He glares at me but obeys, sinking into the plush armchair. I place the folder on the coffee table between us and open it to reveal the forged signatures.
“Do you recognize these?” I ask, sliding the papers toward him.
His eyes widen in shock. “Where did you get these?”
I lean forward, my voice cold. “These are the documents you altered to claim ownership of the hotels. You forged my father’s signature, and mine.”
“I didn’t forge anything,” he protests, but his voice lacks conviction.
“Don’t lie to me, Marcus. You know these are yours.”
He swallows hard, the room silent except for the sound of his ragged breathing.
“You were never the owner, Marcus,” I continue. “You were a fraud. You stole this from my family, and you’ve been living a lie.”
He stands up, his face red with fury. “You can’t do this to me. I built this empire!”
“No, Marcus. We built it. I helped you, and you repaid me by throwing me out and taking everything from me.”
He backs away, his eyes darting around the room. “I’ll find a way to fight this. You can’t just—”
“You’re already locked out,” I interrupt. “The board has voted. You have no access, no power, and no claim.”
He stares at me, his anger turning to fear. “You’re making a mistake, Isabella. You’ll regret this.”
“The only mistake was trusting you,” I say, my voice final. “Now, I want you out of this suite and out of my life.”
He lunges for the hidden safe, desperate to destroy evidence, but the safe opens to a single, damning ledger that proves he has been embezzling funds from my family for a decade.
Marcus’s eyes narrow, and in a sudden, swift movement, he lunges for the hidden safe behind the bar. I react instinctively, grabbing the remote and pressing the button that triggers the lock mechanism, but it’s too late. He yanks the safe open.
“What are you doing?” I shout, but he doesn’t answer. His hands are shaking as he rifles through the contents, his face turning pale.
Inside the safe is a single, leather-bound ledger. He pulls it out, his eyes scanning the pages. “No,” he whispers, his voice cracking.
I step closer, my heart pounding. “What’s in there, Marcus?”
He looks up, his eyes wild. “This is impossible. I—”
“What is it, Marcus? What have you been hiding?”
He opens the ledger to the first page, and I see the dates, the amounts, the meticulous records. “This is all the money I’ve taken,” he confesses, his voice hollow.
“You’ve been embezzling from my family for a decade,” I say, the words a shock to my own ears.
“I needed it. I had bills, debts—”
“You stole from us,” I interrupt, my voice shaking with anger and betrayal. “You took everything we built together and turned it into a lie.”
He falls to his knees, the ledger slipping from his hands. “I’m sorry, Isabella. I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”
“Your apologies mean nothing now,” I say, my voice cold. “You’ve destroyed everything.”
He looks up at me, his eyes filled with tears. “Please, just give me a chance to make it right.”
I shake my head, my resolve unshakable. “There is no making this right, Marcus. You’re finished.”
He stares at me, defeated, as the weight of his crimes hits him. I turn away, the brooch glinting in the dim light, a symbol of the legacy he tried to steal.
“Get out,” I say, my voice final. “And don’t ever come back.”
