A widowed father was turned away at his own hotel with his sleeping daughter in his arms… but by the time the staff realized who he truly was, it was already too late.

At 6:30 AM, the rising sun cast long golden shafts of light across the frosted glass towers of downtown Chicago.

Inside the tenth-floor executive boardroom of the Grand Regent Hotel, the atmosphere was as tense as an interrogation cell.

Julian Croft sat at the foot of the forty-foot glass table, his tie loosened, dark purple circles bruising his eyes. He had spent the entire night frantically shredding physical receipts and attempting to alter digital vendor manifests on his encrypted laptop.

Beside him sat Patricia and Karla, dressed in their pristine uniforms, their faces pale and their hands trembling in their laps.

At the head of the table sat Ethan Vance.

He had showered, shaved, and changed into a crisp white dress shirt and dark charcoal trousers. Resting on the table before him was a simple glass vase containing the fresh red roses he had bought at the airport, their petals vibrant and hydrated.

Beside Ethan sat Lupita, wearing her clean maroon uniform vest, holding a hot ceramic mug of coffee that Ethan had personally poured for her from the executive sideboard.

The double frosted doors opened, and Marcus Cole—Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President of Vance Hospitality Group—walked into the room accompanied by two senior forensic auditors from Ernst & Young.

Marcus Cole unclasped his leather briefcase and placed a thick, three-inch binder onto the center of the glass table with a resonant, heavy thud.

“Good morning, Ethan,” Marcus Cole said, taking his seat. “The overnight forensic audit of the Chicago property is complete.”

Croft jumped to his feet, slamming his palms onto the table. “Marcus, this is an outrageous overstep! You cannot initiate an unscheduled internal audit without board authorization! I am a minority equity partner in this branch!”

Marcus Cole adjusted his gold-rimmed spectacles and looked at Croft with clinical detachment.

“Your equity partnership was revoked at 5:15 AM under Clause Nine of your executive contract, Julian,” Marcus replied calmly. “Gross Fiduciary Malfeasance and Willful Moral Hazard.”

Croft froze, his hands trembling against the glass. “What... what malfeasance?”