Chapter 3 - ROOM 1402The heavy mahogany double doors of Suite 1402 yielded instantly to the master keycard.
Inside, the suite was littered with the remnants of a high-society wedding night that had morphed into something feral. Empty champagne flutes, scattered rose petals, and tossed-aside designer garments lay strewn across the plush white carpet.
From the master bedroom, muffled sounds of laughter and clinking glasses drifted out.
“I’m telling you, mother,” Javier’s voice slithered through the air, dripping with lazy self-satisfaction. “The girl is broken. She’ll sign the deed over by noon tomorrow, or we’ll threaten to leak those photos we took while she was half-conscious.”
“You raised a smart boy, Carmen,” an unfamiliar female voice cackled—one of the six hyenas who had assisted in the assault. “A few slaps and a terrified bride make for a very profitable marriage.”
I pushed the bedroom door open. It didn’t creak; the hinges were oiled better than a Swiss watch.
Carmen Robles sat regally at the edge of a king-sized bed, draped in an expensive emerald velvet robe, sipping a glass of vintage port. Surrounding her were her six sycophantic friends, smirking like ghouls around an open grave. And standing by the window, swirling his own drink, was Javier—his tuxedo jacket off, his bowtie undone, looking every bit the entitled coward my sister had mistakenly fallen for.
The laughter died the second their eyes locked onto mine.
Javier froze, his glass slipping from his fingers to shatter against the marble flooring, splashing amber liquid across his Italian leather shoes.
“A-Alex?” Javier stammered, backing away toward the velvet curtains. “What… how did you get in here? Security—”
“Security is currently taking a very long, very permanent nap in the basement,” I said, stepping fully into the room, my long coat sweeping behind me like the wings of a vulture.
Carmen stood up, her face flushing with indignant rage, attempting to summon the haughty arrogance of high society. “How dare you barge into our suite! Do you know who my family is? My brother is Judge Robles! I’ll have you thrown into a black site before the sun comes up!”
I didn’t answer her immediately. I walked slowly toward the center of the room, picking up a stray legal document from the bedside table. I glanced at the text—it was a full quitclaim deed transferring ownership of Sofia’s condo directly to Javier Robles, complete with a forged signature line.
May you like
With agonizing slowness, I tore the paper once, twice, into four neat pieces, and let them flutter to the floor like snow.
“Judge Robles,” I murmured, tasting the name on my tongue as if it were poison. “Tell me, Carmen… does your brother know that you’re running a common extortion racket out of a five-star hotel?”
