The man first gave her a thorough once-over, and after confirming she was fine, he offered a polite, businesslike smile and replied, "Miss Knowles, I brought Miss Carter here to apologize to you."
"Apologize?!"
Serena was genuinely surprised and turned her gaze to Karina.
At this moment, Karina was standing stiffly, her face stern and brows furrowed, looking arrogant and domineering-nowhere near an apologetic attitude.
Originally, Serena didn't need or even care about her apology.
But Karina's haughty posture really rubbed her the wrong way.
So she crossed her arms, raised a brow, and with a sweet yet sarcastic smile, said, "Sir, look at Miss Carter! Does she look like someone here to apologize? Someone who didn't know better might think I was the one in the wrong and owed her an apology!"
Xavier turned back at the sound of her voice, just in time to catch a flicker of irritation on Karina's face that she hadn't hidden quickly enough.
"Miss Carter?!" His tone was one of reproach.
Karina quickly looked up, her expression now changed as she smiled at him and said, "Xavier, you're mistaken! I was just thinking about how to word my apology to Miss Knowles, but she wrongly accused me. Please don't be misled by someone with ulterior motives!"
"Ulterior motives?! Who are you talking about?" Serena scoffed. "Are you talking about yourself?"
"You know exactly who I meant!" Karina snapped back irritably.
Serena didn't bother arguing further with her and turned to Xavier again. "Sir, is this what Miss Carter calls an apology?"
The man frowned, a clear sign of growing impatience between his brows.
"Miss Carter, before we came up here, didn't we agree on how this would go? Have you already forgotten?"
Karina forced a smile. "N-No, of course not!"
Then she turned to Serena. Though she was completely unwilling, she forced herself to say, "Miss Knowles, I was wrong earlier! I shouldn't have disturbed your rest just because I wanted to see the presidential suite. I..." She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. "I apologize!"
Serena watched her phony performance with amusement, clearly enjoying the show.
"Oh my, Miss Carter, what did you say?" She made a show of rubbing her ears. "Your voice was too soft-I didn't quite catch that!"
"You-!" Karina's eyes burned with rage, as if she wanted to bore two holes into Serena's delicate face.
At this moment, Xavier stepped in. "Miss Carter, no wonder Miss Knowles didn't hear clearly. Your voice was too soft. Even I was standing closer and couldn't hear a thing."
Hearing this, Karina had no outlet for her fury.
If she accused Serena of being deaf, wouldn't that be indirectly insulting Xavier too?
The man said coldly, "Please raise your voice and repeat it clearly!"
After another long pause, Karina finally opened her mouth again, raising her voice to repeat her apology word for word.
She could repeat the words, but she simply couldn't bring herself to put on a sincere face. So this time, she kept her head down the entire time.
After finishing, she asked pointedly, "Miss Knowles, this time you heard me clearly, didn't you?"
Serena still had that light smile on her face. "Yes, I heard you clearly this time! Your voice was loud and clear-my hearing is just fine, so of course I heard you!"
"Great! Since you heard it, can I leave now?"
"Oh dear, Miss Carter!" Serena put on an innocent expression. "You're the one in the wrong. Since you came to apologize, shouldn't there be some sincerity behind it? You kept your head down the whole time-I couldn't even see your face! How do I know if you're sincerely apologizing or silently cursing me?"
"You! What do you mean by that?!" Karina asked furiously.
"It's simple. I need a sincere apology! I want to see the remorse on your face-otherwise, I don't accept your apology!"
"Serena! Don't push your luck!"
"Hahahaha!" Seeing her eyes turn red with anger, Serena laughed heartily, clearly in a great mood.
The more she laughed, the angrier Karina got.
She wanted nothing more than to slap that smug smile off her face and make sure Serena would never laugh again.
But in front of Xavier, she didn't dare make a move.
She could only turn to him and plead, "Xavier, look! Isn't Miss Knowles just making things difficult for me?! I've already apologized twice, but she still won't let it go!"
The man didn't even turn his head. He simply said coldly, "Actually, I think Miss Knowles' request isn't unreasonable. After all, you were the one at fault. Since you're already here, why not show some sincerity and properly apologize instead of just going through the motions?"
"Xavier! You too...?"
"I'm speaking as the hotel manager, offering my objective and fair advice."
Karina still didn't want to give in. She clenched her fists tightly and stared at Serena, as if they were bitter enemies with irreconcilable hatred.
But Serena remained unfazed, returning her gaze with calm indifference-no anger, only pity and contempt.
The two women were locked in a standoff.
Xavier quietly turned and gave Brody a signal with his eyes.
Brody received the cue and immediately pretended to stumble, letting out a surprised "Ah!"
Karina instinctively turned around at the noise.
Only then did she remember-someone was recording the whole thing behind her.
She quickly turned back, frowning deeply, and began calculating her options.
She had agreed to come apologize of her own will.
Both previous apology attempts were already caught on camera by Brody.
In today's society, resentment toward the wealthy is intense!
If she backed out now and refused to sincerely apologize, and the footage was leaked, the public would accuse her of arrogance and putting on airs.
Worse, it might not just be her-it could turn into an attack on the entire Carters.
That couldn't happen!
***