I'm In Love With My Bestfriend's Billionaire Fiance!
Chapter 50: Breaking Joan

Chapter 50: Breaking Joan

(CASEY’S POV)

_____________

Just as I had predicted, we pulled into the hotel lot in just about fifteen minutes. I made use of the underground garage where I parked the car.

"We have to do this in a way that will attract the least attention," I said. "We don’t want to create a scandal while trying to avoid one. We’re not gonna call her, we’ll simply turn up at her office looking mean as fuck."

"I like that plan," Jace said as he got out of the car.

Ethan and I stepped out as well, I locked it and soon, we began to walk. We made it out of the underground garage and I led the way to Joan’s office. I knew it very well, it was where she and I had met several times when I was planning the rehearsal dinner. Who knew it would create so many issues for me?

When we got to her floor, her PA tried to stop us but she quelled at once when she saw that Jace was with us. She tried her best to stop us without coming across as aggressive, but she failed. Jace pushed the door to Joan’s office open and we filed inside.

The woman was at her desk in an online meeting. She looked up from her computer and gave us all a cursory once-over. She didn’t look in the least surprised to see us.

"Can we do this later on?" She spoke to the person on the call with her. "Something just happened here in my office."

With a few keystrokes, the call was ended and she turned to face us. She adjusted her glasses as she shifted on my seat, "did you have to come here? All you had to do was call me, and I would have done whatever you wanted me to do."

"Well, you’ve not been entirely truthful with us, have you?" I said as we walked deeper into the plush office. "The one thing that your hotel promised us wasn’t delivered and we paid a boatload of money for that."

"Honestly, I don’t know what exactly you want from me." Joan took off her glasses and placed them on the desk. "I’m really sorry about what happened, but it’s not like anyone was hurt."

Jace pounded his fist into her desk, "did you seriously just say that?"

Joan simply turned her face to him, unperturbed, "Yeah, I said it. Or am I wrong?"

"The only way the stalkers were able to walk in here and get the perfect rooms for their operation was because they had help," I told her. "Inside help."

"And you’re going to tell us who that person is." Jace added, "Now."

"Are you kidding me? No member of our staff will knowingly work for a criminal!" Joan retorted, "How dare you make such accusations? I’m sorry, but I have nothing for you. Now, if you’d please leave my office."

Jace scoffed as he pulled out his phone, "okay then. You wanna play hardball, right? Let’s see about that."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Joan sneered.

"I’m calling Patz right now," Jace told her.

She turned her head to the side, a subtle sign of shock. And I knew just why. Patz was a popular hotel and restaurant critic. She went all over Silicon Valley, trying out all the best spots and giving her brutal reviews. She was known for destroying the reputation of some major establishments due to the way she gave her reviews. However, people loved her, and she had a massive following on social media. So, she could be a nightmare to any hotel or restaurant if she wished it.

"If I tell Patz about our experience in your hotel and the fact that it was aided and abetted by a staff member, how many clients do you think will be visiting here by the time she makes a story out of it?" Jace demanded.

"You’re telling me to give up a staff member!" Joan said, "I can’t do that. Whether you like it or not, we have policies here."

"We know you’re protecting your hotel, not the staff. By telling us who he or she is, you’re admitting their involvement." I said, "We’re not going to press charges, but we need to find out the person who booked the stalkers that night."

With a shrug, Jace began to dial up a number, then he placed the call. As the number began to ring, he placed it on his ear.

"I can’t do this!" Joan said, "Casey, you have to understand what professional courtesy is."

"I do," I told her. "Your staff lacked one, and that’s what placed us all in this mess to begin with. We need a fucking name, Joan! Why the hell are you trying to protect this person?"

"Hi, Patz... how are you doing?" Jace said the moment the influencer answered the call. He listened for a while and chuckled, "You know how it is, just trying to make another billion dollars." He laughed at a joke she made, then spoke again, "Yeah, it’s terribly bad that you failed to show, but you didn’t miss much. Now, speaking of the dinner, can you guess where I am right now?"

Just then, Joan surged to her feet, panic evident in her eyes, "don’t do this. We already punished him! He’s been fired and we made sure that he never gets another job in Silicon Valley! What else do you want to do to him?"

I could see that despite her cold exterior, Joan was scared of Patz as well. One wrong word from the influencer could ruin the hotel. Once people learned that their privacy was no longer guaranteed, a lot of celebrities and bigwigs who came here to do things that they didn’t want the rest of the world to know would immediately find somewhere else to go. I decided to focus on that fear and take advantage of it.

"We just want to talk to him," I told her. "That’s all. And as you already said, he’s been fired so he’s no longer a staff. Come on, is one staff worth your entire hotel?"

Joan opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it without saying anything. The internal conflict she was going through was just so obvious.

"Nah... wrong guess! I’m at the Royale Hotel, Patz!" Jace was saying to the influencer over the line. "You wouldn’t believe what happened to me the night of the dinner. When it was over, it turned out that Kira and I were followed by-"

"Fine!" Joan snapped at once, her eyes were bloodshot, showing how furious she was. "You win, okay? I’ll give him to you!"

Jace looked at her and slowly nodded, "Patz, can I call you later? Something just came up."

He then cut the call.

With a scowl, she sat back down and punched in a few keys on her keyboard, she then turned the monitor to face us and we saw the face. It was a face I recognized, I had also seen him the day I checked into the hotel.

"His name is Ramon Ortiz," Joan said. Using the mouse, she scrolled downward and showed some of his information, "that’s his address."

Ethan stepped forward then and took a picture of Ramon with his phone and also of his address.

I stared at the face, burning it into my memory so that even if I bumped into him on the road, I would recognize him. Was this Maven? Or was this only the person who would lead us to Maven?

"Thank you very much for your cooperation," Jace said to Joan.

"And Patz?" Joan asked.

"She won’t be getting the story..." he replied. "For now."

He then walked out of the office, closely followed by Ethan. I stood behind for a few seconds as I stared at Joan. She stared back at me defiantly, and without a word, I turned and walked out of her office as well.

The second phase of our plan had succeeded. Now, we were going after Ramon Ortiz! I was petrified at the thought of what Jace would do to him just to get him to talk. But I was also looking forward to it!

Ramon had no idea what was coming his way!