Chapter 2 - The Frozen Card
Daniel refused to leave gracefully.
He argued with the attorneys.
He threatened the building manager.
He demanded the police be called.
The security officer finally stepped closer.
“Sir, if you refuse to vacate after the deadline, you will be removed.”
Chloe stood beside three expensive suitcases.
Only thirty minutes earlier, she had arrived believing she was moving into one of Manhattan’s most luxurious penthouses.
Now she was standing in the hallway like an unwanted guest.
“This is humiliating.”
She whispered.
Daniel glared at her.
“Stop talking.”
Chloe stared at him.
“Don’t speak to me like that.”
“Then stop making this worse.”
“I’m making it worse?”
She pointed toward the apartment.
“You’re the one who apparently didn’t know who owned your own home.”
Daniel’s face turned red.
The security officer looked between them.
“Twenty minutes.”
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“Fine.”
They checked into the Beaumont Hotel three blocks away.
Daniel deliberately chose the presidential suite.
He wanted Chloe to see that nothing had changed.
At the front desk, he handed over his platinum card.
The receptionist swiped it.
Her expression shifted.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Carter.”
“The transaction was declined.”
Daniel frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
She tried again.
“Unfortunately, it’s still declining.”
He pulled out another card.
“Use this.”
Declined.
Another.
Declined.
Chloe folded her arms.
“Daniel.”
“Be quiet.”
The receptionist looked uncomfortable.
“Would you like to use another form of payment?”
Chloe slowly reached into her handbag.
“You want me to pay?”
Daniel stared at her.
“Just do it.”
She paid for one ordinary room.
Not the presidential suite.
Not even a corner suite.
One room on the twelfth floor.
The moment the door closed, Daniel called his banker.
“Why are my cards frozen?”
The banker hesitated.
“Mr. Carter, several accounts were placed under temporary administrative restriction this afternoon.”
“By whom?”
“There were ownership changes connected to Carter Development Holdings.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“What ownership changes?”
“I’m not authorized to discuss corporate matters beyond your personal banking profile.”
Daniel ended the call and immediately dialed his chief financial officer.
No answer.
He called again.
No answer.
Then his phone buzzed.
An email had arrived.
URGENT BOARD MEETING.
9:00 A.M.
MANDATORY ATTENDANCE.
Daniel opened the attachment.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped on one sentence.
A controlling shareholder had requested an emergency review of company leadership.
Chloe sat on the edge of the bed.
“What now?”
Daniel did not answer.
She stood.
“Daniel.”
Still nothing.
She grabbed the phone from his hand.
Her eyes widened.
“Controlling shareholder?”
She looked at him.
“I thought you controlled the company.”
“I do.”
“Then who requested the meeting?”
Daniel snatched the phone back.
For years, Carter Development had been introduced everywhere as Daniel’s empire.
Magazine articles called him its founder.
Business programs called him a self-made millionaire.
Investors shook his hand as though the company existed because of him alone.
But Daniel knew something most people did not.
Twenty-two years earlier, when his first development project had nearly collapsed, Rebecca’s father had rescued him.
The money had not been a gift.
It had come through the Whitmore Family Trust.
Daniel had eventually convinced himself that arrangement no longer mattered.
Rebecca had never corrected him.
Until now.
Chloe saw the fear on his face.
“Is Rebecca the controlling shareholder?”
Daniel slowly looked at her.
“No.”
But even he could hear the uncertainty in his own voice.
Then another email appeared.
This one came directly from Rebecca.
May you like
She had written only six words.
See you at nine, Daniel.
