Laoise stepped into the lobby and looked around. The café was situated on one side of the entrance. Although she had been to the Vertex a few times, she had never truly noticed the café before. It was magnificently decorated with carved solid wood tables and comfortable leather sofas. The entire space consisted of semi-private booths.
At a table near the entrance sat two men. Laoise didn't look closely at them, but she noticed they were in suits and carried an air of distinction. She shifted her gaze past them to another table where a single man sat.
There was no one else.
Laoise walked toward the man sitting alone and met Mr. Lewis.
Arthur had a meeting at the corporate headquarters that afternoon, but the car sent for him at noon had been taken for a wash, and the driver was stuck in traffic. He and Barret sat in the hotel café to wait.
To pass the time, Arthur had Barret hand him a tablet. He opened a farm game and began harvesting vegetables and planting crops.
Barret stood by, watching his boss. Arthur had an icy, arrogant face and an aura of nobility, yet here he was, performing a tedious task day after day with relentless persistence. In all the years Barret had been his assistant, he had never seen Arthur miss a single day of harvesting his virtual vegetables.
As Arthur was harvesting, he heard Barret let out a soft exclamation.
He didn't look up, nor did he ask what it was about.
Barret couldn't help but mutter to him anyway. "It's her again. The woman from the VIP elevator with the cheating husband."
Arthur raised his eyes and cast a cold look, a hint of mockery and disdain flickering in his gaze. He gave Barret a warning look that clearly communicated he had no interest in hearing useless gossip about this woman. Barret fell silent immediately.
Not long after, however, the voices of a man and a woman drifted from behind them. The woman's voice was hesitant, while the man spoke loudly and melodically, as if he were giving a speech.
If he weren't already about to leave, Arthur would have moved to a different seat to escape the noise.
The woman called the man Mr. Lewis, and he addressed her as Ms. Douglas.
Mr. Lewis was pitching a massive, high-profit investment project to Ms. Douglas, promising a 10% weekly return. He showered her with compliments, praising her aura, her vision, and her foresight. Ms. Douglas seemed to buy into the flattery, looking quite pleased. She told him she had a sum of money she wanted him to manage for her.
Barret couldn't help but whisper his critique. "That has to be a scam. What kind of business pays out weekly returns like that? And this girl. How is she so easily swayed by a few compliments? How starved for affection is she?"
Arthur ignored him. He finished harvesting his crops, planted new ones, and then opened a financial news app on his tablet to play a news clip. The news anchor's voice was moderate, not loud enough to disturb the room, but clear enough for those nearby to hear: "Investors are reminded that financial management carries risks and investment requires caution."
Barret blinked, unsure if Arthur had opened it by accident or as a subtle warning.
Just then, the driver finally arrived at the entrance to pick up Arthur.
Arthur turned off the video and handed the tablet to Barret. As he stood up to leave, he furrowed his brow and spoke coldly. "Worry less about other people's business and do your job as my assistant. If you can't fix this gossiping habit, you can find another job."
Barret stood there, thinking he had indeed overthought things. Arthur's warning to mind his own business made it clear that the news video had surely been played by accident.
Shaking his head, he hurried to catch up with Arthur.
Laoise was listening intently to Mr. Lewis introduce his investment project when a sudden burst of noise erupted behind her.
It seemed the two guests at the table behind them had turned on their speakerphone to watch something. Mr. Lewis, sitting across from her, immediately frowned. "Watching something at full volume in a public place. How utterly inconsiderate," he remarked.
Without missing a beat, he handed Laoise a pair of wireless earbuds and urgently gestured for her to put them on. He quickly passed his phone to her, speaking rapidly. "The people at the table behind us are too loud, and I'm not going to get into a shouting match with them. Regarding my project, there is a video here of a presentation I gave in another city. You can listen to the details through the headphones, Ms. Douglas. Don't worry, I sanitize these every single day."
Laoise put on the earbuds and watched the video on Mr. Lewis's phone, completely isolating herself from the outside noise. When she finished and removed the earbuds, the disturbance behind her had ceased. The guests at that table must have left.
She returned the phone and the earbuds to Mr. Lewis and proceeded to invest half of her total savings with him. For several consecutive weeks, she received her interest payments exactly on schedule.
Seeing the other members of the group chat boast about their massive weekly profits, Laoise joined in. As soon as she shared her success, the members showered her with digital flowers and congratulations. Laoise loved this group. It felt warm and supportive. It made her feel valued and gave her a sense of belonging.
Feeling completely at ease, she decided to invest the remaining half with Mr. Lewis. Once the transaction was complete, she had only a few thousand dollars left to her name for emergencies.
Jessica continued to badger her relentlessly. She couldn't go three sentences without demanding money for Fergal's house.
"Laoise, I know you have the money. Don't play dumb with me." The rhythm and tone were so repetitive that Laoise sometimes felt like she was listening to a broken record. "In my opinion, you should just buy your brother that house and get it over with. Keeping that cash is just letting it lose value. Buying a house for your brother is a real investment that will appreciate."
On the surface, Jessica's logic seemed to hold some weight. However, Laoise realized that if she bought a house for Fergal, the appreciation wouldn't benefit her at all. Only the returns from her own investments would actually end up in her pocket. She told herself that in three months, she would take the profits from Mr. Lewis and give them to Jessica to shut her up and end the daily nagging.