My grandmother gave me the deed to a $150 million luxury hotel on my twenty-seventh birthday. Only minutes later, my husband and mother-in-law calmly announced that they would be taking control of it. When they threatened me with divorce if I refused, my grandmother started laughing—and what happened after that left them completely speechless.

Twenty minutes later, Julian Vance walked into my private office, casually tossing a thick manila folder onto my desk. Behind him stood Richard Hayes, our Head of Procurement, looking thoroughly terrified and sweating through his expensive shirt.

"Mr. Hayes was very cooperative once I showed him the bank statements linking his offshore account in the Caymans to a shell company registered under Patricia Carter’s maiden name," Julian said smoothly, leaning against the doorframe.

Hayes collapsed into a chair, his hands shaking. "Madison... Miss Bennett... please! They threatened me! Patricia knew about my gambling debts. She promised to clear them if I gave her access to the facility systems and created health code violations!"

I looked down at the man who had worked for my family for six years. "You put hundreds of jobs at risk for your own cowardice, Richard."

"I’ll tell you everything!" Hayes pleaded. "I’ll testify against her! Just please don't send me to prison!"

"You are going to testify," Marcus Sterling said, stepping into the room with two police detectives trailing behind him. "And you are going to help us lay a trap."

Over the next three hours, we devised a plan. Hayes was instructed to call Patricia and report that his sabotage had succeeded—that the health inspector had issued a temporary shutdown order that would hit the news headlines the following morning.

"She took the bait," Hayes stammered after hanging up the phone on speaker. "She said she’s holding a press conference at 10:00 AM tomorrow in front of the City Hall to publicly demand a receiver be appointed to manage the hotel."

I smiled. It was exactly what we needed. Patricia was so blinded by her arrogance and desperate to save her failing empire that she was walking right into a public execution of her own reputation.

"Victoria," I turned to my strategist. "Gather every major media outlet in the city. Tell them the Bennett Grand Hotel will be holding a joint press statement at City Hall at the exact same time."

"And Ethan?" Victoria asked. "Is he involved in the sabotage?"

"Julian checked his communications," Julian answered. "Ethan isn't directly orchestrating the sabotage—he’s too cowardly for that. But he knows about it, and he’s using the impending scandal to try to force you into a private settlement before tomorrow morning."

As if on cue, my personal phone began to vibrate on the desk.

The caller ID displayed Ethan’s name.

I picked it up and put it to my ear. "Yes, Ethan?"

"Madison," Ethan’s voice was tense, laced with fake panic. "Look, I just heard rumors that the city health department is shutting down the Bennett Grand tomorrow. It’s going to ruin you, Maddy. The press will tear you apart."

"Is that so?" I asked coolly.

"I can stop this," Ethan urged, his voice desperate. "I have connections in the city council. Sign over 50% of the management shares to Carter Global tonight, and I’ll make the health investigation disappear. We can save the hotel together, Maddy. We can fix our marriage."

I closed my eyes for a second, feeling a wave of disgust at how thoroughly he was willing to manipulate me.