Chapter 6 - THE CONFESSION ON THE INTERCOM
The silence in the vault viewing room was deafening.
I stared at the confession letter in my shaking hands.
Thirty-one years ago, Edward was a junior accountant at Arthur Bennett’s firm. The records showed a systematic, ruthless draining of Bennett’s personal accounts.
Arthur Bennett had taken the blame. He was publicly disgraced, lost his home, and took his own life when Olivia was just twenty years old.
My mother had known.
Somehow, she had found out. She had kept the evidence to protect me, using it to force Edward into making me a full legal partner in the hotel empire early on.
She had built a cage for a monster to keep her daughter safe.
“Mom?” Emma’s small voice broke the silence. “Why is Olivia’s last name on that watch?”
I closed my eyes, a wave of profound sorrow washing over me.
“Because Olivia didn't come to your father for love, sweetheart. She came for revenge.”
I suddenly understood the forged signature on the asset transfer.
Edward hadn't forged it.
Olivia had.
She had manipulated Edward into transferring the entire company to a shell corporation, convincing him it was the only way to hide the assets from me in a divorce.
But the shell company was solely in her name.
Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, Edward wouldn't just be leaving me. He would be completely, utterly bankrupt.
Olivia was going to leave him with nothing, exposing him to federal charges, destroying him the exact way he had destroyed her father.
For a brief, dark second, I thought about letting her do it.
He deserved it.
But if she filed those papers, my mother’s investment, my thirty years of blood and sweat, and Emma’s future would be collateral damage.
Olivia was willing to burn the entire ship just to watch Edward drown.
I shoved the papers and the gold watch into the envelope.
“We have to go back to Chicago,” I said.
Emma looked terrified. “But Dad is there. His guards are there.”
“I know. But if we don’t stop that transfer before 8:00 AM, we lose everything.”
We ran out to the waiting Lincoln.
I told the driver to take us straight to the corporate headquarters of Lancaster Grand Hotels, located in the skyscraper adjacent to the Blackstone.
It was 3:30 AM when we pulled into the underground parking garage.
The building was dark, operating on a skeleton crew of overnight security.
I used my master executive keycard to bypass the lobby elevators, taking the private lift directly to the 45th floor—the executive suites.
The doors chimed open.
The floor was dark, illuminated only by the emergency exit signs.
I walked briskly toward Edward’s corner office, intending to use his private terminal to freeze the corporate accounts using my emergency executive override.
I pushed open his heavy glass door.
Sitting behind the massive mahogany desk, bathed in the glow of a single desk lamp, was Olivia.
She had changed out of the evening gown and my mother’s torn veil. She was wearing a sharp, tailored black suit.
She looked up as I entered, not looking surprised at all.
“Hello, Catherine,” she said quietly.
“Get out of his chair,” I demanded.
Olivia smiled, a sad, hollow expression.
“It’s my chair in four and a half hours.”
“I know who you are,” I said, stepping into the room. I threw the antique gold pocket watch onto the desk.
It landed with a heavy thud.
Olivia stared at the watch. Her professional facade cracked. Her eyes filled with sudden, violent tears.
“He stole that from my father’s wrist after he died,” Olivia whispered, her voice trembling with a rage that had festered for decades. “He wore it to his funeral.”
“I’m sorry for what he did to your father, Olivia. Truly. Edward is a monster.”
I stepped closer.
“But you are not taking my daughter’s future to pay for his sins. I built this company with my own hands. I won’t let you burn it down.”
Olivia stood up.
“You were the collateral damage, Catherine. I didn't want to hurt you. But you married a parasite. Did you really think he loved you? He only married you because your mother found out about the embezzlement and threatened to go to the police if he didn't marry her pregnant daughter and legitimize the money!”
My breath caught in my throat.
He never loved me.
Thirty years. A lie from the very first day.
Before I could process the devastation, the heavy glass doors to the office shattered inward.
Edward burst into the room, wielding a heavy fire extinguisher.
His tuxedo was ruined, his face bruised and deranged.
Marcus’s security guard had apparently put up a fight downstairs.
“Nobody is taking my company!” Edward screamed, throwing the extinguisher aside and pulling a sleek black handgun from his waistband.
Emma shrieked, hiding behind me.
Olivia froze, her eyes locked on the gun.
Edward aimed it directly at me.
“Give me the envelope, Catherine. The confession.”
“You’re insane,” I breathed, shielding Emma.
“I’m protecting my legacy!” he roared. “I’m not going to prison for a dead man’s money!”
He turned the gun toward Olivia.
“And you. I knew you were acting strange all week. I had my security sweep your apartment. I found the real shell company documents.”
He laughed, a manic, terrifying sound.
“Did you really think you could outsmart me, Olivia? I ruined your father when I was twenty-two. You’re out of your league.”
Edward stepped forward, cocking the gun.
“Now. Both of you. On your knees.”
I looked desperately around the room.
On the wall next to the door was the corporate intercom system, used for company-wide announcements.
Emma saw where I was looking.
My brave, brilliant thirteen-year-old daughter didn't hesitate.
She dropped to the floor, crawling behind a leather sofa, and reached up to hit the large red 'BROADCAST ALL' button on the wall panel.
A soft chime echoed through the room.
Every speaker in the 45-story building, including the overnight security desks and the hotel lobby next door, was now live.
“Dad, please!” Emma cried out, her voice projecting through the building. “Don't shoot Mom! Don't shoot Olivia!”
Edward sneered, completely unaware the microphone was on.
“Shut up, Emma! Your mother is a thief trying to steal my empire! And Olivia is just a pathetic orphan trying to avenge a weak man who couldn't handle business!”
Edward raised the gun, pointing it squarely at my chest.
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“I forged those documents, Catherine! I embezzled the money! I did it all to build this! And if I have to kill you and make it look like a jealous lover’s quarrel to keep it, I will!”
He put his finger on the trigger.
