Chapter 4 - THE RECORDING FROM MIDNIGHT
Security escorted the guests from the ballroom within twenty minutes.
Some left quietly.
Others remained in the lobby, pretending to wait for transportation while hoping to witness another confrontation.
Mary moved into a private conference room beside Julian’s office.
Her wedding planner brought her clothes from the bridal suite.
Mary changed into a simple navy dress.
She removed her veil.
Then she sat at the long table with Julian, the company’s lead attorney, Rebecca Sloan, and the hotel’s head of security.
Rebecca opened her laptop.
“The presidential suite has three corridor cameras.”
“There are no cameras inside the bedroom.”
Mary nodded.
“I would never allow cameras inside a guest’s room.”
“However, the suite’s entrance system records access.”
The security chief placed a report on the screen.
Olivia’s key had opened the suite eleven times during the previous six weeks.
Most entries occurred when Mary was attending wedding meetings or board sessions.
Ethan had repeatedly claimed he was working late.
Mary stared at the dates.
One of them was her father’s birthday.
She had spent that evening alone at his grave.
Ethan had told her he was negotiating with investors.
Rebecca continued.
“There is another issue.”
“At 12:14 this morning, Ethan and Olivia entered the suite with Charles Cole.”
Mary looked up.
“His father was there?”
“For thirty-seven minutes.”
“What were they carrying?”
The footage played.
Charles entered holding a leather document case.
Ethan followed.
Olivia looked down the hallway before closing the door.
At 12:51 a.m., they emerged.
Ethan carried a sealed ivory envelope.
Mary recognized it.
“That came from my private safe.”
Rebecca paused the video.
“What was inside?”
“A voting proxy.”
Her grandmother’s trust required Mary to appoint an emergency proxy before major life events.
The document allowed a temporary representative to vote her shares if she became medically incapacitated.
Mary had signed the proxy two days earlier.
She had named Julian.
The document was supposed to remain inside a biometric safe in her suite.
Rebecca’s expression darkened.
“Did Ethan know?”
“He knew the trust required one.”
“He did not know who I selected.”
The security chief changed the footage.
At 1:03 a.m., Ethan entered the hotel business center.
At 1:19 a.m., he returned to the suite carrying two envelopes.
“He replaced it,” Mary said.
Rebecca leaned closer to the screen.
“With what?”
Mary already knew.
“A forged proxy naming him.”
Silence filled the room.
The affair had not happened because Ethan lost control before the wedding.
He and Olivia had entered the suite to steal a document.
They had expected Mary to marry Ethan hours later.
Once they were legally married, a forged proxy could appear legitimate during an emergency.
Rebecca closed the laptop.
“We need to involve federal investigators.”
Mary looked through the glass wall toward the lobby.
Ethan stood near the elevators arguing with hotel security.
Olivia was nowhere beside him.
“Where did she go?”
Julian checked his phone.
“She requested access to the underground garage.”
“Denied?”
“Yes.”
Mary rose.
Olivia had participated in the affair.
She had also helped steal the proxy.
Yet Olivia had looked terrified when Ethan mentioned the recordings.
Not ashamed.
Terrified.
“Find her before Ethan does.”
Julian immediately made the call.
Seconds later, a security alert appeared on the wall monitor.
A fire exit had been opened on the twenty-eighth floor.
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The camera showed Olivia running down the stairwell.
She was clutching Ethan’s phone.
