Chapter 98 Big maze
Veronica's POV:
Laura gestured to the couch with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Sit down, Veronica. We have some business to discuss."
"I'd rather stand," I said, crossing my arms.
One of the security guards took a step forward, and the threat was clear. "Sit down voluntarily, or be made to sit down."
I sat.
Laura pulled out a tablet from her designer clutch and handed it to me, her perfectly manicured nails clicking against the screen.
"Read it," she commanded. "Out loud."
I looked down at the tablet, and I froze as I read the words displayed there:
"I am a slut who sleeps with both the Ashford brothers. They hired me to do it. I cheated on Chase Pemberton to be with them but got jealous of Laura Bellamy and sabotaged her engagement. Even now, I sabotaged her second chance with Maximillan Ashford, locked her in a room, and shoved myself on stage. I messed up. I am guilty of destroying Laura's happiness."
I looked up at her, shock giving way to anger. "You can't be serious."
"Oh, I'm very serious," Laura said, pulling out her phone and opening Instagram. "You're going to say all of that. On camera. Live.
To your followers, to the press, to everyone."
"Absolutely not," I said, shoving the tablet back at her. "This is insane. None of this is true!"
"That's irrelevant," Laura said coolly. "What matters is that you say it. You confess to being the manipulative, home-wrecking slut everyone already thinks you are. You take responsibility for destroying my relationships—both of them."
"I didn't destroy anything!" I stood up, my hands clenched into fists. " Chase was never in love with you. His engagement was a scam! And the engagement to Max was never real... his father arranged it without Max's consent! Why should I take the blame for your ego?"
"Because if you don't," Laura said, "you're not getting out of this room."
The security guards shifted slightly, forming a tighter circle around me. The doors were locked. My phone had been taken. I was completely trapped.
Oh no.
"This is kidnapping," I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. "False imprisonment. You can't just..."
"Can't I?" Laura smiled. "My family owns half this hotel, Veronica. These men work for us. And as far as anyone knows, we're just having a private conversation. Two women working out their differences."
"No one will believe that."
"They will when you make your public confession," Laura countered. "When you admit to everything you've done, apologize to me on camera, and beg for forgiveness. Then we can have a tearful reconciliation, and I'll magnanimously forgive you. Everyone loves a redemption story."
I stared at her, seeing clearly now just how unhinged she'd become. This wasn't about justice or truth. This was about humiliation. About forcing me to destroy my own reputation, my own dignity, just to satisfy her need for revenge.
"If you don't confess," Laura continued, "you stay here. My men will make sure you're comfortable, of course. Food, water, bathroom breaks. But you don't leave until you've said what I want you to say."
"This is insane," I repeated. "You can't keep me here forever. People will notice I'm missing. The Ashford brothers will..."
"Will what?" Laura laughed. "Come rescue you? Veronica, they think you're safely hiding upstairs in a hotel room. They have no idea you're here. And by the time they figure it out, you'll have already made your confession."
She held up the phone, my Instagram was already open to the live video function.
"So what's it going to be?" she asked. "Make this easy on yourself and just read the script. Or we can stay here all night while you think about it. Your choice."
I looked at the tablet still in my hands, at the vile words Laura wanted me to say, at the camera waiting to broadcast my humiliation to the world.
And I made my own choice.
"No," I said firmly, setting the tablet down on the coffee table. "I'm not doing this. I'm not confessing to things I didn't do. I'm not letting you manipulate me into destroying myself just because you can't accept the truth about Chase."
Laura's expression hardened. "Then you're staying here forever."
Max's POV:
Theo and I ran up to room 2847, our hearts pounding, taking the stairs two at a time because the elevator felt too slow.
Please let her be there. Please let her be safe.
Theo swiped the keycard and threw the door open.
The room was empty.
Completely, utterly empty. The bed was still made, untouched. No signs that anyone had been here at all.
"Oh boy," I said, running my hands through my hair. "We really messed this up."
"Call her," Theo said urgently, already pulling out his own phone.
I dialed Veronica's number, pressing the phone in my ear and listening to it ring.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Then voicemail.
"Veronica, it's Max," I said quickly. "Call me back immediately. We need to know you're safe. Please."
Theo's call had gone to voicemail too, based on his frustrated expression.
"CCTV," Theo said suddenly, his eyes lighting up with desperate hope. "We should check the cameras. See where she went."
"Yes," I agreed immediately. "Security room. Now."
We ran back out of the empty hotel room and headed for the elevator, my mind racing with terrible possibilities of all the worse things that could happen to Veronica.
We burst into the security office, startling the two guards monitoring the camera feeds.
"We need access to your cameras," Theo said, his voice carrying that authority that came from being an Ashford. "Now. It's an emergency."
"Sir, we can't just..."
"My father owns a significant stake in this hotel," Theo interrupted. "And right now, someone we care about might be in danger. So either you help us, or I call the hotel manager and have you both fired while we waste precious time. Your choice."
The guards exchanged glances, then one of them gestured to the cluster of monitors.
"What are we looking for?"
But I could already see the problem. This was a massive hotel with forty-two floors, hundreds of rooms, countless hallways and service corridors. Finding one person in all that footage could take hours.
This hotel was a big maze. And Veronica was lost somewhere in it.