“You represent the flagship property of a multi-billion-dollar brand built on hospitality, on grace, on dignity.

Do you understand what those words mean?

You do not judge a guest by their clothes.

You do not decide, on sight, who deserves your courtesy and who does not.

And you never, ever, under any circumstances, turn away a parent in need.” It was, Clara thought, watching him, exactly the right speech, and it revealed that Arthur Sterling, whatever his notorious strictness, understood the soul of the company in a way his front desk did not.

But it also revealed the thing Karl had said in his own defense, the thing that damned him more completely than any rudeness: we didn’t know who she was. As though the entire question were one of identification.