We Have Demands

Giles and Kathy caught Rhodes's strange action. The manager frowned at the owner's display. Did Rhodes think no one would see him? He didn't even hide his tendencies from their supposed guest. What if she got weirded out?

Silence was Kathy's response. She only flicked her gaze from the scene to the elevator before her. When the doors opened, she walked in without fear. The same went for Giles and Rhodes.

The woman glanced at the dark-haired doctor through their blurry reflection. Her image was too vague for Rhodes to catch her eyes. She only waited for them to reach the sixth floor before getting off with them. Her heels clicked against the floor. Each sound echoed hauntingly as if she warned every spirit from coming closer. It was a trick her mother taught her.

"Will I be waiting long?" Kathy settled on a seat at their conference table. Her eyes discreetly looked around and found the old-fashioned aesthetic written all over it. The walls and furniture still stayed intact. The sixth floor should be the last place to be renovated.

"Not really." Rhodes didn't sit down with Giles. He stayed standing, reaching a hand for a shake. "I apologize for my habit of not introducing myself in the hallways. Greetings, Ms. Iveren. I'm Rhodes Huxley, the new owner of Faded Rose."

Kathy stared at the man's hand and then his face, a few seconds each. She didn't stand. "It's nice to be your acquaintance, Dr Huxley. My mother told me a few things about you."

Rhodes retracted his hand as he sat down. He loosely laced his fingers before him. "Thank you for skipping unnecessary pleasantries. Let's discuss my proposal for the—"

"No need." Kathy momentarily held her hand up. "You and I like saving time. We agree with your proposal to hold the party here instead. However, we have demands. We would like to monitor your schedule and progress. My grandfather is quite an eccentric man. He remembered Faded Rose before its downfall. He would love to see it fully operational soon."

"I see." Rhodes tapped his finger at the folders Giles distributed to them. "I can share our progress with you, but you need to sign my proposal, Ms. Iveren. We should also discuss the particulars of the party. You wouldn't ask for completed decors from Ring Garden, would you?"

Kathy sighed heavily. "None at all. We haven't agreed on anything besides the idea of holding the party there. Every time we come to them, they insist on controlling the people who might appear in the photos. The Gardner family wants to micro-manage our party."

She cast a gaze at Rhodes. "You were married here in Menorosa, and the guests stayed in Ring Garden. Did you run into those problems?"

Instead of avoiding the question, Rhodes resorted to an exhausted smile. "My bride and her family handled everything about the wedding. Unlike you, I had no say."

"Makes me more powerful, then." Kathy opened the proposal and read through it. Whenever she had questions, Rhodes and Giles answered them flawlessly. The proposal seemed proper and decent. It was way better than Ring Garden's treatment. 

"Dr Huxley…" Kathy flicked her gaze at Rhodes's face. "You got married at First Sunday, right? Did you feel anything strange when you reached the altar? I mean, I was there… but I didn't feel anything worth my worry. The locals mentioned how a ghost bride stole grooms on their wedding day. Since you had no bride, I figured she would have made an appearance."

"Yeah, I saw her." Rhodes didn't know how much to tell this woman. Vanya was part of their family; he called himself Lord van Iveren.

Kathy locked eyes with him, narrowing her gaze. "How did you escape her? I didn't feel her come. Did you isolate her dream space? Are you even capable of such a thing?"

Rhodes didn't know why Kathy didn't feel the ghost woman. Did Vanya seal the dream space to keep anyone from interfering? Why, though? Wouldn't it be better if more people confronted the murderous ghost woman? Vanya sounded confident when he came that day. Perhaps he was confident to handle the woman by himself.

His silence didn't sit well with Kathy. She leaned against her seat. "Mother told me about what happened in the Gloom. Mr Davis also gave us quite a confusing statement, saying he didn't know what happened that much. He was adamant about you saving him, but he refused to tell us how you did it. Acacia and the others witnessed your friend, but Mother didn't feel that when the entity attacked.

"Why are you hiding your abilities from us? Do you have a reason to get cautious?"

"Did you come here for the proposal?" Rhodes leaned against his seat, reflecting her hostility. "I have a feeling you only went to confront me about that incident."

Kathy shook her head. "I didn't mean to sound like I have problems with you. Forgive me for forcing it. However… Menorosa County is not a normal place. Paranormal activities have been running high since the last decade. We have stepped in, but the hotspot only grows bigger."

Rhodes lifted a brow. "How is that supposed to affect me? I only saved one person from an attack. What do you need from me?"

The woman glanced around the conference room before settling her gaze on Rhodes again. "Because the center of that hotspot is Faded Rose. We advised newer investors and business owners to establish their buildings away from this place because of the imbalance. However, the hotspot could easily reach the new district without a stronger interference from us."

"Make it make sense to me. I don't know anything about your chivalric efforts." Rhodes's gaze hardened. "Your mother asked me to shut this hotel down, but I refused. What are you asking me to do now?"

"I'm only saying… we can't handle the situation here on our own." Kathy crossed her arms on her chest. "Grandfather knows the issue and is worried for his hometown. His birthday party is a guise for his call of assistance. I'm asking you about your proficiency… because those vile entities might attack us on Grandfather's birthday party. Do you have contingencies for that?"

Rhodes's brows lifted while Giles gasped in horror. The manager even looked at Rhodes as if asking Rhodes to reconsider hosting them. However, the owner frowned deeper.

He said, "Is this one of your hidden demands from Ring Garden? Do they know about this danger? Is this why they are hitting your family with all those demands? They don't want the peckers to dig into the guest list and find the common denominator? That you are hosting an exorcist party instead?"

Kathy stared at him for a moment before sighing. "Yes. Father wanted them to know about that consequence. However, they made things hard for us to agree on anything."