Chapter 3 : The Castle Always Wins
Chapter 3 : The Castle Always Wins
"What do you mean, deleted?" Marcus roared, slamming his empty champagne glass onto the polished stone desk. The glass shattered, sending shards skittering across the floor, but nobody moved to clean it. The invisible hierarchy that had protected him for five years was evaporating with every tick of the lobby clock.
Every monitor behind the front desk suddenly flickered. The property management software, the guest registries, the private banking portals—all of them went pitch black at the exact same millisecond.
Then, a massive, stark white logo appeared across every single screen in the building, from the lobby terminals to the digital menus in the five-star restaurant downstairs.
CASTLE HOSPITALITY GROUP
FULL OWNERSHIP TRANSFER CONFIRMED
HOLDING COMPANY: CASTLE GLOBAL ENTERPRISES
STATUS: ACTIVE / SECURED
Marcus stared at the words, his brain violently refusing to process the data. "Castle? No… that’s impossible. The Vance family owns sixty percent of the voting shares of this specific property! I signed the board expansion myself!"
"You signed the expansion, Marcus," a cool, clear voice echoed from the entrance.
The heavy glass doors slid open, but it wasn't a guest who walked through. It was Isabella.
She wore a simple black wool coat the driver had given her, her hair catching the bright light of the newly rebooted chandeliers. Behind her walked three men in impeccably tailored charcoal suits, carrying leather briefcases, flanked by the city’s chief of police and two federal marshals.
"You should have read the fine print of our marriage contract, Marcus," Isabella said, her voice echoing through the silent, cavernous lobby. "And more importantly, you should have checked the capitalization structure of the loans my father gave your family’s firm to keep this hotel from going bankrupt during the pandemic."
Marcus backed up against the reception desk, his hand instinctively reaching for Chloe, who was now shivering in her stolen silk robe. "Isabella, what did you do? You can't just seize a public asset! My lawyers will have you tied up in court for the next ten years!"
The lead attorney from the Castle group stepped forward, opening a gold-embossed leather folder.
"Mr. Vance," the attorney stated smoothly, his voice devoid of any emotion. "Section nine of the marital trust agreement stipulates that in the event of documented moral turpitude, marital infidelity, or personal reputational damage caused by the managing partner, the Castle Group retains an immediate, unconditional option to buy out the Vance family shares at par value. Your mother’s firm was paid out at 12:01 AM tonight. The funds have already been deposited into an escrow account. You no longer own a single brick of this building."
"This is a setup!" Marcus shrieked, his face turning an ugly, mottled purple. "I am the CEO of this division! You can't fire me without a board vote!"
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"The board met twenty minutes ago via an emergency digital proxy, Mr. Vance," Isabella said, stepping closer until she was standing just inches away from him. She reached out, her fingers catching the edge of the silk robe Chloe was wearing, and pulled it firmly from the girl's shoulders, leaving her standing in her slip, humiliated before the entire staff.
"You aren't the CEO anymore, Marcus," Isabella whispered, her eyes burning with an absolute, unyielding triumph. "You're just a man who forgot that the only reason the king has a crown is because the emperor allowed him to wear it."
