He calmly took out his phone and opened the confirmation email.
"Here. You can see the confirmation. Please take another look."
Kim glanced at the screen for barely a second.
Then she looked away.
"Our system rarely makes mistakes, sir. If it is not showing up, maybe there was an error when you made the booking."
Jerome remained silent.
He had spent decades managing thousands of employees.
He knew the difference between a simple mistake and someone refusing to help.
"Please check one more time," Jerome said.
Kim let out a quiet sigh.
Her patience was clearly disappearing.
"I have already done everything I can."
Jerome looked around the lobby.
The expensive decorations.
The luxury furniture.
The symbol of everything he had built.
And yet, at the center of it all, a customer was being dismissed without anyone caring.
"May I check the system with you?" Jerome asked.
Kim gave a small laugh.
Not a friendly laugh.
A dismissive one.
"If you want, just wait."
She turned the computer screen toward him briefly, but only for a moment.
Not long enough for him to properly see anything.
Then she turned it away.
A small action.
But Jerome noticed.
She was not trying to solve the problem.
She was trying to make him leave.
Jerome stepped back slightly.
He kept his expression calm, but his mind was already working.
Was this just Kimberly Evans?
Or was this something larger?
Something hidden inside the hotel culture he had spent years building?
He sat down quietly in the lobby and watched.
Because now he knew one thing.
The real inspection had only just begun.
Jerome remained seated in the quiet corner of the hotel lobby, pretending to review his phone.
But he was not checking emails.
He was watching.
Watching Kimberly Evans.
Watching the way she treated other guests.
Watching whether this was a single moment of poor judgment or a pattern.
And what he saw disturbed him.
A few minutes later, a young couple approached the front desk.
Kim immediately changed.
Her posture straightened.
Her expression softened.
"Good afternoon. Welcome to Carter Grand Hotels. How may I assist you?"
Her voice was completely different.
Warm.
Professional.
Polite.
Jerome noticed.
The couple smiled as Kim quickly handled their check-in.
She answered every question.
She explained the hotel services.
She even offered recommendations for nearby restaurants.
The interaction lasted less than five minutes.
Then they walked away happily.
Jerome watched silently.
The difference was impossible to ignore.
When he returned his attention to Kim, her cold expression had returned.
A few minutes later, an older Black woman approached the counter carrying a small suitcase.
She looked tired from traveling.
"Excuse me, I have a reservation."
Kim barely looked up.
"Name?"
The woman gave her information.
Kim typed slowly.
Then she frowned.
"I don't see anything."
The woman looked confused.
"But I received confirmation yesterday."
Kim shrugged.
"Maybe you should contact whoever booked it."
The woman looked embarrassed.
"But I paid already."
Kim sighed.
"Ma'am, I can't create a reservation that doesn't exist."