Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Hello, Checking In

### Chapter 47: Hello, I’d Like to Check In

Friday night at the airport.

Maxine Rhodes stood alone at the check-in counter, dressed in a loose gray hoodie and skinny jeans. Her long, dark hair was tied back in a casual bun.

She was looking down at the flight information when Rose Joyce appeared, clinging intimately to Benjamin Sterling’s arm. Her voice was innocent yet laced with provocation. "Maxine~ For this trip to Jaxen, Benjamin said the scenery there is beautiful and insisted on bringing me along. You don’t mind, do you?"

Maxine Rhodes glanced at Benjamin Sterling’s tacit, even indulgent, attitude and scoffed inwardly.

"Of course not." Maxine’s lips curled into a smirk, her sharp gaze sweeping over Rose Joyce. "It’s better to have an extra person. It’ll keep President Sterling from looking awkward spouting noisy, useless drivel with no one to respond."

Benjamin Sterling’s face darkened, and Rose Joyce’s smile faltered.

As soon as she boarded the plane, Maxine Rhodes went straight to her seat, taking a U-shaped pillow and a pair of noise-canceling headphones from her carry-on bag.

Benjamin Sterling and Rose Joyce were seated diagonally behind her.

The plane had just reached cruising altitude when the performance from the back row began.

Rose Joyce’s voice, deliberately pitched high enough for the person in front to hear, was cloyingly sweet. "Benjamin, I’m a little cold..."

Benjamin Sterling immediately played his part, calling over a flight attendant. "Excuse me, could you get a blanket for my sister?"

Maxine, wearing her headphones, was focused on the sea of clouds roiling outside the window. Not even an eyelash twitched.

Not to be deterred, Rose Joyce started feeding Benjamin Sterling a piece of fruit. "Benjamin, ah—this cantaloupe is so sweet, you have to try it!"

Benjamin opened his mouth to accept it, his tone doting. "Mm, it’s sweet. But not as sweet as you." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Their conversation was so clumsy and contrived that even the passenger next to them couldn’t help but glance over.

A moment later, Rose Joyce even pretended to accidentally knock a magazine to the floor with a small cry. Benjamin immediately bent down to pick it up, the two of them using the opportunity to bring their heads close together in an intimate posture.

But over here, Maxine had already shifted into a more comfortable position, closed her eyes, and was breathing steadily and deeply. It almost seemed like... she was asleep?

Benjamin Sterling’s expression grew uglier and uglier. His usual tactic—using one woman to make another jealous—felt, for the first time, like punching cotton. It had no effect, and instead made him look like a frantic, jumping clown.

He could even feel the knowing and derisive gazes of the other passengers around them.

Throughout the entire flight, Maxine remained in this state, headphones on, shut off from the world.

Only when the plane began its descent and the announcement sounded did Maxine finally seem to stir as if just waking up, stretching lazily.

Rose Joyce, who had been secretly observing her reactions the whole time, felt her moment had finally arrived.

She immediately leaned forward, gripping the back of Maxine’s seat, and said in a tone that was feigned apology but actual gloating, "Maxine, you’re awake? Benjamin was taking care of me this whole flight, getting me a blanket, helping me with food... Did we disturb your rest? I’m so sorry."

After speaking, she waited expectantly, hoping to see a trace of displeasure or restraint on Maxine’s face.

However, Maxine simply turned her head slightly, looking at her with sleepy eyes as if she hadn’t heard clearly. "What did you just say?"

As she spoke, she took off her headphones.

The smug smile on Rose Joyce’s face instantly froze.

’She didn’t hear?! All my performances on this flight, all the hints and showing off... she didn’t hear a single word?!’

A powerful sense of absurdity and the shame of being played for a fool rushed to her head, making Rose Joyce’s cheeks flush red instantly.

Maxine watched the rapidly changing expressions on her face, a fleeting hint of mockery in her eyes, before she resumed her calm, businesslike demeanor, turned her head back, and began to gather her things.

Arriving at the hotel, the three of them went to the front desk to check in.

Rose Joyce took out her ID card and said to the receptionist in a sweet voice, "Hello, I have a reservation for two rooms."

The moment she finished, she turned to cling to Benjamin Sterling’s arm, tilting her face up. "Benjamin, you know I can’t sleep well in unfamiliar beds. I can’t sleep well alone when I’m away from home. Can I sleep with you tonight?"

She paused deliberately, as if explaining, "Don’t worry, it’ll be just like before. We’ll just sleep, I promise I won’t bother you."

The implications of that statement were so immense that the receptionist operating the computer snapped their head up, eyes wide as saucers. Their gaze darted back and forth between the three of them, their professional composure completely shattered. They looked like a meerkat that had stumbled upon a live soap opera, head swiveling between the actors, utterly captivated but hopelessly lost.

Benjamin Sterling was not at all surprised by Rose Joyce’s proposal; in fact, he rather enjoyed it.

He immediately looked toward Maxine Rhodes, trying to catch any hint of displeasure on her face. His tone was magnanimous. "Maxine, don’t misunderstand, and don’t be jealous. Rose is just timid and used to depending on me."

Maxine Rhodes couldn’t even be bothered to lift her eyelids, simply taking her room key from the hands of the receptionist with the complicated expression.

She picked up her suitcase, only glancing at them coolly before turning away. "Do as you please. I don’t like sharing a bed with other people anyway."

With that, she turned crisply and headed straight for the elevators.

Left behind, Rose Joyce tugged on Benjamin Sterling’s sleeve. "Benjamin... is she angry?"

Benjamin Sterling pulled his gaze back and patted the back of Rose Joyce’s hand. His tone was certain, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. "It’s fine. The more she acts like this, the more it proves she cares. Women... they just say the opposite of what they mean."

The receptionist finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. They ducked their head, biting their lip hard, their shoulders shaking slightly.

’Where does this guy get his confidence?! That beautiful lady was obviously so disgusted she could die! What a train wreck. I’ve really seen it all today!’

After Maxine Rhodes left, just as Benjamin Sterling and Rose Joyce were about to take their key cards and go upstairs, a familiar voice came from behind them.

"Checking in."

That voice...

Benjamin Sterling’s back stiffened. He whipped his head around and, sure enough, saw Ethan Hawthorne standing behind them.

The man’s posture was ramrod straight, and his simple dark overcoat gave him an air of undeniable presence. Behind him followed his special assistant, Erza Sinclair, who had the look of a consummate professional.

"M-Mr. Hawthorne?"

The smugness and conceit on Benjamin Sterling’s face vanished instantly. Almost as a conditioned reflex, he squeezed out a respectful, even fawning, smile. "What brings you to Jaxen? What a coincidence!"

Ethan Hawthorne’s indifferent gaze swept past his face, flickered over a somewhat bewildered Rose Joyce beside him without lingering, and moved directly to the front desk.

His gaze was like one sweeping over some insignificant piece of furniture.

"Quite the coincidence," he said, his tone flat and emotionless.

Benjamin Sterling choked on this dismissive attitude, his face a mixture of pale and green, but he didn’t dare show a hint of his feelings.

The memory of the last humiliating time he was played by Ethan Hawthorne flashed through his mind, and that same feeling of suppressed rage—furious but afraid to speak—welled up again.

But he could only curse inwardly: ’Fuck, how do I run into this baleful star everywhere I go!’

He pulled on a still-confused Rose Joyce and whispered, "Let’s go. Quickly."

Almost as if fleeing, he grabbed the two key cards and hurried Rose Joyce toward the elevator, desperate to get out of Ethan Hawthorne’s line of sight as quickly as possible.

Ethan Hawthorne watched Benjamin Sterling’s slightly panicked retreat, his expression unchanging, and walked straight to the front desk.

The receptionist recognized him, their attitude becoming extremely respectful. "Mr. Hawthorne, please wait a moment."

A moment later, however, a difficult and apologetic look appeared on the receptionist’s face. "Mr. Hawthorne, I’m terribly sorry! The system shows that the last two suites were just... just checked into by that Mr. Sterling and his companion."*****