{“I’m gonna make them pay.” 1}

During the few days of her stay, Qian Xu did not forget why she had secured the best suite in the place.

She dared not forget for a moment.

Boss Huang’s face had lost the affable demeanor of flattery, replaced by the coldness and numbness typical of a middle-aged businessman. It was evident he was aware of the fact that her relationship with Shen Qi had deteriorated.

But Qian Xu was still too young and naive.

She idealized human nature too brightly and beautifully, never acknowledging that true malice could exist above her. She thought that as long as she paid for the room for these few days, it would be nothing more than a difficult, laughable experience to get over.

The reality was quite the opposite.

Upon closer inspection, Boss Huang was holding not just the leftover food he had been given but also a thick booklet that looked like one of those meticulously kept by cautious Chinese hotel owners for repeated registrations at the front desk.

They worried that relying entirely on machines might leave them vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous individuals seeking to defraud them.

It wasn’t that they were so naive as to entrust all their records to Uncle Sam.

Hence, this booklet.

When the iron tray, filled with leftover pizza, was handed to Qian Xu, she was already shocked by Boss Huang’s attitude. Yet, Boss Huang seemed indifferent and sneered, “Merry Christmas, ladies.”

“This gift should have been given to Miss Qian a long time ago.”

“What’s this?” Yan Li tossed the pizza tray into the courtyard, believing, like Qian Xu, that the news of Qian Xu’s fallout with Shen Qi might be known among the New York circles. However, that did not mean that a small Chinese businessman had the right to insult them. She angrily commented, “With such a narrow-minded perspective, I knew Boss Huang, you would never make it in big business.”

Boss Huang was enraged, his anger spiked by the criticism, unable to swallow the insult of having given the best room to such a guest. He thought, “How can there be such shameless people in the world?”

Qian Xu didn’t know what had happened to make a businessman become so loathsome.

A thick stack of booklets was thrown over, its pages already yellowed.

They looked like they had been around for some years.

Qian Xu still couldn’t understand why Boss Huang had become so hostile.

“Look at it yourself and see what kind of person you are, daring to come to our seven-star hotel,” Boss Huang said harshly, cursing openly, “I even gave you the best room!”

“In all my years of running a hotel, I’ve never seen such shameless people!”

“You think just because you run a hotel that looks cultured, you’ve become cultured yourself? Acting all high and mighty is one thing, but to treat me and my friends like this is outrageous!”

Yan Li threw the leftover pizza from the cold food tray at Boss Huang.

“I see you don’t want to do business anymore. I’m going out to file a complaint right now!”

Amidst the shouting and cursing in her ears, Qian Xu’s eyes were fixed on the yellowed booklet Boss Huang had thrown.

Finally, she found a familiar clue.

If nothing unexpected had occurred, the time recorded in this booklet matched up perfectly with the time she accompanied Shen Qi and his children to another hotel owned by Boss Huang.

Qian Xu’s hand opened the booklet almost instinctively, and she began searching through it haphazardly.

Soon, she found Shen Qi’s handwriting.

That handwriting was unmistakable to her; she remembered it from the time he personally came to do the check-in while avoiding her, and the timing corresponded perfectly.

Among the dense list, there was even a column for “relationship,” which was considered private and could be left blank by most guests.

But Shen Qi had filled it out completely.

As if he feared that not doing so might somehow leave a connection to her.

In this column, he didn’t write “friend,” “partner,” or even “spouse,” but rather the cold, monotonous four-letter word—

“Maid.”

It wasn’t even “babysitter” or “caretaker” for the children; translated into Chinese, it could be understood as “servant” or “housekeeper.”

Qian Xu laughed angrily.

She never expected Shen Qi would define their relationship in such a manner.

What right did he have to treat her as just a “maid” who looked after the children and did housework, especially when she was struggling financially and in need of help herself?

If she hadn’t seen with her own eyes the content he had personally written in that booklet, would she have remained in the dark forever?

She thought she was over her illusions. If he really wanted to crawl back to Cheng Shuangyi, she had planned to be magnanimous and let him go. He could have left without any further involvement.

He certainly shouldn’t have used this way to humiliate her during such a festive holiday.

Why did she let herself be treated this way?

What did these three years amount to for her?

She was a graduate student from Ohio. Even though her school wasn’t as famous as the Ivy League, she had overcome many obstacles to get here. Fate might have been harsh, but she chose to endure—

She certainly didn’t aspire to be some romantic, eager-to-please maid.

Her intentions were never about climbing the social ladder through a man. She had thought that offering her genuine heart would be met with the same level of sincerity. At the very least, she did not expect to be humiliated in this way.

“Boss Huang.”

Qian Xu stood in front of Yan Li, who had never seen Qian Xu appear so cold-hearted and indifferent. Even when dealing with people or things she disliked, Qian Xu’s natural grace always prevented her from speaking a truly harsh word.

Yan Li had no idea what exactly was written in the booklet that had angered the usually gentle Qian Xu to this extent.

Qian Xu lifted her gaze and spoke each word deliberately, “Earlier, Boss Huang misunderstood the relationship between me and Shen Qi. Although I found it disgusting and repulsive, it was not something I wanted to openly address.”

“But I need to make it clear to you: I have absolutely no relationship with Shen Qi.”

“As for what’s written there, that I am his maid—it’s likely that Shen Qi, being so overwhelmed with work, lost his mind and came up with such a nauseating description.”

Only then did Yan Li understand what Shen Qi had written in the booklet.

A maid?

Was this some kind of absurd roleplay?