Chapter 3 - The Hotel Beneath the Hotel
That evening, Isabella avoided the restaurants and ordered nothing from room service.
Instead, she took the service elevator to the basement.
The elevator stopped halfway between floors, the lights flickering above her. For several seconds, the cabin trembled in darkness. Then it jerked downward and continued.
When the doors finally opened, Isabella stepped into a narrow corridor that smelled of detergent, steam, and overheated machinery.
This was the part of the Grand Aurelia guests never saw.
Laundry carts crowded the walls. Employees ate quickly beside storage rooms because the staff cafeteria had been closed for renovations six months earlier. A maintenance worker repaired a broken pipe with temporary tape. Housekeepers sorted stained sheets beneath harsh fluorescent lights.
No marble.
No chandeliers.
No carefully arranged flowers.
Isabella found Luis near the laundry room.
“You shouldn’t be down here,” he said.
“Why?”
“Guests aren’t allowed.”
“Neither are broken elevators, according to the inspection reports.”
His face changed.
“You reviewed the reports?”
“I know the elevator was supposedly repaired three times.”
Luis lowered his voice.
“Who are you?”
“Someone trying to understand where the repair money went.”
Before he could answer, an older housekeeper stepped out of the laundry room. Her name tag read Rosa.
“Luis, stop talking,” she warned.
Isabella introduced herself as Isabella Hart and explained that she was investigating conditions before deciding whether to hold a corporate event at the hotel.
It was not the full truth, but it allowed the employees to speak without knowing her identity.
Rosa studied her carefully.
“Corporate guests don’t come to the basement.”
“Maybe they should.”
Rosa led her into an empty storage room and closed the door.
“There are two hotels,” she said. “The one upstairs and the one underneath.”
“What happens underneath?”
“People work twelve hours and are paid for eight. Service charges disappear. Broken equipment is reported as repaired. Injuries are hidden. Anyone who complains is accused of stealing.”
Luis nodded.
“My cousin worked in maintenance. He questioned invoices for a company called Apex Mechanical. Two days later, cash was planted in his locker.”
“Was he dismissed?”
“And reported to the police. The charges were dropped, but his career was destroyed.”
Isabella had seen Apex Mechanical listed repeatedly in the financial records.
“Who owns the company?”
“No one knows,” Rosa said. “But Adrian approves every invoice.”
A kitchen worker named Jamal entered the room and shut the door behind him.
“Brent is searching for her,” he said.
“For me?” Isabella asked.
“He saw you on the basement camera.”
Rosa opened a cabinet and removed a thick notebook wrapped in plastic.
“I wrote down every unpaid hour for the housekeeping team,” she said. “Dates, names, room assignments. I planned to take it to the labor department, but Adrian said he would make sure my daughter lost her scholarship.”
“How could he do that?”
“The scholarship is funded by a hotel charity.”
Isabella opened the notebook.
There were hundreds of entries.
“This is evidence.”
“It is also a way to get fired.”
Voices echoed in the corridor outside.
Brent was approaching.
Jamal quickly opened another door leading into the kitchen supply area.
“This way.”
Isabella followed him through rows of shelves and emerged near the loading dock. She could hear Brent questioning employees behind them.
At the loading dock, boxes of imported wine were being moved into an unmarked van.
“Are those being delivered?” she asked.
Jamal shook his head.
“They’re leaving.”
“At this hour?”
“Every Thursday. Premium alcohol, luxury linens, sometimes electronics purchased for guest suites.”
“Who authorizes it?”
“Mr. Cross.”
Isabella photographed the van’s license plate and sent it to Marcus.
A reply arrived immediately.
Marcus: Vehicle registered to Cross Hospitality Consulting.
She stared at the screen.
Adrian was not only abusing employees. He was stealing from the hotel while forcing the company to purchase replacements.
The loading dock door opened.
Brent stepped outside.
“There you are.”
Jamal moved protectively in front of Isabella.
Brent smiled.
“You took the wrong elevator, Ms. Hart.”
“I became curious.”
“Curiosity is expensive here.”
He turned to Jamal.
“You’re dismissed. Clear your locker.”
Jamal’s face went still.
“For showing a guest the exit?”
“For abandoning your station.”
“He was helping me,” Isabella said.
“That makes it worse.”
Brent reached for the notebook in Isabella’s hand, but she moved it behind her.
“What are you carrying?”
“Nothing that belongs to you.”
Brent’s expression darkened.
“You should leave tomorrow morning.”
“I paid for three nights.”
“Your reservation has been shortened.”
“You can’t legally remove a guest without cause.”
“We can create cause.”
The threat was quiet and deliberate.
Isabella looked past him at the security camera above the dock.
“I hope that camera records sound.”
Brent glanced upward.
For the first time, uncertainty crossed his face.
Isabella handed the notebook back to Rosa before returning upstairs.
Inside the elevator, she called Marcus.
“We need copies of every security recording before they disappear.”
“I’ve already started transferring them.”
“There’s more than financial fraud. There’s wage theft, retaliation, false accusations, and stolen property.”
“Then we involve the authorities now.”
“Not yet.”
“Isabella, he threatened you.”
“He still thinks I’m powerless. That’s the only reason he’s showing me the truth.”
Marcus was silent.
May you like
“What are you planning?”
“To give him one final day.”
