Billionaire Pretends To Be A Janitor To Find True Love — But Discovers A Secret Hidden For 20 Years
Chapter 2
Grace Miller worked fourteen-hour days during conference season.
She handled weddings.
Corporate events.
Charity dinners.
Private parties.
Anything that required making wealthy people happy without ever letting them see how hard the job was.
At thirty-one, she had become one of the hotel’s most reliable employees.
She was also one of the few people Alexander had never met before his experiment.
That mattered.
She didn’t know him.
She didn’t know his name.
She didn’t know that the hotel belonged to him.
For the first week, Alexander watched quietly.
Grace always arrived early.
She remembered employees’ birthdays.
She brought leftover pastries to housekeeping.
She helped elderly guests carry bags.
She once stayed thirty minutes after her shift because a young couple had lost their wedding ring.
Alexander noticed all of it.
He also noticed what she didn’t do.
She didn’t flirt with wealthy guests.
She didn’t care about expensive cars.
She never took tips from businessmen if she thought they were trying to impress her.
On Friday morning, Alexander was cleaning the third-floor hallway when Grace appeared.
“Alex.”
He turned.
“Morning.”
“You’re free?”
“Apparently.”
She held out a coffee.
“Take this.”
He stared.
“Why?”
“You’ve been working since six.”
He smiled.
“Thanks.”
She walked beside him.
“You’re doing okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t seem like someone who enjoys cleaning.”
Alexander laughed.
“What gave me away?”
“You’ve been staring at the same floor for ten minutes.”
He looked down.
She was right.
He smiled.
“You caught me.”
Grace laughed.
Then her expression softened.
“Why did you take this job?”
Alexander thought carefully.
“Needed a change.”
“From what?”
“Life.”
She nodded.
“I understand.”
They reached the elevator.
Grace pressed the button.
“You live nearby?”
“Not far.”
“You married?”
Alexander almost dropped the mop.
“No.”
“Girlfriend?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
He looked at her.
“Good?”
She blushed.
“I meant…”
“I know.”
The elevator doors opened.
She stepped inside.
Then turned.
“Lunch tomorrow?”
Alexander blinked.
“Are you asking me?”
“Yes.”
“As a friend?”
Grace smiled.
“We’ll see.”
The doors closed.
Alexander stood there smiling like an idiot.
Daniel called five minutes later.
“How’s the experiment?”
Alexander answered,
“Complicated.”
“Already?”
“I think she likes me.”
Daniel laughed.
“You’ve been a janitor for six days.”
“Seven.”
“That makes it worse.”
On Saturday, Alexander met Grace in a small café across from the hotel.
She ordered a grilled cheese sandwich.
Alexander ordered soup.
She looked at him.
“You’re quiet.”
“I’m listening.”
“To what?”
“You.”
She smiled.
“That’s rare.”
“What is?”
“People actually listening.”
Alexander watched her face.
She seemed tired.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
“Why do you say that?”
She looked down.
“Because people usually want something.”
Alexander understood.
She had been hurt before.
“What happened?”
Grace hesitated.
“My fiancé left me.”
Alexander didn’t react.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“Why?”
“He wanted someone richer.”
Alexander felt a strange discomfort.
“Did he tell you that?”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“I found out.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared after taking everything he could.”
Alexander’s hands tightened around his cup.
“What did he take?”
“Money.”
She laughed without humor.
“And my trust.”
Alexander didn’t know what to say.
So he simply listened.
Grace looked at him.
“You’re different.”
“Different how?”
“You don’t try to fix everything.”
Alexander smiled.
“Maybe I don’t know how.”
“That might be why I like talking to you.”
The sentence stayed with him.
That night, Alexander returned to his apartment.
He removed his fake employee badge.
For the first time, he wondered whether he could tell her the truth.
Then his phone buzzed.
Daniel.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Your father called.”
Alexander frowned.
“My father?”
“He wants to know why you’ve disappeared.”
Alexander went silent.
His father hadn’t known about the experiment.
Nobody was supposed to know.
“Why?”
Daniel hesitated.
“He found an old file.”
“What file?”
A pause.
“Your mother’s file.”
Alexander’s heart stopped.
“What about it?”
“The file says she had another child.”
