“Then let me give you some advice, Jasmine. When wealthy people are speaking, employees keep their mouths shut.””

Jasmine went pale.

I saw her hands tighten around her tray.

“Mrs. Collins,” I said quietly, “there’s no reason to speak to her that way.””

Vanessa released my wrist and stepped so close that I could smell champagne on her breath.

“Oh, listen to you. Suddenly, the little waitress has an opinion.””

She glanced at a nearby table and grabbed a full glass of red wine.

I knew what she intended a second before she moved.

“Don’t,” I warned.

She smiled.

“Don’t what?””

Then she poured the entire glass over my head.

Cold wine ran down my face, soaked my collar, and dripped from my sleeves onto the polished marble floor.

The ballroom fell silent.

Vanessa lowered the empty glass.

“There. Now you look exactly like what you are.””

She leaned closer.

“Trash.””

For a moment, I could hear nothing except the pounding of my heart.

I thought about my father, who had started his first hotel with a single run-down property and had taught me that the people cleaning the rooms mattered as much as the people sleeping in them.

Never judge a person’s worth by the uniform they’re wearing, Olivia.

Those words had stayed with me long after he died.

I wiped wine from my eyes.

“Are you finished?”” I asked.

Vanessa blinked.

“Excuse me?””

“I asked if you’re finished humiliating someone who has done nothing to you.””

Richard stepped forward, his face reddening.

“Security! Get this woman out of here!””

Two security officers near the ballroom entrance started moving toward us.

Then a voice thundered across the room.

“STOP!””

Thomas Harrison, the hotel’s general manager, came rushing through the crowd.

His eyes landed on my soaked uniform.

His face drained of color.

“Miss Bennett?””

He hurried toward me, nearly knocking over a chair.

“Oh, my God. Miss Bennett, what happened? Why are you dressed like one of our waitresses?””

Every head turned.

Vanessa stared at him.

“Miss Bennett? What are you talking about? She’s an employee!””

Thomas looked at her as though she had just announced that the sky was green.

Then he turned toward the two hundred guests.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I need everyone to understand something.””

He swallowed hard.

“This woman is not a temporary waitress.””

His eyes returned to me.

“She is Olivia Bennett, the owner of this hotel, the owner of three other luxury properties, and the founder of the Bennett Children’s Foundation.””

Vanessa’s smile vanished.

Richard took one step backward.

And I slowly untied my stained apron.

“Mr. Harrison,” I said, “please don’t stop on my account.””

Then I looked directly at Vanessa.

“Now that everyone knows who I am, perhaps you’d like to explain why you thought it was acceptable to treat me this way.””

She opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

But before she could answer, Jasmine stepped forward with her phone clutched in both hands.

“Miss Bennett,” she whispered, “there’s something else you need to know about the Collins family.””

She glanced nervously at Richard.

“They’ve done this to other employees. And I have a recording.””

Richard’s expression changed so quickly that I knew the wine on my uniform wasn’t the worst thing that had happened that evening.

“What recording?”” I asked.

Jasmine unlocked her phone.

“The one they thought nobody would ever see.””

Then she pressed play.

And Richard Collins’s voice filled the silent ballroom.

Chapter 2: The Recording That Changed Everything