They Humiliated Her Boyfriend — Not Knowing She Owned the Hotel
Chapter 6
The note changed everything.
James locked down the entire floor.
No employee was allowed to leave.
Security searched offices, stairwells, elevators, and service corridors.
The missing accountant, Henry Wallace, was eventually found in a storage room.
He was unconscious but breathing.
The room had been locked from the outside.
Olivia stood beside Ethan as paramedics carried Henry away.
“This isn’t just financial fraud anymore,” Ethan said.
“I know.”
“This is organized.”
“I know.”
“Someone is willing to hurt people.”
Olivia looked at him.
“And you’re still here.”
Ethan met her eyes.
“I’m not leaving you.”
Her expression softened.
Then James approached.
“We found something.”
He handed Olivia a small electronic device.
“What is it?”
“A recording unit.”
“Where?”
“Under the conference table.”
Ethan frowned.
“Someone bugged the room.”
James nodded.
“We also checked the security system.”
“What did you find?”
“Someone disabled two cameras for exactly fourteen minutes.”
Olivia looked at Ethan.
“During the blackout.”
“Yes.”
James lowered his voice.
“And someone used a master access card to enter the accounting floor.”
“Who has a master card?”
“Senior management.”
Victoria appeared behind them.
“Are you accusing me?”
Olivia turned.
“I’m asking questions.”
Victoria laughed.
“You’ve always been paranoid.”
“Maybe.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“But three-point-four million dollars is missing.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“Then investigate. But don’t drag an innocent person into your fantasy.”
She looked at Ethan.
“Especially him.”
Ethan said nothing.
Victoria walked away.
But she stopped before turning the corner.
She whispered something to Daniel.
Ethan could not hear it.
But he noticed Daniel looked terrified.
Later that evening, Olivia and Ethan went to the hotel’s maintenance basement.
Ethan had insisted.
“If money is moving through fake vendors, someone has to receive the physical supplies.”
They inspected storage areas.
Several pallets had been placed near an unused service entrance.
Ethan checked the labels.
“These deliveries don’t match the invoices.”
Olivia looked at the paperwork.
“You’re right.”
“Some of these shipments were never logged.”
“Then where did they go?”
Ethan looked at the wall.
“Maybe they never came inside.”
They followed the delivery records to an old loading dock.
Behind it was a small office.
Inside were boxes.
Hundreds of them.
Ethan opened one.
Inside was expensive electronics.
Not cleaning products.
Not maintenance equipment.
Electronics.
Olivia stared.
“What the hell is this?”
Ethan found another box.
Then another.
“These are being imported under fake vendor names.”
Olivia called James.
But before he arrived, a sound echoed through the basement.
Footsteps.
Ethan turned.
Someone ran past the far corridor.
He chased him.
“Stop!”
The figure disappeared through a service door.
Ethan reached the door seconds later.
Locked.
Olivia caught up.
“Did you see him?”
“Not clearly.”
She looked down.
A hotel employee badge lay on the floor.
Ethan picked it up.
The name was Daniel Harris.
Olivia stared at the badge.
“No.”
“What?”
“He was in the conference room.”
“Exactly.”
“He couldn’t have left.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Unless there was another exit.”
They searched.
Behind a stack of crates, they found a hidden door.
It opened into a narrow passage.
The passage led directly beneath the hotel.
Olivia stared into the darkness.
“Why would a luxury hotel have a hidden tunnel?”
Ethan looked at her.
“I don’t think your father built it.”
“Then who did?”
Suddenly, somewhere deep inside the tunnel, a door slammed.
They froze.
Someone was still down there.
And they had just realized they were not alone.
