The waitress's fingers tightened around the champagne bottle.
Nobody noticed.
The billionaire raised his glass.
“To new ownership.”
Several men lifted their drinks.
“To new ownership,” they repeated.
Then the billionaire turned back toward the waitress.
“Well? Are you going to earn your five thousand dollars?”
She lowered the champagne bottle onto a small service stand.
The movement was smooth and deliberate.
Then she placed her leather folder on the table.
The billionaire's smile widened.
“Oh, wonderful. She's going to try.”
His companions laughed.
The waitress slowly looked him in the eyes.
And answered in flawless, natural Thai.
“ไม่ต้องแปลค่ะ ดิฉันฟังออกทุกคำ”
There's no need to translate. I understood every word.
The laughter stopped.
A crystal glass remained suspended halfway to one man's mouth.
The billionaire stared.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then the waitress continued.
“รวมถึงเรื่องที่คุณกำลังวางแผนปลอมลายเซ็นของทายาทด้วยค่ะ”
Including your plan to forge the heir's signature.
The billionaire's smile vanished.
The developer beside him slowly lowered his glass.
One of the men at the far side of the table whispered something under his breath.
The billionaire looked toward the waitress, then toward the champagne bottle, then back at her face.
“You speak Thai?”
She smiled faintly.
“คล่องค่ะ”
Fluently.
His jaw tightened.
“How?”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she opened the leather folder.
Inside was a sealed document bearing the emblem of the hotel group.
The billionaire recognized it immediately.
He leaned forward.
The waitress removed the first page and placed it on the white tablecloth beside the five thousand dollars.
The document contained the company's registered name, a series of ownership references, and the signature of its late founder.
The billionaire stared.
The woman leaned slightly closer.
Then spoke again in Thai.
“คนที่พวกคุณคิดจะปลอมลายเซ็น กำลังยืนอยู่ตรงนี้ค่ะ”
The person whose signature you intend to forge is standing right here.
The billionaire's face drained of color.
For several seconds, he seemed unable to breathe.
Then he whispered, “That's impossible.”
The waitress looked directly into his eyes.
“Is it?”
Around them, the restaurant continued glittering with chandeliers, champagne, and polished silverware. Couples spoke quietly at distant tables. A pianist played a gentle melody near the entrance, unaware that the most dangerous business conversation of the evening had just been exposed.