"To escape a marriage!" Xavier's lips curled into a smirk.
"Huh?!" Serena looked even more confused.
The man patiently explained, "I told you before, my father wants to arrange a marriage between me and Miss Carter."
"That's right, I think I remember that! Last time you had dinner with her and were seen by Vega. You even fainted from pneumonia that day, and I took you to the hospital."
"My Serena has such a good memory!" He playfully tapped her nose with affection and continued, "The reason my dad is so eager for me to marry Karina is because he still believes the Carters is the same old powerful aristocratic family. He thinks a union between the Blaze and Carter families would greatly benefit X Group's future."
"Besides, Karina is very good at pretending. In front of my father, she always puts on this demure, graceful, homey act. My dad is quite impressed with her, thinking she has the demeanor of a lady from a prestigious family."
"But I had someone investigate secretly. On the surface, the Carters still looks impressive, but in reality, their industrial structure is outdated, and most of their businesses have been performing poorly in recent years."
After hearing so much, Serena couldn't help but interject, "If the Carters is already in decline, why don't you just tell Uncle Blaze?!"
"Without evidence, my dad won't believe it! The Carters has been putting on a good front, trying to secure the marriage and climb up by latching onto the Blaze family. Even if someone tries to look into it, it's not easy to uncover the Carters' true situation."
"Luckily, I have the best hackers under me. They managed to break into the Carters' secret accounts by cracking their encrypted systems and found their real financial statements. These statements are protected with highly advanced anti-theft encryption. Right now, my people are still working on decrypting them and copying the data."
Serena nodded, then shook her head, "But what does all this have to do with getting Karina out of the Carters?"
"Getting the financial statements to convince my dad that the Carters is a paper tiger, their strength long gone, is one thing. But what if my dad is still fooled by Karina's act and insists on having her as the Blaze family's daughter-in-law?"
"Then just tell Uncle Blaze that Karina is fake - all that gentleness is just an act!" Serena said instinctively.
"Silly girl! Like I said, without proof, my dad won't believe me!"
"So, you got Karina out of the house so you can gather evidence of her two-faced, fake personality?!"
"Exactly!" He gently rubbed the top of Serena's head and replied lovingly, "You're so smart! I recently met a maid working at the Carters' place. She doesn't get along with Karina and is often bullied. I think we can work through her to gather evidence."
"But if Karina is gone and the maid isn't there, how are you going to collect any evidence?!"
"There was a bit of an accident. The maid got injured. I need to create a chance for her to recover well first. Only when she's healed will she have the energy to help us."
"Oh," Serena replied quietly.
He had explained everything, but she still felt a bit annoyed inside.
Mainly because that Karina was just too irritating!
Ding - the elevator doors opened.
The two stepped out and walked toward an ornate double door on the left side.
As Xavier swiped the card to unlock the door, Serena glanced up.
Room number: 3601.
They were staying directly above Karina.
When they entered the room, Serena was stunned.
It was way too luxurious!
It seemed like the entire floor had been converted into a single suite. Just the bathroom alone was dozens of square meters, and the living room looked big enough to fit a basketball court.
The interior decor was lavish to the extreme. Hanging in the center of the living room was a chandelier made of genuine crystal, every droplet-shaped piece shimmering beautifully.
As she walked around, Serena couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! Mr. Blaze, your family is so rich! A whole floor just for one suite! I'm really curious - how much does a night here cost?!"
"Well, it's not like I'm charging you for it."
"It must cost a fortune! I wonder what kind of people can afford a suite like this?!"
The man took a bottle of fine red wine from the bar, uncorking it as he answered casually, "This is the only presidential suite in the entire hotel. It's not open to the public - only reserved for very special guests."
"Special guests?!" Serena blinked and asked curiously, "What kind of people are considered 'special' to the Blaze family?!"
"State leaders, religious heads... and you."
Her breath caught, and a wave of sweetness rose in her heart. She quickly turned her face away, pretending to look out the window.
The man walked over with two glasses of red wine in hand. "Here, try it, wine lover! I had them prepare this in advance for you - a rare vintage from the Balkans, 1987."
Serena took the glass and sipped gently.
The wine was deep in color, clearly aged. It had a balanced acidity, a smooth texture, and an alluring aroma.
"I read in a book that 1987 was a bad year for grapes. All across Europe, the harvest was poor. Top-tier wines from that year are extremely rare. It's nearly impossible to find a bottle that's survived till now! Where did you get this treasure?!"
"Where there's a will, there's a way. If it's something you like, no matter how hard it is, I'll get it for you."
His tone was calm and casual, but Serena knew he must've gone through a lot of trouble to find this exceptional wine.
"Thank you."
"Silly girl."
The two stood by the window, sipping wine and enjoying the beautiful view outside.
The atmosphere was warm and harmonious, like a beautiful dream no one wanted to wake from.
On the 35th floor, where Karina was staying, there were two luxury suites in total.
Aside from the presidential suite on the top floor, these were the finest rooms in the hotel.
A hotel staff member escorted her back to the room, placing her suitcase in the entryway. He respectfully said, "Miss, I'll be heading back now. If you need anything, you can use the landline to call room service."
Karina looked around at the lavishly decorated suite, her heart filled with smug satisfaction.
The Carters also owned hotels, but even the top-tier rooms there couldn't compare to half of what this one offered.
Turning around to the staff member, she asked with a hint of pride, "This room that Xavier arranged for me - it's the best one in the hotel, right?"
***