Hearing the manager’s words of assurance, Mrs. Sterling gave a triumphant smile, crossing her arms and looking at Isabella with a glint of malice in her eyes.
"I certainly hope so, Dupont. I’m very disappointed with the way your employee was handling this, making me feel like a nobody here. My brother will be very interested to hear how security in this sector is allowing rats from the outskirts to frequent the same places as us Elite." She said, her voice now much more restrained and controlled, bringing her hand to her chest as if she were so hurt she could even feel physical pain.
"Rest assured, Madame. The problem will be over now." Dupont declared, turning abruptly to head back to Lohan and Isabella’s table.
Obviously he also knew the woman was exaggerating the situation even further, but to maintain good relations with the customers who really mattered to the establishment, he wouldn’t mind simply going along with it and throwing out these poor people who were really bothering him.
As Dupont walked toward the young couple’s table, the woman’s husband, Mr. Reginald Sterling, returned from the restroom.
He was adjusting his wristwatch and seemed distracted, until he noticed the tension in the air of the hall and the manager marching toward the couple in urban clothes.
When he reached his table, his wife pulled him by the arm enthusiastically.
"Reginald, you missed the show!" She exclaimed, with pride and a bit of lingering anger. "The manager is finally going to kick those two out. Imagine, the boy had the audacity to confront me! But the girl... the way she looked at me... and even worse, you couldn’t stop looking at her earlier, I hope you realize now that she’s nothing but street trash."
Reginald Sterling looked at Lohan and Isabella’s table and, in the next second, all the color drained from his face.
He froze, his lips trembling and his breath failing him.
He wasn’t looking at the red haired girl because she was beautiful, though she was stunning, he was looking at her because, at a charity gala two years ago, he had seen her from a distance, surrounded by planetary governors and trillionaires.
He had recognized the red haired girl’s identity from the moment she took off her beanie.
That was a face he would never forget, especially given the rumors that she lived on this very planet... She was Isabella Vance. The heiress of the empire that held the energy supply contracts for his entire sector.
Reginald had been dying to approach her to see if she might invest in his new logistics venture, which was struggling with some difficulties, but the courage never came.
Seeing the manager and his own wife treating her as "trash" made him feel the floor disappear beneath his feet.
"M-m-my... my dear..." Reginald stammered, unable to form the words. "Do you... do you have any idea who..."
"Shut up, Reginald! Watch Dupont teach them the lesson they deserve!" His wife interrupted, turning her gaze back to the scene unfolding a few meters away.
Paying no more attention to his wife and feeling cold sweat soak his forehead, Reginald ran toward Isabella’s table to try to stop the impending disaster, but he arrived too late to prevent Dupont’s first attack.
The manager was already standing in front of Isabella, arrogantly pointing his finger just inches from her face.
Mr. Dupont wasn’t shouting only to try to intimidate the girl who was clearly several decades younger than him, but so that all the other guests would see that he was the protector of Xylos-Zero’s exclusivity.
In all his years managing this restaurant, Dupont had risen to the position of manager precisely because he knew who he should please and who he could treat with disdain, and he prided himself on having a great eye for that.
And the restaurant’s owner rewarded him for his splendid work with various bonuses and gifts, something he was extremely grateful for.
Just imagining the reaction of the restaurant owner’s assistant upon learning that he had won over more loyal customers with high purchasing power, Dupont grew even more excited, dreaming of the bonus he’d receive for it.
"I won’t be as polite as my waiter!" Dupont shouted, his voice echoing off the crystal walls. "You two! Stand up now! This restaurant is a sanctuary of Eden-3’s civilization, not some slum canteen for poor people who think they can sit with the Elite using stolen credits. Leave on your own, or I’ll make sure security breaks every bone in your legs before throwing you into the waste incinerator!"
Isabella merely rolled her eyes, finding the situation more and more interesting, showing not a shred of fear at the man’s attitude.
She kept holding her glass of stellar nectar, bringing it to her lips and taking a slow sip, listening to the manager’s tirade without any hurry and without showing the slightest sign of intimidation. Her calm was greater than any fury Dupont could muster.
Lohan watched the scene with quiet amusement.
He saw how Mr. Dupont was straining to appear powerful, while the girl beside him, who actually ruled that world, treated the manager as if he were nothing more than a noisy insect on a summer afternoon.
Lohan stayed quiet, feeling the Mana circulate calmly in his veins, curious to see how far Dupont’s ego would take him before the fall.
Given Isabella’s confidence, Lohan was certain that at the very least, the owner of this restaurant was an acquaintance of hers. And it was obvious who the owner of this place would choose to favor between the Vance heiress and a restaurant manager.
The manager, enraged by Isabella’s lack of reaction, slammed his fist on the table, making the crystal utensils clink. "Are you listening to me, girl?! I ordered you to leave! Who do you think you are to ignore the manager of the..."
"STOP RIGHT NOW, YOU IDIOT!" Reginald Sterling’s shout cut through Dupont’s words like lightning.
The manager turned around, surprised by the abrupt interruption from such an important customer.
He expected to see Reginald Sterling backing up the expulsion, but what he found was a man in a state of absolute terror.
Reginald Sterling shoved Dupont aside with a force that nearly knocked the manager over and, without hesitation, lowered his head in a bow so deep that his torso ended up parallel to the floor.
Seeing that strange reaction, the restaurant immediately fell silent.