Chapter 78 CHAPTER 78
Michael’s POV
The trail went cold after we lost Evelyn. I had to visit the hotel by myself to let them understand the gravity of their inactions.
The manager was no longer pleased to see me after I stated my business.
“Your father is a very good supporter of our establishment, Alpha Michael,” he stammered. “If we had understood the nature of the problem, we would have stopped them.”
“Your incompetent staff turned a blind eye to a woman being moved into your hotel rooms because they were tipped,” I said, my voice too low for the anger that burnt in my chest. “You should hear shortly from my legal team.”
I stood up.
He stood up too. “Please, Alpha Michael. I will make sure the staff involved all get fired. We cannot afford to go through a legal battle.”
I grunted and punched the desk. “Do you understand the gravity of this situation? I want answers or else everyone one of you in this hotel, from you down to the cleaners, will have a lawsuit.”
The concierge who had taken charge of their room when they arrived named a lady who was constantly visiting the room. “She works at the records department as an intern student.”
Her name was Carmen and she was immediately identified as the lady whose phone Evelyn had used to place the call. She stood in the midst of us like a shaken fig, scared and at the verge of tears. I had no iota of mercy or compassion left in me.
“Didn’t you notice anything strange?” the manager asked her. “Did Evelyn speak to you?”
She fiddled with her fingers and stammered. “I.. I got close to Xavier and he gave me extra money to keep her company. He told me that she was suffering from bipolar and some other mental conditions," she said, her eyes darting from one person to the other across the room.
“And you believed him?” the manager yelled.
“I.. I didn’t know. I guess I was confused,” she said, looking at me. “She kept insisting that she was Alpha Michael’s fiancee and what I saw on the news was something else.”
I glared at her. “You didn’t come across the news where we were married earlier?”
“A contract marriage,” she whispered, eyes on the floor. “I’m sorry I had no idea. When she placed the call, she begged me not to tell Xavier. I didn’t. I swear. I don’t know how he found out. But they left in a hurry that afternoon.”
“Of course you told him,” the manager shouted. “This is why I don't take interns in my hotel. None of my staff can act this unprofessionally,” he boasted.
I knew that the person that had given Xavier the headsup was likely Rosaleen, caused by my own error.
“She tried to jump off the building that day too,” Carmen continued. “I honestly thought she was sick and her brother was just taking care of her. But I didn't tell him about the phone call. You have to believe me, sir.”
She looked at me, pleading. I wanted her to suffer for her foolishness, so I said nothing.
“You are dismissed,” the manager said. “You’ll get your dismissal letter from HR. And you’ll hear from Alpha Michael’s legal team.”
She was ushered out of the room, pleading and crying.
I sighed. “It wasn’t her.”
The manager looked at me, confused. “Huh?”
“Informing Xavier,” I said. “I know who did that.”
The trail had gone cold after that but I had useful information that Xavier was calling her mentally unstable in order to easily get people’s sympathy and reduce suspicion.
I returned home and continued to watch Rosaleen carefully. I didn’t want her to suspect that I knew she had a hand in Evelyn’s disappearance. The elections were coming close and the polls were in our favour once again.
One morning, I received disturbing news from Jasper.
“Joe Calderon had divorced his wife,” he said. “Such a cowardly bastard.”
“He did?” I asked.
“It’s on the front page.” He tossed the paper to me. “I guess he wants to make the news one way or the other and dissociate himself from our scandal.”
Jasper did not know Maya Calderon and I had spoken and that I had gone to see Evelyn’s mother. My concern now was, I needed to speak with Maya concerning the situation of her sister.
I also received reports concerning Rosaleen that evening. Unbelievable news.
“This shows she was in debt worth almost half a million by the time she came to New York and she has accumulated another two hundred thousand,” I said, reading the figures of the report. “Who borrows a single person this large amount of money?”
“Her name and her association with you,” the private investigator said. He passed another file towards me. “These are also allegations of tax fraud while she was in Milan.”
I read the report. Interestingly, Rosaleen had more scandals to her name than Evelyn Moon, and I knew the news would kill my father and his campaign if it got out. My name would also suffer from the backlash.
“A man who was described as her PA was actually imprisoned for these offences,” the man continued. “But he died in prison last month. His death was very suspicious.”
I looked at the face of the man. I had never met him before.
“And he was here in New York briefly?”
He nodded.
“Marcus started receiving guests a few weeks before he died. Among his few guests, someone visited or called constantly. Flora Dover.”
He dropped a picture of her. I picked it up and I recognised her at once. “This lady visited Marcus constantly while in jail?”
“She was also sponsoring his legal fees. It seemed Marcus was going to change his plea. Then he died in prison suddenly from a knife fight he wasn’t involved in.”
I tried to remember what she had said that evening at the dinner. She
had warned me about Rosaleen. I had a gut feeling she was talking about Marcus’ death.