Marcus pushed a folder toward him.
“We don’t know yet.”
Daniel opened it.
The first pages showed vendor payments.
Then refunds.
Then employee bonuses.
Then marketing expenses.
Daniel turned another page.
His eyes narrowed.
“What’s this?”
Marcus looked down.
“Those are payments to a consulting company.”
“Which company?”
“Northbridge Advisory.”
Daniel looked at Richard.
“Do we have a contract with them?”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel turned another page.
There were twelve payments.
Every payment had been approved electronically.
And every approval carried a digital authorization from someone inside the company.
Daniel stared at the signature.
“Who authorized these?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then said:
“Your executive account.”
Daniel looked up.
“I didn’t authorize anything.”
“We know.”
“Then somebody used my credentials.”
Richard nodded.
“That appears to be the case.”
Daniel closed the folder.
“Who has access?”
Marcus answered.
“Four people.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Names.”
Marcus counted them off.
“You.”
“Me.”
“The CFO.”
“Marcus.”
“The general counsel.”
“Richard.”
“And the chief operating officer.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Richard answered.
“Gregory Shaw.”
Daniel leaned back.
Gregory Shaw.
Chief Operating Officer.
His father’s former business partner.
A man who had worked at Bellmont Hospitality for eleven years.
A man Daniel had trusted enough to give almost complete operational control after his wife’s death.
A man who had repeatedly told Daniel:
“Focus on Sophie. I’ll handle the company.”
Daniel suddenly remembered something.
Gregory had been the person who recommended Vanessa.
He had also been the executive who rejected three previous complaints against her.
And he had been the one who insisted Daniel should not visit Bellmont House personally.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“Where is Gregory?”
Richard checked his phone.
“He hasn’t arrived.”
Daniel looked at the clock.
“It’s 8:17.”
Marcus nodded.
“He usually arrives before eight.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
Unknown Number:
Don’t confront Gregory yet.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Richard noticed.
“What does it say?”
Daniel showed him.
Marcus leaned forward.
“Who sent that?”
“I don’t know.”
Another message appeared.
Look at the guest complaint from March 17.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Richard.”
“Yes?”
“Pull every document connected to March 17.”
Richard immediately picked up his laptop.
Marcus looked confused.
“Why March 17?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Because he remembered that date.
March 17 was the date of the first anonymous complaint about Vanessa.
And it was also the day Gregory had suddenly taken a business trip.
A trip Daniel had never questioned.
Richard searched the database.
“Found something.”
“What?”
“Complaint filed at 9:42 p.m.”
“Against Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Who filed it?”
Richard frowned.
“It was submitted anonymously.”
Daniel looked at the screen.
“Open it.”
Richard opened the file.
The complaint was short.
Manager discriminates against guests based on appearance. Employees are instructed to prioritize wealthy customers. Complaints are being deleted.
Daniel stared at the words.
“That’s exactly what we found.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“Whoever wrote this knew what was happening.”
Richard scrolled down.
“There’s an attachment.”
He opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Daniel went completely still.
It showed Vanessa standing in a back office.
Beside her was Gregory Shaw.
They were looking at a spreadsheet.
Daniel zoomed in.
At the top of the spreadsheet was a list of guest names.
Beside each name were dollar amounts.
Some were marked green.
Others red.
Daniel whispered:
“They were ranking customers.”
Richard nodded.
“But that’s not the worst part.”
He opened another attachment.
This one was a recording.
A woman’s voice could be heard.
Vanessa.
“Gregory said corporate won’t investigate as long as the numbers look good.”
A man’s voice responded.
Gregory.
“Daniel isn’t paying attention anymore. He’s too busy being a father.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
The recording continued.
Vanessa laughed.
“Then we can keep doing this?”
Gregory answered:
“Until the ownership structure changes.”
Daniel stopped breathing for a moment.
“Ownership structure?”
Richard paused the recording.
Daniel looked at him.
“Play it.”
Richard did.
Gregory’s voice continued.
“Once Daniel transfers enough authority to the executive group, he won’t be able to interfere.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Why would I transfer authority?”
Richard looked at him.
“That may be the question we need to answer.”
Daniel suddenly remembered a document Gregory had brought him six months earlier.
A restructuring proposal.
Daniel had refused to sign it.
The proposal would have given the executive board greater authority over major operational decisions.
Gregory had said it would make Daniel’s life easier.
Daniel had thrown it into a drawer.
He had never thought about it again.
Until now.
“Richard.”
“Yes?”
“Check whether that proposal was ever filed.”
Richard searched.
His face changed.
“It was.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“I never signed it.”
“I know.”
“Then who did?”
Richard looked at the screen.
There was a signature.
Daniel’s signature.
Perfectly copied.
Daniel stared at it.
Someone had forged his name.
But there was something else.
The document had been notarized.
Daniel looked at Richard.
“Who was the notary?”
Richard searched.
Then went completely silent.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Richard?”
He turned the laptop around.
The notary’s name was listed.
Elaine Mercer.
Daniel froze.
Elaine.
His late wife’s name.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Daniel whispered:
“That’s impossible.”
Richard looked at him carefully.
“Your wife died three years ago.”
“I know.”
“So someone deliberately used her name.”
Daniel stared at the document.
His wife’s death certificate had been filed three years earlier.
Nobody could legally have notarized anything under her identity.
Unless—
Daniel’s mind raced.
“Who has access to her old identification records?”
Richard immediately looked at Marcus.
Marcus shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel picked up the document.
His hands were trembling.
Then his phone rang.
This time, the caller ID displayed a number.
Daniel answered.
“Hello?”
A woman’s voice whispered:
“Daniel?”
He recognized it immediately.
His wife’s sister.
“Claire?”
She was crying.
“Daniel, I should have told you this months ago.”
Daniel stood completely still.
“Told me what?”
Claire’s voice broke.
“Your wife didn’t die without leaving something behind.”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
“What are you talking about?”
“I found a letter.”
“What letter?”
“It was hidden in her old safety deposit box.”
Daniel’s grip tightened around the phone.
“What does it say?”
Claire hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Your wife knew someone was stealing from Bellmont.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Claire continued.
“And she knew the person responsible.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Who?”
Claire’s voice dropped to almost a whisper.
“Gregory Shaw.”
The room went silent.
Daniel looked across the conference table.
Marcus.
Richard.
The forged document.
The missing money.
Vanessa.
Gregory.
And suddenly, the pieces began connecting.
But Claire wasn’t finished.
“There was another name in the letter.”
Daniel’s voice was barely audible.
“Whose?”
Claire took a shaky breath.
“Yours.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“What do you mean?”
“She wrote that if anything happened to her…”
Claire started crying again.
“…you were not to trust anyone inside Bellmont Hospitality.”
Daniel looked at Richard.
Then Marcus.
Then the locked door.
And for the first time in years, Daniel wondered whether his wife’s death had truly been an accident.
Because someone had spent three years making sure he never asked that question.
And now that he finally had…
Someone was already moving to stop him.
PART 5
Claire’s breathing shook through the phone.
“Daniel, you need to listen to me carefully.”
Daniel stood completely still.
Across the conference room, Richard and Marcus were watching him.
“What did she write?” Daniel asked.
Claire swallowed.
“She said if anything happened to her, you would probably believe it was an accident.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“My wife died in a car accident.”
“I know.”
“You were there.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you telling me?”
