Leilani knows what Leonie intends to do. The hotel can provide as many reports as it wants to prove that the water is clean but once they’ve lost the customers’ trust and good opinion, no report in the world can earn it back. Leonie knows this better than she does.
Apart from the exclusivity and the beautiful scenery, the hot springs are one of the main reasons people visit the hotel. If people think there’s something wrong with the water, they’ll lose a lot of their most reliable customers.
Leilani frowns slightly, “I’ll ask you one more time: what do you want?”
Leonie grins conspiratorially and says, “I want you to promise me one thing.”
“Just say it already,” Leilani snaps.
Leonie’s face suddenly darkens but then returns to normal.
“Mrs. Bamford said that Mr. Francis Bamford has been in a bad mood recently. He wants a great-grandson urgently,” Leonie says, “You know, Mrs. Bamford has never really liked you much, but she didn’t do anything to stop the marriage because she knows how important an heir is to her husband. So can you have a baby with Waylen as soon as possible?”
Leilani shakes her head as if to clear her ears.
“Did I hear her wrong?” she wonders, “Is Leonie demanding I have a baby with Waylen? Why would Leonie suddenly demand I have a baby with Waylen when she’s been trying to get him for herself for years? There must be some trick!”
Leilani smiles sarcastically.
“If Leonie is so worried about the Bamford heir she can have a baby with Waylen,” Leilani thinks bitterly, “Why must it be me? What does Leonie know that I don’t?”
Leilani suddenly stops smiling, “No way!”
“Bitch!” Leonie says, her mood changing in the blink of an eye, “You don’t want the hotel to get back to normal?”
“I’d rather lose the hotel than have a baby with Waylen,” Leilani responds.
Leilani tries to leave but Leonie raises her voice.
“What’s the problem?” Leonie asks, “You used to want to have a baby with Waylen.”
Leilani turns to look at Leonie and says calmly, “Just as you said, used to. Past tense.”
Leilani walks out of the room and exits the ward. Claire trots to keep up with her on.
“How did it go?” Claire asks, pushing through the journalists to get back to the car.
“It’s over,” Leilani says.
“It can’t be!” Claire insists, “What else should we do?”
Leilani presses her fingers to her temples and rubs them, “We’ll just have to find some other way.”
“Why don’t we open the hot springs for free and invite people to see for themselves how pure they are?” Claire suggests.
“That will only backfire,” Leilani sighs, “They’ll say the high number of people in the hot springs have made them dirty. Besides I’m not concerned about what the general public thinks. It’s our exclusive customer base that matters most.”
Claire nods in agreement. Although Leilani is new to the hotel business, her logic and reasoning are as strong as if she’d studied the business for years.
“Where are we going now?” Claire asks.
“Back to the hotel to enjoy the hot springs,” Leilani answers.
Claire immediately understands. Leilani plans to bathe in the hot springs to prove to everyone that they’re clean. She’s going to use herself as an example, and the press will flock for the opportunity to photograph Mrs. Bamford in a bathing suit.
Leilani wants to take a nap in the backseat and closes her eyes to rest. The silence is interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She cracks open one eye and glances at the screen: it’s Waylen. Without a second of hesitation, she rejects the call.
The phone rings again. And then again. Annoyed and perplexed by the situation at the hotel, she has no patience to talk to her husband. She rejects the call and mutes the ringer.
Waylen clutches his mobile phone with rage.
“What a bitch!” he fumes.
Robert just reported the hotel incident to him. He wanted to reassure Leilani and tell her not to panic. He was going to promise to come back to the hotel and help her personally. He can’t believe she’s ungrateful enough to reject his calls.
After lunch, Waylen took his private jet to a diamond auction in a nearby city. His private jeweler informed him that the ring inlaid with the Graff pink diamond was on the auction block. The diamond is one of the largest and most expensive in the world.
The price didn’t matter to Waylen; when he glanced at the picture his jeweler sent he thought it would look amazing on Leilani’s finger. It seemed to be made for a woman like her. Additionally, he liked the name of the ring: Peerless Love. Eventually, he bought the ring for $200 million.
“Mrs. Bamford will be overjoyed when she knows what you did for her,” Robert said flatteringly.
After over three years of marriage, Mr. Bamford would finally give his wife a diamond ring.
“It’s something of a reward for our time together,” Waylen had answered distractedly.
He couldn’t get the image of the ring on Leilani’s elegant finger out of his mind. Suddenly, he was brought back to the auction by several older women gossiping nearby.
“The handsome man bought Peerless Love,” said one, “I wonder what lucky woman possesses both the man and the ring?”
“I don’t know,” said another, “But it’s more expensive than Love for Life.”
“Oh, of course,” said the first, “You can’t even compare Love for Life with Peerless Love. Yes, it contains a rare diamond, but it’s nowhere near as large as the Graff diamond.”
“Does the Meyer family still own Love for Life?” interjected a third woman.
“You mean the famous medical family?” the first asked.
“Yes,” answered the third, “You know, the young Mr. Meyer is also very handsome. I’ve heard that Love for Life is a Meyer family heirloom, and the elder Doctor Meyer will only allow it to be given to his future daughter-in-law. I wonder when we’ll see it on some young lady’s finger.”
“My aunt once saw it at Mrs. Meyer’s birthday party,” bragged the second, “Mrs. Meyer gave the young Mr. Meyer the ring and told him he must give it to his future bride. I’ll show you the sketch of the ring my aunt made. It may not be as rare as Peerless Love, but I promise you will marvel at it.
She took out her phone and displayed a photo of the sketch.
“Oh wow!” the ladies marveled, “It seems just as beautiful as Peerless Love!”
Unable to restrain his curiosity, Waylen glanced at the phone as he passed. Immediately, he froze.
“Go get the picture,” he commanded Robert.
Robert bustled over to the women and returned with the picture on his phone.
“She said her aunt sketched from memory,” Robert said worriedly, “So it might not be completely accurate.”
Robert showed him the enlarged photo, “I know it looks a little bit similar to the ring Mrs. Bamford wears, but if you look closer you’ll see that it’s not alike.”
Waylen didn’t say anything but his eyes darkened. Resolutely he turned away from the picture and walked out of the room to call his wife.
Back at the hotel, Leilani sits at the edge of the hot spring. Steam rises from the bath and the cherry blossom petals fall into the water every time the wind blows. The white steam and pink petals make the patio look like a misty wonderland.
The faint fragrance from the flowers and the heat from the steam have already started to soothe her headache. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply. Suddenly her phone buzzes in her hand. She expects to see Waylen’s name, but she raises her eyebrows in surprise when she sees it’s Charles. She answers the phone immediately.
“Leilani, is the hotel alright?” Charles asks.
“What’s wrong with your voice?” Leilani asks with concern, “It’s hoarse.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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