Chapter 2 - THE NAME THAT SILENCED THE HOTEL
Bianca stared at Elias as though he had spoken in another language.
“What did you call her?”
Elias lifted his head.
“Charlotte Vale.”
Several guests exchanged startled glances.
The Vale name was carved into the hotel’s entrance, embroidered onto every towel, and stamped onto the gold key cards kept behind the reception desk.
Bianca looked down at Charlotte.
“That is impossible.”
Charlotte slowly stood.
Her knees shook, but she refused to let anyone see the pain.
“My mother was Eleanor Vale.”
Bianca scoffed.
“Eleanor Vale’s daughter disappeared after the funeral.”
“I did not disappear.”
Charlotte faced Adrian.
“I was removed.”
Adrian finally stepped away from the desk.
He approached with the patient expression of a man speaking to someone unstable.
“Miss Laurent, this woman has been wandering through restricted areas.”
He turned to the guests.
“She has stolen documents and assaulted a member of our staff.”
Charlotte’s gaze sharpened.
“Which staff member did I assault?”
Adrian hesitated for half a second.
It was enough.
Charlotte pointed toward the bruise on her cheek.
“I was attacked in the underground archive after I found boxes marked for destruction.”
Bianca crossed her arms.
“Anyone can claim to be an heiress.”
Charlotte removed the silver ring.
Inside the band, three words had been engraved.
Fortune serves truth.
It was the private motto of Solmere’s founder, Augustus Vale.
The words had never appeared in company records or public biographies.
Elias stared at the inscription.
“I watched Mrs. Vale give that ring to Charlotte on her eighteenth birthday.”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“You are confused, Elias.”
“I am old.”
Elias placed his hat against his chest.
“I am not confused.”
The lobby doors suddenly locked.
The sound echoed across the marble.
Mason Reed, the head of hotel security, looked toward Adrian.
“Sir, why are we sealing the building?”
Adrian touched the screen of his tablet.
“Because confidential records have been stolen.”
Charlotte glanced toward the revolving doors.
Metal shutters began descending behind the glass.
The guests murmured.
Bianca stepped back from Charlotte.
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in her eyes.
Charlotte reached into the back pocket of her jeans.
It was empty.
The small flash drive she had taken from the underground archive was gone.
Someone had removed it while Bianca was dragging her across the floor.
Charlotte looked at Bianca’s closed right hand.
A thin black cord was hanging between her fingers.
Bianca followed Charlotte’s gaze and quickly hid her hand behind her gown.
Charlotte understood.
Bianca had not dragged her toward the exit to humiliate her.
She had been searching her.
Adrian turned to Mason.
“Take this woman downstairs.”
Charlotte did not resist as the guards approached.
She looked at Bianca one final time.
“You should ask Adrian what is on the drive you just stole for him.”
Bianca’s face drained of color.
May you like
Because Adrian had told her the object in Charlotte’s pocket was a diamond necklace.
Not evidence.
