They Humiliated Her Boyfriend — Not Knowing She Owned the Hotel
Chapter 7
James arrived with two security officers.
The tunnel was searched from both ends.
They found no one.
But they discovered something far more disturbing.
The passage connected the hotel to an old office building across the street.
The building was abandoned.
At least officially.
Inside, however, someone had been living there.
There were cameras.
Computers.
Hotel floor plans.
Employee schedules.
Photographs.
Ethan found pictures of Olivia.
Dozens of them.
Some were taken outside the hotel.
Others showed her entering restaurants.
Leaving meetings.
Walking beside Ethan.
His stomach turned.
Olivia stood beside him, staring at the photographs.
“They’ve been tracking me for months.”
Ethan pointed to one photograph.
It showed her father.
“Look.”
The picture was dated eight months earlier.
Her father was walking into the same building.
Olivia’s face went pale.
“He knew.”
“Maybe.”
“Why?”
They searched the office.
One desk contained a locked drawer.
James broke it open.
Inside was a flash drive.
Olivia took it to the hotel’s secure office.
They accessed the files.
There were spreadsheets.
Bank statements.
Transfers.
Company names.
Everything pointed to one network.
A group of shell companies had been moving money through the hotel for years.
The total was far larger than three-point-four million dollars.
Twenty-three million.
Ethan stared.
“Twenty-three million?”
Olivia nodded.
“This goes back five years.”
James frowned.
“Your father was owner five years ago.”
Olivia said nothing.
Another file appeared.
The word BENNETT was highlighted.
They opened it.
It contained a private legal agreement.
Ethan read over Olivia’s shoulder.
The document appeared to show that Olivia’s father had agreed to keep the fraud secret.
In exchange, the company would protect the hotel from bankruptcy.
Olivia stepped away.
“No.”
“What?”
“My father would never do that.”
“Maybe he had no choice.”
She shook her head.
“He built this hotel from nothing.”
James continued reading.
“This may not be authentic.”
“How do we know?”
“There are inconsistencies.”
Ethan pointed to the signature.
“This one?”
James nodded.
“Your father signed official documents differently.”
Olivia looked relieved.
Then another file appeared.
A video.
They opened it.
Her father appeared on screen.
He looked tired.
His face was bruised.
Olivia froze.
“Dad?”
The recording began.
“If you’re watching this, something happened to me.”
Her hand covered her mouth.
Her father continued.
“I made a terrible mistake.”
Olivia whispered, “What did you do?”
The video continued.
“The people controlling the hotel are not who you think they are.”
He looked toward the camera.
“They have people inside my family.”
The screen went black.
Olivia stared.
Ethan said nothing.
Then James spoke.
“There’s more.”
He reopened the file.
A second recording was hidden.
This one showed a meeting inside the hotel.
Victoria was there.
Daniel was there.
And so was Olivia’s father.
They were arguing.
Her father slammed a document onto the table.
“You promised my daughter would never be involved.”
Victoria responded.
“She already is.”
Daniel said, “Then we need to control the situation.”
The footage ended.
Olivia’s face went white.
“They knew about me.”
“Yes.”
“And they were discussing me before I became owner.”
“Yes.”
She looked at Ethan.
“My father wasn’t protecting the hotel.”
Ethan shook his head.
“He was protecting you.”
Before they could continue, James received an alert.
Someone had entered Ethan’s apartment.
Again.
This time, the alarm system had captured a face.
James opened the image.
The intruder looked straight into the camera.
It was Daniel Harris.
