Chapter 13 - Thirty-One Percent
The missing thirty-one percent had belonged to a hotel developer named Samuel Morgan.
Jenna’s grandfather.
Jenna stared at Claire through the glass as Detective Ortiz repeated the name.
“My grandfather died when I was ten.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Ethan turned on her. “You knew him.”
“Yes.”
Samuel Morgan and Ethan’s grandfather, Arthur Hale, had built their first three hotels together. Samuel supplied land and early capital. Arthur supplied operations and political connections.
Then Samuel died suddenly.
Within two years, every public filing showed the Hales as sole owners.
“What happened to Samuel’s shares?” Jenna asked.
Margaret’s voice was barely audible. “Arthur said Samuel sold them.”
“Did he?”
“I never saw a signed sale.”
The private ledger might prove there had never been one.
Daniel had discovered it. That explained why he had contacted Ruth Morgan shortly before his death.
Jenna sat down.
“My mother knew.”
Ortiz nodded. “Possibly.”
Claire’s stolen recordings suggested Victor and Richard had spent years protecting a fraud that began before any of their children were adults.
But one question remained.
Why would Richard Donovan care about old Hale ownership?
Claire answered that too.
“My father was Victor’s silent partner. They bought discounted debt tied to several Hale properties. If ownership was challenged, they could trigger defaults, force sales, and buy the hotels cheap.”
Ethan felt cold.
The wedding had not been the scheme.
It had been the final step.
Claire marrying Ethan would have placed her inside the company just as Richard and Victor prepared to attack it.
“Did you marry me for them?” Ethan asked.
Claire looked devastated.
“No.”
“Did they expect you to?”
“Yes.”
“And you still went through with it.”
Claire whispered, “I thought I could fix everything after.”
Ethan stood.
“You don’t fix a lie by marrying it.”
As he reached the door, Ortiz’s phone rang.
She listened, then looked at Jenna.
“We found your mother.”
Jenna jumped up. “Where?”
“South Station.”
“Is she okay?”
Ortiz paused.
“She’s alive.”
Jenna caught the wording.
“What happened?”
“Someone tried to take a briefcase from her.”
Jenna’s face went white.
May you like
Ortiz continued.
“Your mother says the briefcase contains the original ledger.”
