looked away. They could sense her fury from across the room.
When Jack saw his sister, he looked relieved. He practically jumped up from his desk. "Nadia, thank God you’re here. Elara has been way too harsh lately."
Nadia frowned. She sat down heavily in the chair across from him. "How bad is it?"
"She fired several senior workers right away. Everyone is scared about who’s next!" Jack sounded nervous. His hands shook slightly as he spoke.
Nadia’s jaw clenched. Nadia’s lips went tight. "Call her. Tell her to come down here now."
Jack smiled. [Finally, someone would teach that girl some respect.]
He cleared his throat and tried to sound reasonable. "Nadia , don’t be too mean to Elara. She’s still learning..."
Nadia rolled her eyes."Learning? She’s destroying everything we built."
Jack had no good answer. He avoided her eyes and fumbled with the phone. He picked up the phone and called Elara’s office.
Minutes felt like hours as they waited.
When Elara opened the conference room door, she stopped for a second. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, taking in the situation. "You needed something, Jack?" Her voice was polite but cold. She looked at her uncle but completely ignored her mother.
Nadia’s face flushed red at being ignored.
Nadia crossed her arms. Her face was stern. "Look at me when I’m talking to you." "Elara, I didn’t give you this company so you could treat it like a toy."
"You’re firing people like it’s a game. Real businesses don’t work this way." Her voice got louder. Her finger pointed accusingly at Elara.
Elara looked at Nadia coolly. She tilted her head slightly, like she was studying an interesting bug. "And why exactly should I listen to you?"
The question hung in the air like a slap.
Nadia got mad. Her whole body went rigid. "Excuse me? I’m your mother. Don’t I have the right to tell you when you’re wrong?"
Elara smiled coldly. The smile never reached her eyes. "How interesting. Uncle Jack forgot to mention why I fired those people."
She faced them both. Her posture was relaxed but her voice was deadly serious. "The security chief was useless. He let reporters bother our guests in their rooms. Should I have kept him?"
"The supply manager was taking bribes. He replaced good products with cheap garbage. Should I have ignored that?"
"And Susan from business," Elara’s smile turned ice cold, her voice dropping to almost a whisper, "was sleeping with clients. One client’s wife came in screaming. We still paid Susan what we legally owed her. Wasn’t that nice enough?"
Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hadn’t expected Elara to have such detailed explanations.
"If Park Hotel Group keeps workers just because of who they know, that’s what will really destroy this company!" Her voice stayed calm but sounded powerful. Each word hit like a hammer blow.
She stared straight at Nadia. Her eyes never blinked. "So tell me, Mother. Who’s really playing games here?"
The way she said "Mother" sounded like an insult. It dripped with sarcasm and contempt.
Nadia felt humiliated. Her own daughter was making her look like a fool in front of Jack.
Having her daughter embarrass her in front of Jack was too much. Nadia lost it. Without any warning, her hand flew through the air. She slapped Elara hard across the face without thinking.
The sound was loud in the quiet room. It echoed off the walls.
Jack and Elara both went completely still.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Jack didn’t expect his sister to hit anyone. freewebnovёl.ƈom
Elara’s ears were ringing. Her cheek hurt badly.She pushed her hair back from her face. Then she let out a cold laugh.
The laugh was worse than screaming would have been.
Jack felt nervous. Sweat started forming on his forehead.
Elara’s hand went to her cheek for just a second. Then she dropped it.
Elara stared at Nadia with ice cold eyes. When she spoke, her voice was deadly quiet. "Really? When you can’t win an argument, you hit people?"
Nadia took a step back. Something in Elara’s eyes scared her.
"I was being nice to you. But let me make something clear. I own most of this hotel now. How I run it is my choice. Dad left this to me," she said. Her voice was sharp. Each word cut like a knife.
"You were just helping out all these years. Did you forget that?"
Jack wanted to disappear. The tension in the room was suffocating.
Elara turned to Jack. Her gaze pinned him to his chair. "Uncle Jack, if you have problems with me, talk to me directly. Don’t send her to do it."
"Because she has no power here." The words were simple but devastating.
She looked at Nadia with disgust. Like she was looking at something dirty. Then she picked up her phone and called security.
"Please come to the conference room. Someone needs to be removed from the building."
Nadia had felt a little guilty when she saw her daughter’s red cheek. Now she got furious. "Elara, am I your mother or not? You’re really going to have me thrown out?"
Elara gave her one last cold look. "The day I blocked your number was the day you stopped being my mother."
Security showed up fast. Two big men in uniforms waited at the door.
"Please take her out of the building," Elara said calmly. "She can’t come back."
