Chapter 173
Chapter 173
The moment Byron learned Cheryl was in a private room at a hotel, he bolted from the airport.
This has to be her meeting with Shadow, he thought.
He needed to be the first one to find Shadow and secure a partnership.
Sylvia was in the middle of a conversation with Cheryl when a knock echoed on the door of their private dining room.
“Cheryl, may I come in?” Byron’s deep, magnetic voice sounded from the other side.
The color drained from Cheryl’s face. How did he find us so fast? she wondered, glancing nervously at Sylvia.
Her boss couldn’t afford to have her identity revealed.
Sylvia’s brow furrowed. She scanned the room for an escape route, then, without a word, slipped into the restroom.
Byron didn’t give them much time, pushing the door open firmly.
“Mr. Blair, what are you doing here?” Cheryl asked, feigning surprise as she shot up from the sofa.
Byron’s icy gaze swept the room. It was just Cheryl. But his intel said there was another woman with her.
The windows were barred; no one could have left that way. The person had to still be in here.
His eyes drifted pointedly toward the restroom door.
Cheryl’s heart pounded. “Mr. Blair, if there’s nothing else, maybe you should go,” she said quickly.
“Who’s in the restroom?” Byron asked, his voice flat.
“No one!” Cheryl blurted out, desperate to get him to leave.
Byron Blair sat down on the couch expressionlessly. “If you refuse to tell me, then I’ll just wait for whoever’s in there to come out.”
Just then, the restroom door creaked open.
Sylvia emerged, realizing she had no choice. Hiding in there was pointless if Byron was determined to wait.
Byron looked up automatically but didn’t recognize her in the slightest.
Sylvia’s face was a chaotic mess of garish, smeared makeup. Her usually perfect hair was teased into a disheveled bird’s nest, and she had somehow managed to get colorful stains all over her clothes. She looked like a train wreck, completely unrecognizable.
Byron stared, momentarily stunned. He’d expected Cheryl’s boss, the legendary Al genius. This woman, however, looked unhinged, gazing at him with a vacant, silly expression.
“Hey there, handsome,” Sylvia cooed in a fake, high–pitched voice, sauntering toward him with a plastered–on smile. “Are you here for little ol‘ me?”
Byron shot up from the sofa, his brow furrowed in distaste. “Who is she?” he demanded of Cheryl.
Cheryl mentally face–palmed at her boss’s ridiculous getup but forced a smile. “She’s my cousin. She’s a bit… eccentric. Don’t mind her.”
Byron nodded curtly. “Let me know when you hear from your boss.”
He didn’t want to stay a second longer. The way this cousin was looking him up and down made his skin crawl.
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Chapter 173
With that he was out the door.
Sylvia’s expression returned to normal. She scoffed under her breath. ‘Am I really that hideous?‘ she thought. ‘I actually scared Byron away.
She went back to the restroom and looked in the mirror. Even she was horrified by her reflection. It was truly awful.
Sylvia thought about washing her face, but then hesitated. What if she ran into Byron again on the way out?
She decided to wait until she got home.
Sylvia and Cheryl walked out of the private room, only to run smack into a familiar face in the main dining hall–Joanna.
It was lunchtime, and Joanna was there with her glamorous entourage.
One of them caught sight of Sylvia and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Ugh, how hideous.”
The others turned to look, their faces twisting into similar expressions of revulsion.
Joanna smirked at Sylvia. “With a face like that, you should stay home so you don’t scare people.”
Sylvia’s disguise was so thick–with its caked–on lipstick, cartoonishly thick eyebrows, and rainbow of colors–that even Joanna didn’t recognize her.
“Hey, what’s your problem? How she looks is none of your business,” a portly chef said, stepping out from the kitchen to grab a menu. He’d overheard the exchange and felt compelled to defend Sylvia.
Joanna’s friends looked offended and turned to her with pouty faces.
Joanna frowned at the chef. “You’re just a cook. Mind your own business. Do you even want to keep your job? I can have a word with your boss, you
know.”
The chef, who apparently had a temper of his own, snorted. “I am the boss. This is my restaurant. You want to fire me?”
Joanna’s expression flickered. She led her friends to a table, her eyes scanning the walls, which were covered in culinary awards. A new idea formed. “I see you’ve won awards for preparing a gourmet banquet,” she said, a sly smile playing on her lips. “Fine. Make us one. Now.”
“Not happening,” the chef refused flatly. He pointed toward the kitchen, which was visible through a large glass partition. “Can’t you see? I use cooking bots. The menu is fixed.”
Joanna peered through the glass. Sure enough, half a dozen robotic arms were busy at their stations.
“Then this is false advertising!” she declared, pointing at the awards on the wall. “We came here because of your reputation for gourmet cuisine. I’m reporting you to the Better Business Bureau!” she threatened with a cold smile.
The chef’s face went pale. He’d never dealt with a situation like this and didn’t know the first thing about consumer law.
Sylvia had been watching from the sidelines. The chef had stood up for her, and she wasn’t about to let Joanna bully him.
“I’ll upgrade the bots for you,” Sylvia stated, her face unreadable behind the makeup.
She gave a subtle nod to Cheryl, who immediately handed over her laptop.
The chef stared at her, dumbfounded. The bots can be upgraded? Since when?
Joanna sneered from her table. “Whatever. If I don’t get my gourmet banquet soon, I’m making that call.”
Meanwhile, Sylvia had already walked into the kitchen, plugged her laptop into the main terminal for the bots, and her fingers began to fly across the keyboard. She quickly accessed her company’s database, feeding a complex string of code directly into the restaurant’s system.
⚫ The other diners in the restaurant had gathered around, curious. None of them believed a robot could prepare such a complex, high–end meal.
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They had no idea they were watching the legendary At guru, Shadow, breathe new life into these machines.
Suddenly, lights on all the bots blinked in unison. A synthesized voice announced, “System upgrade complete. Please load ingredients into the intake chute. The system will now automatically prepare a multi–course gourmet meal based on available ingredients.”
The chef was speechless. The bots had a voice function, but they’d never said anything so complex before.
“Just do what it says,” Sylvia said coolly.
The chef, still in a daze, began loading vegetables, meats, and spices into the intake. Instantly, the bots whirred to life, dicing, slicing, and sorting ingredients with breathtaking speed before beginning the cooking process.
As the rich, mouth–watering aroma of expertly cooked food began to fill the restaurant, the robotic voice spoke again.
“Lobster Thermidor, complete!”
“Duck à l’Orange, complete!”
“Beef Wellington, complete!”
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