Chapter 3 - The Man Who Wanted My HotelRichard Hayes didn’t return alone.
The next day, lawyers arrived at the Grand Regent.
They carried documents.
Claims.
Complaints.
Accusations.
They said I had no experience.
No qualifications.
No right to control the hotel.
They wanted me removed.
Exactly what my grandfather feared.
People trying to take what wasn’t theirs.
But they made one mistake.
They underestimated me.
Victoria arrived at the hotel wearing sunglasses.
She walked into the lobby like nothing happened.
Guests stared.
Employees whispered.
She ignored everyone.
“Mia.”
I turned.
She smiled.
A fake smile.
“We need to talk.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
Her expression hardened.
“You don’t understand what you are dealing with.”
I almost laughed.
“Actually, I think I do.”
She stepped closer.
“You inherited a building.”
She lowered her voice.
“You did not inherit power.”
I looked around the lobby.
The employees.
The guests.
The place my grandfather built.
Then I answered:
“Power is not something you inherit.”
A pause.
“It is something people trust you with.”
Victoria became angry.
“You think everyone here respects you?”
She laughed.
“They respected your grandfather.”
She looked at my coat.
“Not you.”
That hurt.
But it also reminded me.
My grandfather didn’t leave me the hotel because of my clothes.
He left it because he believed in me.
Thomas gave me the final piece of my grandfather’s instructions.
A letter.
Written twenty years earlier.
“Mia.”
My hands shook.
“If you are reading this, you are probably wondering why I waited.”
I continued.
“I did not want you to become wealthy.”
A pause.
“I wanted you to become strong.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“My greatest fear was not losing the hotel.”
“The greatest fear was losing my family.”
That night, the security system alerted us.
Someone had entered the executive office.
Thomas and I rushed upstairs.
The door was open.
Files were missing.
The ownership records.
The original documents.
Gone.
I looked at the cameras.
The footage showed one person.
Victoria.
She had stolen the documents.
But before leaving…
She looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
The next morning…
The entire city saw the news.
“Grand Regent Ownership Questioned After Theft Allegation.”
Richard had moved quickly.
He was trying to destroy my reputation before I could expose him.
Thomas looked worried.
“He is trying to make you look like a fraud.”
I nodded.
“Then we show everyone the truth.”
“But the original documents are gone.”
I looked at the silver key.
The key my mother gave me.
Then I remembered something.
She said:
“It opens something important.”
Not something.
Somewhere.
I returned to the old office.
I searched every corner.
Until I found a small engraving beneath the desk.
A symbol.
The same symbol on the key.
I inserted it.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was another folder.
And a message from my grandfather.
“If someone steals the first truth…”
I opened the folder.
“…find the second.”
Inside was a video recording.
My grandfather appeared on the screen.
Older.
Tired.
But smiling.
“Mia.”
I froze.
“I knew one day someone would try to take this from you.”
He looked directly at the camera.
“Especially Richard Hayes.”
My heart stopped.
May you like
Because my grandfather knew his name.
Decades before I met him.
