Chapter 1 - The Woman on the Marble Floor
For three unbearable seconds, Charlotte Vale remained on the marble floor of the Solmere Hotel.
The entire lobby watched her.
Some guests looked uncomfortable.
Others looked entertained.
Vivian Cross, the glamorous woman in the white silk gown, stood above Charlotte with a satisfied smile.
“You heard me.”
Vivian pointed toward the revolving doors.
“Get out before I have security throw you into the street.”
Charlotte slowly wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes moved across the lobby.
She recognized several faces.
Bankers.
Politicians.
Board members.
Executives who had once attended Christmas dinners at her family estate.
Not one of them moved to help her.
That told Charlotte more than any confidential report ever could.
“Are you deaf?”
Vivian snapped.
Charlotte rose carefully to her feet.
“No.”
Her voice was surprisingly calm.
“I just wanted to see who would stay silent.”
A nervous murmur spread through the lobby.
Vivian laughed.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Charlotte looked past her.
Standing near the front desk was Malcolm Voss.
The acting chairman of Solmere Holdings.
He had been one of her mother’s most trusted advisers.
He was also the man Charlotte suspected of orchestrating the conspiracy against her.
Malcolm’s expression had changed.
Only slightly.
But Charlotte noticed.
He recognized her.
And he was terrified.
Vivian turned toward him.
“Mr. Voss, tell this woman she needs to leave.”
Malcolm swallowed.
Charlotte smiled faintly.
“Yes, Malcolm.”
She took one step forward.
“Tell me.”
The lobby became even quieter.
Vivian frowned.
“You know her?”
Malcolm forced a laugh.
“Of course not.”
Charlotte reached into the pocket of her jeans.
Security guards immediately moved toward her.
She pulled out a small black key card.
There was no hotel logo on it.
Only a silver letter V.
Malcolm’s face lost its color.
Charlotte held the card between two fingers.
“My mother gave me this six weeks before she died.”
Malcolm stared at it.
Charlotte continued.
“She told me that if anything ever happened to her, I should come here.”
Vivian rolled her eyes.
“This is ridiculous.”
Charlotte walked toward the private elevator behind the reception desk.
A security guard blocked her.
“That elevator is restricted.”
Charlotte placed the black card against the reader.
The elevator doors opened instantly.
Every employee behind the desk froze.
Charlotte turned.
“Restricted to the Vale family.”
Whispers erupted throughout the lobby.
Vivian’s smile disappeared.
Malcolm moved quickly.
“Charlotte.”
It was the first time he had spoken her name.
Vivian stared at him.
“You said you didn’t know her.”
Charlotte looked directly at Malcolm.
“I think everyone deserves to hear the truth.”
Malcolm lowered his voice.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
Charlotte stepped into the elevator.
“I know exactly what I’m doing.”
She pressed the button marked PRIVATE 51.
Before the doors closed, she looked at Vivian.
“And when I come back down, you’re going to wish you had never touched me.”
The doors slid shut.
Inside the elevator, Charlotte finally allowed herself to breathe.
Her hands were shaking.
Her ribs hurt.
But she had made it inside.
Now she only needed to find what her mother had hidden on the fifty-first floor.
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Because according to the final message Elizabeth Vale had left behind, the evidence upstairs could destroy Malcolm Voss.
Or get Charlotte killed before she ever reached the lobby again.
