Chapter 9 - The Heiress in a Borrowed Dress
Victor claimed Claire belonged with his family because her blood gave her rights to the hotel.
Claire moved behind Rebecca.
“I do not belong to the man who bruised me.”
Angela revealed Jonathan had loved her but refused to challenge his wealthy family publicly.
When Claire was born, he allowed Samuel to claim paternity to protect the child from Victor.
Jonathan later tried to restore employee ownership and name Claire as trustee.
He died in a boating accident before signing the final papers.
Samuel had raised Claire knowing the truth.
Rebecca confronted him.
“You let her believe a dead man was her father while hiding another.”
Samuel answered, “I wanted her to know love before inheritance.”
Claire’s shares were placed in an independent trust until adulthood.
She would not become a child ruler or a family asset.
The employee council gained permanent control of the hotel.
Victor watched housekeepers remove his portrait from the ballroom wall.
Then investigators reopened Jonathan’s death.
His boat had been sabotaged with equipment purchased through Samuel’s maintenance account.
Angela looked at her husband.
May you like
Samuel whispered, “Victor used my name.”
But recovered dock footage showed Samuel standing beside the boat that night.
