Chapter 88 The Best Listener
Leopold walked out of the office and ran into Erik, who looked at him with surprise and raised the coffee in his hand, saying:
"Mr. Leopold Wipere, your coffee."
Leopold looked at him deeply, "Thanks, but no need."
In the company, even if Leopold had conflicts with people he didn't get along with, he wouldn't let outsiders see through it openly.
Erik suddenly called out to him, "Mr. Leopold Wipere."
Leopold didn't stop. In this company, not everyone had the right to make him stop.
Erik chased him all the way to the elevator, slightly out of breath as he lowered his voice and said: "I passed along your call. It was Mr. Preston Wipere..."
"I know."
The elevator door opened, and Leopold strode in.
The moment the elevator door closed, Erik bowed deeply to the person inside.
Preston's health was getting worse day by day. It was better to plan ahead for some things. Rather than waiting until the last minute to pick sides, he might as well prepare early.
With no hope of meeting Preston, Leopold was thinking about how to explain this to Caroline. Now, another matter was starting to become a crisis for him.
Gemma was Preston's original wife. The headquarters of Celestial Waters Hotel used to be Gemma's family's the Adams Group. She definitely didn't want Leopold to touch even a bit of the company and was already preparing to have Xiomara and her son-in-law reach out to grab his project.
On the way back, Leopold called Lily.
The phone connected: "Lily, check Maplewood Hotel's revenue for the past six months," he thought for a moment, "actually, make it the past three years. How long will you need?"
Lily said: "Two days."
Leopold: "Good."
After hanging up, Leopold's expression remained serious. The car's rearview mirror reflected his cold face. Back then, to stand up for Quinlan, Leopold was willing to come to Celestial Waters Hotel and start from the bottom as a server, even facing everyone's mockery. He did this to prevent those board members from finding excuses to suppress him, calling him a parachuted-in waste.
After many years, he finally made it to the general manager position, but his mindset had changed too. From initially wanting to help Quinlan return to the Wipere family openly and honorably, to now wanting to climb to higher positions to satisfy his growing ambition.
He would stop at nothing, scheming endlessly.
This led to the unfavorable rumors about him in society.
Some were true, some were deliberately framed. Leopold was too lazy to explain. Rather than spending time explaining, he'd rather directly take down the rumor-mongers. Time cost was also a cost. Solving hidden dangers meant making them shut up.
After returning to Solstice Mountain, Leopold got busy with work again, and his contact with Caroline decreased. He wanted to spend more time with her, but he needed to find out why Gemma suddenly wanted to exchange Maplewood Hotel for Solstice Mountain Hotel.
Two days later, Lily placed the investigation report in Leopold's office. The moment he saw the sales figures, his face darkened. He finally understood why the exchange.
Back then, Gemma had fought hard to get Maplewood Hotel for Xiomara. Celestial Waters Hotel had hundreds of chain hotels nationwide, and Maplewood Hotel's revenue was definitely in the top ten.
Who would have thought that in just three years, the once-glorious Maplewood Hotel would fall from grace.
The hotel industry hadn't been doing well in recent years. More and more people were entering this field, but there were only so many customers. Plus, some guesthouses were doing really well - cheaper than hotels, better locations, good service, and personalized decor. But hotels kept the same old decoration and service, which scattered the customer base even more.
Lily's report was very detailed. Starting from March last year, Maplewood Hotel's revenue dropped off a cliff. The problem was that a hotel of the same star rating opened in Maplewood at the same time, and travel agencies that had partnered with Maplewood Hotel broke their contracts one after another, choosing to work with the new hotel that offered better value.
Leopold saw that the company with the largest share of broken contracts was the Reynolds Group.
Among the blind date candidates Preston arranged for him was Pearl from the Reynolds Group. It seemed Preston really had calculated every step. As long as it benefited himself and the group, Preston would use it.
All these years, Leopold thought Preston's harshness and strictness toward him was training. Now it seemed he was wrong. In Preston's eyes, he had never seen Leopold as a son. Leopold was just a tool he could use.
Lily had just finished checking the kitchen and passed through the lobby to glance at the clock - it was already five-thirty.
She hadn't seen Leopold all day. After delivering the documents, she went to customer service, but at this hour, he should have finished reading the documents. Why was he still nowhere to be seen?
Lily first asked the front desk in the lobby, then went to the restaurant and saw a server. She asked:
"Has Mr. Wipere come for dinner?"
The server said: "Haven't seen him."
Leopold was probably still in his office. Lily walked into the elevator.
She knocked on Leopold's office door. He was actually drinking - she rarely saw him drink while working.
She walked in and glanced at the wine glass on the table, "You're in such a mood?"
Leopold pushed a glass toward her. Lily poured some, swirled the red liquid, looked at the beautiful wall hanging, took a small sip, and put it down.
"Why did you suddenly want to investigate Maplewood Hotel?"
Leopold said: "Today I went to headquarters and ran into Ms. Adams. She said Xiomara is pregnant, and considering her physical condition, she wants to exchange her Maplewood Hotel for my Solstice Mountain Hotel."
Lily smiled and curved her lips, "She's got some nice ideas."
Leopold tilted his head back and drained the red wine in one gulp.
"You agreed?" Lily asked.
Leopold: "Whether I agree or not depends on Mr. Preston Wipere."
Lily's face became serious, "Mr. Preston Wipere agreed?"
Leopold: "No."
Lily looked at him suspiciously, "He didn't agree, so why are you drinking? I thought... wait, this little thing wouldn't affect you. Why are you drinking?"
Leopold let out a long sigh, "Nothing, just a bit tired lately, relaxing a bit."
Lily said: "Who are you kidding?"
Leopold said: "It's nothing, go do your work."
"You haven't eaten dinner yet. What do you want to eat? I'll have the kitchen make it."
Leopold said: "Not very hungry. When I am, I'll go down and make something myself."
Lily had a helpless expression, "I know you can cook, but you don't need to show it off right now. I'll have the kitchen prepare two dishes for you."
"No need." Leopold refused.
Lily stood at the door, her tone leaving no room for argument: "Even if you're drinking, you should have some food to go with it."
Half an hour later, Lily brought two packed dishes and put them on the table. Before leaving, she said: "If you have troubles you can't tell me about, you can tell your girlfriend. She's your best listener."
Leopold smiled and picked up his knife and fork.
Lily reminded him that he hadn't contacted Caroline today yet.
He opened her WhatsApp and sent a message.
At that moment, in Seaside City.
Caroline had just come back from taking out the trash downstairs. Her phone on the table rang - she saw Leopold's message.
north: What are you doing?
Caroline came to the living room and sat on the sofa, replying: At home, you?
The next second, Leopold's video call request came through. Caroline tidied her hair and accepted the request.
The screen lit up. Caroline's face without makeup looked clean and fresh, with a smile on her lips. Seeing the two boxes of food in front of him, she asked:
"Are you just eating?"
Leopold said while chewing: "Yeah. What did you have for dinner?"
Caroline said: "A corn, chicken breast lettuce salad."
Leopold: "Eating diet food?"
Caroline said: "Yeah, after coming back from Silverpeak City, my work pants seem a bit tight. I'm controlling my weight."
Leopold said: "Then the pants got smaller, it has nothing to do with you."
Caroline laughed, "You really know how to comfort people. If I wasn't well-read, I'd almost believe you. If I don't lose weight, should I spend my money buying plus-size clothes?"