Ch 69 - Big Bill and Strange Rules

"Darren, do you see that woman? She's a business partner for our family. I lost face badly in front of her just now. If you help me save face, I'll hand her over to you," Lisa whispered into his ear.

Darren walked up to Manager Hood.

The manager was much more relaxed now. Originally, he was afraid that Lisa would call Alex to come over, but it turned out to be Darren. Manager Hood scolded him in his heart.

Last time, Darren had felt good about himself and had made Manager Hood think that he had been Alex's friend. Later, Manager Hood had investigated it and found out that this was not the case at all.

"This is my daughter's boyfriend. He'll solve this for us. Joanne, you can relax now, right?" Lisa said with a smile.

Joanne greeted Darren by nodding her head.

"Manager Hood, now that I'm here, let's just forget about this matter," Darren said to the manager with a smile. He had felt that the moment had appeared, Manager Hood's attitude would be softened.

"Forget it? You must be joking!" Manager Hood laughed coldly." Since you're here, then you can please settle the bill quickly."

Uh… what's going on with Manager Hood today? He wasn't like this the last time. Could it be that he doesn't remember me after a week? thought Darren.

"Manager Hood, you don't remember me? I'm Darren. My dad's company is the Rogers Construction Company," Darren said.

"Oh," Manager Hood had a look of realization on his face.

"It's good that you remember. The misunderstanding has been resolved. I'll remember your good intentions today. Don't worry—I'll visit you often in the future," Darren said with a smile. He then turned to Lisa, "We can leave now."

Darren was about to leave with Lisa and the others, who were praising him.

"Stop!" Manager Hood cried out, "What the hell do you mean that the misunderstanding is resolved. When did I let you go?"

"You don't need to send us off. We can just leave by ourselves," Darren said with a smile.

What the heck—just how narcissistic is this fellow? Manager Hood thought as he grabbed Darren's shoulder forcefully.

"Ouch! What are you doing?" exclaimed Darren.

"You can't leave until you've paid the bill. If you continue playing tricks on me, I'll call the police!" Manager Hood said angrily.

"Manager Hood, you didn't take the wrong medicine today, did you? Aren't you mistaken? I'm Darren—and you still want me to pay?" he asked in surprise.

"I don't care who pays. I will hand you all over to the police if you don't pay today," Manager Hood said. He became more and more annoyed as he looked at Lisa and the others. "Are you going to pay the bill or not? Or don't you want to pay the bill?"

It seems like these perverts want to go back on their word, Manager Hood thought as he took out his phone and was about to call the police.

Lisa and the others were dumbfounded. Joanne, who was standing to the side, also turned red. In such a high-end restaurant, she felt extremely humiliated and embarrassed.

"Don't call the police—I'll pay their bill for them," Darren said as he glared at the manager. He still didn't understand why the man had changed so much.

"Okay, it's good that someone is paying," Manager Hood said as he took the bill from the waiter and gave it to Darren. "It's seventeen thousand six hundred and thirty dollars in total, so you can just give me seventeen thousand."

"Seventeen thousand!" Darren was so shocked that his tonsils almost flew out. He quickly looked at the bill. It was very detailed. Just one bottle of Louis XIV was worth more than six thousand dollars, so it was not surprising that the bill was so much money.

Darren gritted his teeth as he glanced at Lisa and cursed in his heart.

You dimwit—you know how to enjoy yourself—you dared to drink red wine worth six thousand dollars. Weren't you afraid of getting drunk to death? he thought.

Lisa's heart trembled when she heard the price of seventeen thousand dollars. When she saw Joanne glance at her speechlessly, Lisa smiled coyly in embarrassment and said, "Don't worry, I'll settle this matter."

Joanne snorted and turned her head away.

Lisa walked up to Darren and asked uncertainly, "No problem, right?"

"Yep!" Darren was full of anger, but it was still on him to pay. He looked at Lisa and wanted to give her a good scolding, but she was Donna's mother after all.

He was just a student with a bit of money, and seventeen thousand dollars was hardly a small sum.

"Sir, all the money you have here on your credit cards, in addition to the cash, is twelve thousand dollars. There's still five thousand dollars left to pay. How will you pay for the rest?" the hostess politely said as she handed all his credit cards back to Darren.

"What? My cards only have that much money?" Darren was very surprised as he did not normally pay attention to his balance. With a glance at the hostess's computer, he knew it was indeed the case.

Right now, he didn't dare to ask for money from his family, so he could only cast a pleading gaze at Lisa. She came to New York for fun, so she must have some money with her.

"Lisa, there's still about five thousand dollars left. Why don't you put it on your card?" Darren said quietly, but he wasn't particularly embarrassed. After all, he had already paid most of the bill.

"Um..." To be honest, five thousand dollars wasn't a huge sum for Lisa. However, she had already spent a huge amount of money in the past few days. If she spent another five thousand dollars, her husband would definitely suspect that she might have found a male escort.

Darren's face turned extremely ugly when she didn't say anything in response. Hell, you dare to order such expensive dishes without money? he thought.

"What about the two aunties?" Darren's eyes shifted toward Fiona and Natalie.

"They—they don't have money on them either," Lisa said awkwardly. She was worried too, as her gaze locked onto Joanne. Wasn't Joanne the only one who currently had money?

The surrounding customers began to make comments.

"Hey, how dare you come to Sunset restaurant without money. You're all crazy," said one.

"These country bumpkins are really something. Do they really think that the fancy restaurants in New York are as cheap as those in the countryside?" said another.

"Where did they get the courage to eat in a Supreme room? I think they wanted to eat for free from the very beginning!" exclaimed another.

The customers that were eating nearby all looked at Lisa and the others with a smirk as they whispered to each other.

"Joanne, we don't have enough money right now. Look—" Lisa walked up to Joanne with a stiff smile.

When Joanne heard Lisa asking her for money, the anger in her heart surged.

"You really treated me to a good meal!" Joanne said with a sneer. Then she snorted and walked up to the hostess. She handed over her credit card and swiped the remaining five thousand dollars.

After she was done, Joanne covered her face with her hands and walked quickly toward the door. She felt that it was too embarrassing for her to remain in there.

"Joanne, wait for me. Leave me your number, and I'll return the money to you!" Lisa said loudly.

"Hmph—there's no need." Joanne turned her head and looked at Lisa with a cold smile. "I must be really out of my mind today. That's why I came to eat with you. Goodbye!"

"Don't be like this. Today was an accident. I'll find another time to meet up with you, and we'll talk about the partnership." Lisa was afraid that this would affect their future business dealings.

"Partnership? Hmph—I don't think our hospital needs that kind of luck. You should find someone else to work with instead," Joanne said as she waved her hand to get a taxi, climbed in, and left.

Hearing Joanne's words, Lisa knew that her family's business had failed. Her heartfelt like it was being frozen in an ice house. Fiona and Natalie also blamed themselves.

"Don't be too sad. Should I take you back now?" Darren looked at Lisa's sad expression and felt that she had deserved it. If she didn't have the money, then she shouldn't have eaten at such an expensive restaurant. Now, her business had failed, and she even made him make a fool of himself in front of so many people.

"No need. We'll take a taxi back. I still have to thank you for today, Darren," Lisa said dejectedly. She then got a taxi and went back to the hotel with her sisters.

When they arrived at the Azalea Guest House, Lisa went to her room to rest. That day, her business deal had failed, and she had suffered such a huge humiliation.

At six o'clock in the evening, Lisa, Fiona, and the others gathered again to go have a meal. But they were no longer in the mood to go out to eat.

As they walked past the front desk, the receptionist politely reminded them, "I'm sorry to bother you, but the time of your stay will end tomorrow at noon. Please vacate your rooms before noon."

"It's finished?" Lisa discussed the situation with Fiona and Natalie. Although the hotel was a bungalow and not their ideal luxury hotel, it was still quite comfortable, and they still wanted to stay for two more days.

"Can we stay in the room longer?" Lisa asked.

"My apologies, but you can't stay in the room. Please forgive us," the receptionist politely said.

"We can't stay in the room? Did I hear that wrong? Why not? Are there any other available rooms in the guest house?" Lisa asked in surprise.

"I'm sorry—if you want a new room, then you will need Mr. Ambrose to get a room for you," the receptionist said with difficulty.

"We still need him?" Lisa had no intention of bowing down to Alex. 

The rules in this hotel are quite odd. No wonder it's going to close soon, she thought.

"Fine. We will leave tomorrow."

In the worst case, Alex could just find them another hotel in the city.

"Are you going to dinner?" Carla walked out and greeted Lisa and the others.

"We've had such great meals out these past few days that I can't eat much of anything anymore, so I'll go with you," Lisa said as she followed Carla to the courtyard.

"This place is pretty nice!" Lisa and her sisters praised the decor. This time, they were grateful for all the free food, so they ordered a few dishes without worry.

"I didn't expect the food here to be so delicious," Lisa said. She and the others felt that this was the most delectable meal they had ever eaten in New York. It was even more delicious than the one they had eaten at Sunset restaurant. Their table was filled with expensive delicacies such as abalone and lobster. They felt a little regret that they hadn't eaten at their hotel for the past few days.

However, they comforted themselves with the thought that there was still a gap between the meals at their hotel and those at Sunset. After all, Sunset restaurant's food was imported from various countries and could be transported from the port within three hours.