Nicole Saunders was raised by her father, Austin, when her mom left her to move abroad and she was just five. Austin reared Nicole with affection, gave her the best of everything, and never said no to any of her requests.

Austin Saunders was a hotel owner with an abundance of wealth. However, nothing in his life had come easily to him. He began his career as a simple loader at a tiny motel then climbed his way to the top after years of hard labor, part-time jobs, and pursuing business studies at a community college.

Unfortunately, his years of workaholism caused him to devote less attention to his daughter and more to work, causing her to become entitled and arrogant. And then she did the unthinkable one day…

One day, Nicole and her friends were chilling at her father’s hotel. They were partying and listening to loud music in a hotel room that soon turned into a rubbish dump, with empty beer bottles and food bowls, and chips packets littered around.

Nicole had summoned a maid to clean the room, but because of the music blaring inside, they didn’t hear the maid who had been ringing the doorbell for quite a while. When Nicole eventually opened the door, she rolled her eyes and insulted the maid. “What took you so long? Can’t you do your job properly?”

Suddenly, as she walked out of the room, she heard her father’s voice over the loudspeaker. “Nicole! Please come to my office straight away!”
“I’m sorry, miss,” Rose, the maid, replied gently. “I was waiting outside for five minutes, but you didn’t hear me due to the loud music.”

“Woah, Woah!” Nicole smirked. “Slow down, woman! I can do whatever the hell I want here because this is MY hotel! So don’t you dare answer me back! You know what?” she said, pulling out a bell from her backpack. “I was driving here when I noticed a kid selling this on the street so I bought it. I guess you’ll be needing this. That way, we can easily hear you enter the room!” She chuckled and placed the bell around Rose’s neck while one of her friends, Ashley, filmed everything.

Rose protested, teary-eyed, trying to take off the bell, but Nicole grabbed her hands and pulled it down her neck. “Do what I say, or you’ll lose your goddamn low-wage job. Do you understand?”

At that point, Rose had little choice but to obey Nicole’s orders. She began cleaning the entire hotel room while Nicole’s friends recorded everything on their phones.

Unfortunately for Nicole, she had no idea their hotel room door had been ajar. Austin was passing by the room, and he overheard her berating Rose. But instead of confronting his daughter, he walked back to his office.

While Rose was still cleaning the room, Nicole took out a $100 bill and tossed it on the floor. “Consider this as your tip. And yeah, make sure the room is spick and span, else you’ll get a salary cut,” she taunted before leaving her room with her friends.

Moments later, Nicole heard her father’s voice from a loudspeaker addressing her. “Nicole! Come to my office straight away!” he declared firmly.

Nicole and her friends exchanged anxious glances. “All the best, Nicole! Guess your dad finally knows we’re here!” one of her friends chirped as they all walked away and left her alone. She made her way to Austin’s office, fearful.
“Hey, dad,” she said as she walked in. “Did you call me?”

“Oh, yes, come on in!” he said, still browsing through a file.

Nicole was terrified as her father stopped her when she was about to take a seat. “I never asked you to sit down!” he exclaimed, furious. “Tell me, what are you doing here at this hour? Shouldn’t you be in class now, Nicole?”

Nicole feigned a laugh. “Oh, college is on a break, dad! So I figured I could hang out with my friends here for a while? We have a month-long break!”

“So you’re free from studies for a whole month. Is that correct?” he asked firmly.

“Well…yeah, you could say that!”

“Ok then,” he put the file down on his table, pulled out a maid’s uniform, and placed it on the table. “Get ready to work here until school starts. You’ll be working as a maid for a month starting today!”

“What?” Nicole was shocked. “Come on, dad! You’re kidding, right?”

“Well, Nicole, I’m afraid I’m not. You’ve got to work to understand the value of money and that it doesn’t grow on trees,” he stated firmly.
“No way, dad!” Nicole retorted. “I’m not doing this!”

“All right,” he sighed. “Consider your credit cards canceled and no pocket money from now on. How about that?”

“But, Dad, that’s not right! How could you—”

“I’ve already mentioned the conditions, Nicole! It’s your call to either take up the job as a maid or have your cards and pocket money canceled!”

At this point, Nicole knew she didn’t have a way out. She reluctantly agreed to work, but the days ahead wouldn’t be easy…

During her first shift, Nicole was tasked to clean a couple’s room, where the whole carpet was stained with wine spots. Nicole had no idea how to clean it. She rubbed the blotches vigorously, but they wouldn’t get off.

Rose happened to be passing by the room at the time and offered to aid her. Nicole felt embarrassed but whispered a thank you to her.

Rose gave her a friendly grin. “It’s fine. It won’t be easy because it is your first day! But don’t worry, you’ll eventually get the hang of it!”

Rose was an angel in disguise for Nicole, as she assisted the young girl throughout her first week of work. Over time, Nicole understood she was wrong to humiliate Rose and felt awful about it. Not only did she become friends with Rose, but she also began to take her job as a maid seriously, as Rose had taught her.

“You know what, Nicole,” Rose told her one day. “Being a maid is more than just providing room service. It is about looking after your guests and taking care of their needs so that they enjoy a pleasant stay. A maid’s work is more than just cleaning!”

Nicole understood that, and she was relieved that she was finally doing something for herself and being self-sufficient.

One day, she was called to clean a room, and it turned out to be the room her friends had booked. They were all partying, and when they saw her in a maid’s uniform, they began making fun of her.

“Good Lord, Nicole!” Ashley teased her. “Look at yourself! It’s just terrible! You look like one of those servants!”
“Shut up and let me do my job, Ashley,” Nicole retorted. “I’m not in the mood to start a fight.”

“Woah! Calm down! I do not want to fight, either. But I was just wondering…” she said, pausing. “What if your father learns that we’re not really on break and that you were expelled six months ago? Oh, I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate that!” Ashley burst out laughing, and all of her friends joined her.

Nicole was scared to tell her father the truth, so she remained silent. She began tidying the room and decided to leave as soon as possible. Ashley, on the other hand, wasn’t done mocking her, and she kept saying something or the other to infuriate her.

At one point, Nicole lost her calm and yelled, “Enough already, Ashley! You and your dumb friends need to leave his place right now, or I’ll call security!”

“Hey, Nicole! You better watch what you say, okay?” Ashley shot back. “Otherwise, we’ll tell your father about how you were kicked out of college!”

“All right, go ahead! I’m not afraid! In any case, he deserves to know the truth!” Nicole yelled. “I regret becoming friends with you. Look at you; you’re not even real friends! At some point, you’re going to betray each other too… Ashley, I’ll count to three! You and your friends should be out by then, or I’ll call security!…. One, two, three…” And the girls bolted out of the room.
Nicole sank to the floor in tears. She remembered how she’d mocked Rose, and she felt terrible for being such a bully. That day, she went to Austin and told him everything, including her expulsion.
“I’m sorry, dad,” she said, lowering her head. “I abused your trust and did things I shouldn’t have done. Dad, I’m not on a college break. I was expelled 6 months ago, and I lied to you, but I am willing to pay for my mistakes!”

“You were expelled?” Austin stared at her, unable to believe his ears.

“Yes, dad, but I’ve decided to pay you back. I will get a job and—”

Suddenly, Austin got up from his seat and hugged her. “Do you even know how proud I am of you, Nicole? Good job!”

“Dad?” She was shocked. She had thought she’d be chastised by Austin, and he’d never forgive her. But he was proud of her! Why?

“But I haven’t done anything to make you proud, Dad. Instead, I took advantage of your trust and wasted all of the tuition money you gave me on partying with my friends! Aren’t you mad at me?”

“I’m disappointed, Nicole. I’m pretty upset,” Austin admitted. “I know everything. I know about how you and your friends treated Rose. I overheard everything… And your friend Ashely sent me a message a while ago, so I know you were expelled as well. To be honest, I didn’t expect you to come to me and confess everything, but you did. And it is at this point that you should be forgiven!

“Remember, sweetheart, nobody is actually bad at heart; we are just people who make bad decisions and mistakes. If we own up to our mistakes and try to rectify them, we should be forgiven.”

“Oh, Dad!” Nicole burst into tears. “I – I don’t deserve this!”

“You do, Nicole,” he said. “Once you finish your duty as a maid, you can be the hotel’s new manager! And you can start working in a better position!”

But Nicole refused. “No, Dad! I want to earn it. I’ll continue working part-time as a maid while finishing my degree first. I also owe Rose an apology. I was just thinking you should give her a raise. She’s incredibly generous, and she’s taught me a lot.”

“What a wonderful idea!” said Austin. “Nice work, Nicole! I’m really proud of you!”