Chapter 4: His Name on the Transfer
Chad folded his arms.
“The majority owner approved the largest payment himself.
That changes everything.”
“I never signed this,” I said.
Victor Lang, chairman of the group’s board, pushed through the crowd.
“Until that can be proved, we have a governance problem.”
Miriam faced him.
“We have evidence of forged authorization.”
“You have an allegation,” Victor replied.
“The document carries his name and private access code.”
Brooke touched my shoulder.
I moved my chair back before her hand settled.
“Tell them,” I said.
“Tell them how Chad obtained that code.”
“I don’t know.”
“You knew it.”
“We were engaged,” she whispered.
“You trusted me.”
Chad gave a small shrug.
“Trust is not a defense against negligence.”
Victor turned toward the board members near the stage.
“Effective immediately, I am freezing the owner’s executive authority until an emergency vote can be held.”
“You prepared that sentence quickly,” Miriam said.
“I am protecting the company.”
“No,” Hannah replied.
“You’re protecting someone in this room.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Miss Price, you are no longer an employee.”
“And that means she can tell the truth without asking your permission,” I said.
Elena moved closer to my chair, but Chad pointed at her.
“That attendant has interfered enough.
Remove her.”
The banquet manager hesitated.
“Mr.
Mercer, she followed a guest-service request.”
“Fire her, or I’ll replace you too.”
Elena unclipped her name badge and placed it on the table.
“You don’t have to fire me.
I won’t work for a man who humiliates guests and threatens staff.”
Chad smiled.
“Then leave.”
“She stays,” I said.
Victor leaned down until his voice reached only those nearest us.
“You have no authority at this moment.”
Brooke’s eyes moved from my chair to my face.
“This is what you always do.
You turn everything into a battle.”
“You helped take money from my mother’s foundation.”
“And you disappeared after your accident!” she cried.
“Every conversation became doctors, therapy, ramps, and plans that changed by the hour.
I wanted a life.”
My hands slipped from the wheels.
Brooke saw it and kept going.
“You expected me to become your nurse.
Chad made me feel alive again.”
“I never asked you to be my nurse.”
“You didn’t have to.”
The ballroom blurred for a second.
Elena crouched beside me and placed my dropped envelope back in my hand.
“Look at me,” she said quietly.
“What she chose does not measure your worth.”
Chad laughed under his breath.
“Touching.
Shall we continue the performance?”
Elena stood.
“Yes.
Let’s continue.”
She took out her phone and showed Miriam a video.
“The service corridor camera stopped working last month.
Staff were told it was broken, but the backup feed still runs through the catering office.”
Victor’s face changed.
“What did you record?” I asked.
“Not me,” Elena replied.
“The hotel did.”
The video showed Brooke entering my private office two weeks after our engagement ended.
Chad followed her.
She removed my old tablet from a locked drawer and entered the access code.
Brooke gripped the table.
“That video has no sound.
You don’t know why we were there.”
Hannah pointed at the time stamp.
“The false authorization was created eleven minutes later.”
Victor reached for Elena’s phone.
Miriam caught his hand.
“Why are you so eager to see that recording disappear?”
“I am preserving evidence.”
“Then you won’t mind telling us why your security card opened that office for them.”
Victor stepped back.
Chad glanced at him, then at the doors.
“This gathering is over.”
“No,” I said.
“It has finally begun.”
A hotel technician hurried into the ballroom holding a laptop.
“Mr.
Lang,” he said to Victor, “someone is remotely deleting the security archive.”
May you like
The technician turned the screen toward us.
The command was coming from Chad’s phone.
