Chapter 3 #2
“You’re right,” he said. “The newspaper articles are in the file. Did you read past the arrest headline to the exoneration?”
Victoria blinked. “I… the arrest was enough…”
“Lena was exonerated—there was no theft—and received a formal apology. All documented in the file Emma Vann compiled.” Nick’s voice hardened. “So either you didn’t bother to read the complete file before judging her, or you read it and chose to misrepresent the facts. Which is it?”
Color rose in Victoria’s cheeks. “The point is that Emma’s judgment is questionable at best.“
Zach appeared in the doorway, moving with his characteristic silent grace. He carried his tablet, the screen glowing.
“Ms. Evans,” Nick said, “let’s table the question of Lena and Emma. I’d like to return to the reservation blocks. Specifically, the systematic deletion of all blocks on Saturday evening.”
Victoria’s face blanked. “I’d have to check the operational notes—”
“David confirmed that ID 1178 was used to delete the blocks.” Nick kept his eyes on her face.
“You created that ID the day after Lena was hired. You registered it under her name, but she’s never used it.
In fact, according to her badge, she’s never even been at the terminal where that ID has been used. ”
The silence hummed, thick and suffocating. Her hands gripped the chair arms, knuckles whitening.
“However,” Nick continued, voice soft and dangerous, “security footage shows exactly who worked at Terminal 3 every time ID 1178 accessed the system. Would you like to see?”
Zach glided forward, holding out the tablet. The video played in a loop—Victoria at the terminal, Victoria’s fingers on the keyboard, Victoria glancing around furtively.
The color drained from her face.
“This was you,” Nick said, each word clipped and precise.
“You issued a false ID under Lena’s name.
You used it to break every reservation block in our system.
And when a guest with a guarantee arrived and questioned it, you belittled your trainee, dismissed the guest’s legitimate concerns, and tried to cover up what you’d done by blaming another. ”
He stood, planting his hands on the desk, leaning forward. “I want to know why. Right now. What reason could you have for sabotaging our reservations?”
Victoria’s mouth opened, closed. Her gaze darted between Nick and Zach, trapped. “I... it wasn’t sabotage. I was trying to help—“
“Help how?” Zach’s voice was cold, cutting. “By creating chaos in our reservation system? By attempting to frame an innocent employee? By treating a guest with such contempt that we’re lucky she didn’t walk out and blast us across social media?”
That’s what we were hoping for! Victoria’s exasperated shout echoed in Nick’s mind.
“You don’t appreciate your staff!” Her voice rose, professional veneer cracking completely. “I’ve worked at this resort since it opened. I’ve given everything to this place—long hours, weekends, holidays. I’ve made Ivory Sands successful, and what do I get in return? Nothing!”
She stood, her chair scraping against the floor.
“You passed me over for promotions I deserve. The Resident Manager position should have been mine years ago, but you keep making excuses. ‘You need housekeeping experience,’” she mimicked.
“’You need to learn Retail and Recreation.
’ As if cleaning rooms and organizing poolside bingo are more important than actual revenue management! ” Like any idiot can’t clean a room.
Her hands trembled. “And then you hire people like Emma, who bring in completely unsuitable candidates. You promote based on looks rather than competence. You ignore those of us who actually know what we’re doing!”
“So, your solution was to break our reservation system?” Ice dripped from Nick’s words. “To create problems that would reflect badly on Lena, on Emma, on anyone but yourself?”
“I was proving a point!” Victoria’s voice cracked.
“Showing you how incompetent your precious new hires are, how they can’t handle even basic situations.
If Lena were any good, she would have caught the problem.
If Emma were competent, she wouldn’t have hired someone so inexperienced.
I was demonstrating the failures in your hiring process! ”
“By sabotaging our guests’ experiences?” Zach asked, voice deceptively soft. “By putting a trainee in an impossible position and then verbally abusing her when she attempted to do the right thing?”
“She needed to learn that sometimes you can’t give guests what they want!” Victoria snapped. “That’s the reality of hospitality. But instead of backing my decision, you swoop in and play hero, upgrading that woman to the Princess Suite like I’m the villain here!”
Nick felt disgust curl through his gut, cold and oily.
“You are the villain here, Victoria. You deliberately created a crisis, tried to frame an innocent employee, and treated a guest with incredible disrespect—all to prove some twisted point about your own importance.” He shook his head.
“That’s the most ridiculous excuse I’ve ever heard. ”
“I don’t need to hear any more.” He straightened. “You’re fired.”
The words dropped into the room like stones.
Victoria’s face flushed from pale to florid. “You can’t—after everything I’ve done—“
“Effective immediately,” Nick continued, voice flat and final.
“You’ll receive written termination paperwork delivered to your home address.
You are officially notified that you may not set foot on any Ivory Tower property, as either employee or guest, under any circumstances, without written authorization from myself or another partner. ”
He held her furious gaze, his own expression carved from stone. “Our investigation will continue. Depending on what we find, we reserve the right to press legal charges. I suggest you consider cooperating fully if you wish to mitigate the consequences of your actions.”
Victoria’s hands clenched into fists at her sides; her carefully constructed professionalism shattered. Resentment poured off her in waves so strong Nick could taste it—bitter and acrid.
“After everything,” she hissed, voice shaking with rage. “After all the hours, all the work I’ve put into making this place successful. This is how you repay loyalty? By believing some nobody author over me? By taking the word of a trainee with an arrest record?”
“An author with proof of a guaranteed reservation,” Zach growled. “An arrest record that trainee was cleared of. Which you knew, because it’s documented in her file. You chose to lie about it.”
“Get out,” Nick said, each word cold and precise as a surgical cut. “Zach will escort you off property. If you have personal items in your office, arrangements will be made to have them delivered. You’re not to access any resort facilities or systems from this moment forward.”
For a heartbeat, Victoria looked like she might argue. Her mouth opened, closed. Her face cycled through outrage, disbelief, and finally something that might have been fear.
Then she drew herself up, smoothing her Versace suit with shaking hands, trying to salvage some dignity from the wreckage. “You’ll regret this. When the truth comes out about the incompetence here—“
“Ms. Evans.” Zach’s voice cut through her words like a blade through silk. “Now.”
He moved to the door, holding it open. The gesture appeared courteous, but the steel in his posture, the cold promise in his eyes, made it unmistakable that courtesy was the only thing preventing him from physically removing her.
Victoria’s heels clicked against the hardwood as she stalked to the door, each step radiating wounded pride and poorly suppressed fury. She paused in the doorway, turning back.
“You deserve everything that’s coming,” she spat. “Everything.” I can’t wait to see them fail when that new resort opens.
Then she was gone, Zach following in her wake.
Nick stood alone in his office, the sudden silence almost oppressive. His hands trembled—adrenaline, anger, the aftermath of conflict he hated even when it was necessary.
He sank back into his chair, the leather creaking. Through the window, the sea stretched dark and infinite.
That was ugly, David’s mental voice drifted in, concerned. You okay?
Nick scrubbed his hands over his face. Yeah. Just... Christ. The viciousness of it. She was willing to destroy Lena’s career, damage guest experiences, create chaos—all because she felt entitled to a promotion she hadn’t earned.
And that parting shot?
I know. Nick’s gut twisted. That wasn’t just anger talking. That was... something else.
A threat?
Or a warning. Nick pulled up his email, fingers moving across the keyboard.
I want a full audit of everything Victoria had access to.
Every system, every file, every interaction for the past six months.
And get Ghost digging into her finances, her communications, everything.
That comment was too specific to be just spite.
Already on it, David replied. And Nick? You did the right thing. She was toxic, and she was escalating. Better to cut her loose now.
Nick believed that. But something nagged at him—a whisper of unease that wouldn’t be stifled.
Victoria had been with them since the resort opened. Years of exemplary performance reviews, of steady competence. And then, in the last few months, things had degraded. High turnover at the front desk, escalating guest complaints. Now, the reservation sabotage.
People didn’t just change like that without a reason. Regardless of what she said, there was no way she broke those blocks just to prove some ridiculous point.
Was she working for someone? She’d said ‘we’. The thought crystallized with uncomfortable clarity. What if breaking the blocks was an opening move in something larger?
He thought about Kate Danvers, weary and vulnerable, standing in the lobby.
Thought about how Victoria’s actions would have affected her—a writer on deadline, already stretched to breaking, arriving to find her guaranteed accommodation unavailable.
The kind of experience that could have ended in a viral social media disaster, damaged reputation, lost revenue.
But more than that—it would have been cruel. Deliberately, calculatedly cruel to someone who’d done nothing to deserve it.
Zach interrupted his thoughts: She’s off property. Went quietly once she realized I wouldn’t engage. Parking lot camera caught her making a phone call the moment she got to her car. Ghost is pulling the records now.
Nick’s jaw tightened. Yeah, something’s going on here. This is not just spite.
Headed back. You sound like you need a drink.
Nick huffed a quiet laugh despite everything. That obvious?
Brother, I can feel your stress from here. Come on. Let’s regroup at the Residence. David’s already sourcing everything we’ll need for the deep dive. We’ll figure out what Victoria was up to.
Nick pushed back from his desk, muscles protesting. The confrontation had left him wound tight, neck knotted with tension.
He took one last look at his office—the rich wood paneling, the water view, the cultivated atmosphere of success and control. Everything they’d built here, everything Ivory Sands represented.
Someone may be coming after it. Coming after them.
The question was why. And who was pulling Victoria’s strings.
Nick turned off the lights. Whatever came next, he knew this was only the beginning.
But at least they now knew a threat was coming. At least they had a chance to prepare.
And at least one exhausted author with observant eyes would get the peace and quiet she required to finish her book.
Small victories. The door clicked shut behind him. Sometimes you took them where you found them.