Chapter 621 - 617: I Did It

When dining in this kind of restaurant, people subconsciously mind their manners and lower their voices.

So, when Fiona Sanders let out a gasp, she instantly drew the attention of every other diner in the restaurant.

But she couldn’t care less. She stared at the smiling restaurant manager, her face a mask of astonishment, and asked in a tone of disbelief, "You must have made a mistake, right?"

"I’m very sorry, Ms. Sanders, but your membership card has been deactivated and canceled by Aetherium. Therefore, you will need to pay for your meal separately."

"W-Why?" Fiona Sanders was both mortified and furious. She was a loyal customer here, a gold card member for years. Because Aetherium had the best restaurant, the most outstanding spa, and top-tier banquet services, she even held her birthday party here every year.

"I’m a long-time customer of Aetherium! I just added twenty thousand to my card last week, and now you’re telling me you’ve unilaterally canceled it? Do you people have any respect for contracts?!"

But no matter how agitated Fiona Sanders became, the restaurant manager maintained his polite smile.

"Ms. Sanders, the final right of interpretation regarding all membership cards belongs to Aetherium. The remaining balance on your card at the time of cancellation will be refunded to your original payment method. We thank you for your years of love and support for Aetherium."

Cecilia Sterling and Emeric Grant naturally saw the argument unfolding.

At first, they thought it was just an issue with the meal, but it seemed to be more complicated than that. As a friend, Emeric couldn’t just ignore it. He looked at Cecilia and said apologetically, "My friend seems to be in a bit of trouble. I’m going to go check on it."

Cecilia smiled serenely and stood up with him. "I’ll go with you."

Emeric didn’t refuse, taking Cecilia’s hand as they walked toward Fiona Sanders’s table.

As they got closer, they could see Fiona Sanders was still arguing with the manager. But the manager just kept smiling, refusing to tell her the reason, which only infuriated her more.

"What’s wrong, Fiona?"

Seeing Emeric arrive, Fiona Sanders stomped her foot in anger. "I don’t know what the hell they’re playing at," she said, her voice trembling with emotion. "They just canceled my membership for no reason! I..."

Fiona Sanders was so angry she was at a loss for words, shaking her head with an expression of utter bafflement and frustration.

Hearing this, Emeric turned to the restaurant manager. "Hello, may I ask what the reason is?"

He remained level-headed. He didn’t immediately lash out at the manager just because Fiona was his friend; instead, he first asked for a reason.

"There is always a reason for things, but it is not convenient for us to disclose it. My apologies." The manager lived up to his title, maintaining a polite, smiling demeanor no matter how Fiona pressed or questioned him.

He repeated the same line in response to Emeric’s inquiry.

"You... This is just tyrannical, isn’t it?" At the side, Jackie couldn’t help but stand up and speak out for her friend. "No matter what, my friend has a right to know, doesn’t she? To just cancel someone’s membership out of the blue like this, especially a loyal customer who’s been renewing for so many years... Don’t you think that’s cold-hearted?"

"Exactly!" Fiona Sanders chimed in, her face flushed with anger. "Is this a case of a big business bullying its customers? It’s not like I did anything to violate your rules, did I? Even if I did, you could have just informed me. What on earth happened that made it necessary to cancel my membership outright?"

The manager was still smiling. "I’m sorry, Ms. San—"

"I did it."

Cecilia cut the manager off, her expression impassive as she looked at Fiona and spoke lightly.

Her words were spoken so casually that everyone, except for the restaurant manager, stared at Cecilia in a momentary daze, as if they had misheard her.

"What did you say?"

When Fiona Sanders came to her senses, her face turned cold as she stared at Cecilia in disbelief.

But Cecilia offered a smile just as devoid of warmth as the manager’s, and repeated slowly, gently, "I said, I did it."

The confusion on Fiona and Jackie’s faces deepened. They both clearly thought Cecilia was talking nonsense.

Only Emeric’s expression shifted, a look of shock filling his eyes.

Cecilia explained it again, more clearly this time. "I was the one who notified Aetherium’s customer service center to cancel your membership. Is that explanation clear enough for you?"

"You?" Fiona’s expression shifted from confusion to doubt. She hesitantly glanced at the restaurant manager, only to find that the man who had been smiling unflinchingly at her just moments ago now had his head slightly bowed, standing obediently to the side without a word.

"Cecilia..." Emeric was just as surprised.

Cecilia turned her head to look at Emeric, making no attempt to hide anything. "I was originally going to tell you when we were paying the bill, but since it’s out in the open now, I’ll be a bit more direct."

"This place is mine."

Four simple words, yet they were perfectly clear and direct.

"You’re saying... Aetherium belongs to your family?" Even someone as composed as Emeric found his eyes widening in shock at those four words.

But Cecilia just smiled and shook her head, correcting him, "Not my family’s. It’s mine. I’m the owner here, the majority shareholder."

The original majority shareholder had been Mr. Young, but before Wesley Yates went to prison, he had transferred all his shares to Cecilia’s name to protect the equity in Aetherium as a private asset.

"This..." Jackie subconsciously covered her mouth, nearly gasping out loud.

"You..." Fiona’s mind was in complete chaos. She never would have imagined that the young woman standing before her, who looked a few years younger than herself, was actually the owner of Aetherium.

"Surprising, isn’t it?" Cecilia’s smile deepened as she looked at Fiona and said softly, "Weren’t you curious about what methods I used to win Emeric over? Well, did you ever consider that I might be his sugar mommy?"

As she spoke, Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "Putting everything else aside, this one Aetherium alone has a market value in the millions. If a sugar-mommy relationship were to exist, that would be a reasonable foundation, wouldn’t it?"

At Cecilia’s words, Fiona’s face instantly turned red, especially since Emeric was standing right there.

And just as expected, Emeric was completely bewildered, his eyes full of confusion.

He squeezed Cecilia’s hand slightly. She turned to look at him, meeting his questioning gaze. "Cecilia, what’s really going on?"

"It’s nothing. This friend of yours was talking trash about me behind my back, and I happened to overhear her. But she seemed so fearless about it..." Cecilia turned back to Fiona, her expression hardening as her tone instantly grew cold. "Since you’re so bold, you shouldn’t have a problem with me retaliating, right?"

"After all, no matter how you look at it, what I’m doing is open and honest. It’s far more dignified than gossiping about people behind their backs!"

Fiona Sanders was speechless. Panicked by Emeric’s searching gaze, she hurriedly tried to explain herself to him. "Emeric, I just felt that you starting a relationship was a bit cruel to Cecilia. I really didn’t..."