3. George #3
"I said we should never have moved the pool basin," George lied smoothly, his face remaining still.
"It caused far too many problems down the road.
" He blew out a long breath, steadying his voice.
"Anyway, before the ground was even broken back then, an archaeologist stepped in to halt the excavation, claiming there was a high probability of a protected Calusa settlement on the grounds. "
"Are we talking about..." Michael started.
"Yes," George cut through the sentence before it could be finished.
"I commissioned two separate, independent geological surveys, and both of them flatly disputed the archaeologist's claims. So the original construction of the pool went ahead as planned.
" He shook his head, a ghost of a memory appearing before vanishing.
"Back then, the hotel trade was thriving, and I was desperate to expand our footprint. I was even looking into acquiring the campground across the highway to build out a secondary wing. Uncovering a genuine historical site on our own grounds back then would’ve been an incredible asset.
Back then, the heritage tourism movement was just starting to boom.
If we had built a dedicated glass-bottom viewing exhibition over the basin, integrated with educational tours, it would have given us a massive, permanent marketing edge over the larger commercial developments in Naples and Sanibel. "
"I never knew any of this," Michael said, his eyes widening in amazement as he absorbed the history.
"I was incredibly excited about the potential, and the archaeologist was just as driven," George told him, his fingers tightening against the cotton sheet.
"But you said you only ran the technical surveys," Michael questioned, his face showing a clear confusion.
"We ran those surveys because the archaeologist who first flagged the site had dug up a handful of pottery shards and convinced me they were the real thing.
" George squeezed his eyes shut, his thumb and forefinger coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose as the memories flooded back.
When he opened his eyes, he turned a cold, flat gaze back to his nephew.
"It turned out those shards were planted in the soil deliberately. "
Michael's face paled as the legal and personal implications of the admission sank in.
"The archaeologist was so desperate to prove their initial theories correct that they manufactured the evidence just to force the state to fund the geological surveys," George told him, his voice sinking.
"It wasn't just about the promise of a tourist draw or the campground expansion project.
Back then, even after I managed to convince the Wayne Group to walk away from their corporate play, there was a secondary, highly aggressive shadow company attempting every underhanded trick in the book to acquire our land registry.
I foolishly believed that a protected historical discovery would give me the ultimate legal shield to force them to back off forever, saving me years of corporate stress. "
"You never told either of us a single word of this," Michael whispered, his shock clear as he gripped the metal rail.
"I had no desire to burden you or your sister," George admitted quietly. "You were both young, just starting out your university degrees and building your own lives. The shame of the hoax belonged to me alone."
"This concerned our entire family legacy," Michael countered angrily.
"I refused to saddle either of you with that kind of heavy corporate wreckage," George told him firmly.
"Tom, your mother, a private financial backer, and I went head-to-head against that development trust in the courts.
We eventually forced them to withdraw their acquisition notices completely, but that victory only came after the public humiliation of the fraudulent settlement discovery nearly ruined our family reputation.
It shattered the hotel's standing for a long time. "
"I..." Michael shook his head, his eyes moving with an unsettled confusion. "I think you might be mistaken about the current discovery. The validation process is much more stringent now."
"No," George said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"I wasn't mistaken. You can go and verify the records for yourself.
Inside the private fireproof safe in my penthouse apartment, you will find every single piece of historical documentation, the private investigator files, and the official survey rejections from that year.
Look at the names, Michael. Look at the methods. "
Michael sat in stunned, heavy silence as George's old anger and betrayal throbbed through the quiet hospital room.
It had been nearly forty years since that dark chapter of his life had unfolded, but the memory still felt like a physical weight against his rib cage, shattering his composure whenever he allowed his mind to drift back to the wreckage of that time.
"Who exactly was the shadow company operating against the hotel back then, besides the Wayne Group?" Michael finally asked, his voice low, tight, and sharp.
George fixed his gaze squarely on his nephew's pale face, his jaw setting as he delivered the final, chilling truth. "It was South Coast Holdings."