Chapter 541: Search for All the Hotels
Cecilia recalled the photograph Nicholas had shown her. Nathaniel, unsteady on his feet, required Stella's support and that of another bodyguard. He rarely drank to excess; she’d tried unsuccessfully to get him drunk before.
“Eli, I need to do something,” she said, “Go to sleep. Don’t wait up.”
Elliot nodded, “Okay.”
After Cecilia’s hurried departure, Elliot muttered, “Not that I want to help you, scumbag daddy, but I don't want you to kick the bucket prematurely. I still need you to amass more wealth for Jon and me.”
Unknown to Jonathan, Elliot possessed a remarkable talent: discerning information from conversations and facial expressions with surprising accuracy—seventy to eighty percent, in fact. His intuition was akin to a psychologist's, but sharper. He'd overheard Cecilia's phone call with Mason and gleaned the situation.
Leaving the house, Cecilia retrieved a different car from the underground parking. Closing her eyes, she focused on the hotel in Nicholas's photo; it felt strangely familiar. Without further reflection, she started the car, heading toward the city. Using her navigation system, she systematically searched for all the hotels, visiting each one. She wanted to give Nathaniel and herself one last chance, to find him and question his amnesia and feigned poverty.
At last, she found a hotel entrance identical to that in the photograph. Donning a mask, she exited the car, sent Mason a photo of the hotel and its location, and entered.
“I need a room,” she said.
“Certainly,” the receptionist replied, promptly assigning her a room on the sixth floor. “Here’s your key. Sixth floor.”
The hotel had eight floors. Taking the key card, Cecilia decided to investigate herself.
“Thank you,” she said.
The lobby was unremarkable, yet despite the late hour, two security guards patrolled near the stairwells. One guard cautioned her, “The eighth floor is reserved; don’t go there.”
The other guard nudged him, whispering, “The elevator doesn’t reach the eighth floor. Why warn her?”
The first guard scratched his head. “I was just worried about getting scolded if someone unauthorized went up there again.”
Cecilia overheard their exchange. Something was amiss on the eighth floor. To avoid suspicion, she took the elevator to the sixth floor and then climbed the stairs.
On the seventh floor, she encountered several men patrolling near the stairwell, grumbling, “This is annoying. Do we have to watch all night? Don’t they ever sleep?”
“Didn’t you hear the shower? The dosage was too strong; a few rounds weren’t enough to relieve the itch.”
“This blind guy used to be a multinational CEO? What a life; women throwing themselves at him.”
“Even a high achiever needs medication! Haha…”
The men’s careless chatter confirmed Nathaniel’s presence, though these were clearly not his usual bodyguards. She'd met his bodyguards before; they were exceptionally reserved, even during their Sparaville blind date. They were forbidden from dating during training and remained silent without Nathaniel’s permission.