Abiy Hotel

​For the first time, Celeste didn’t scream.
She slowly leaned, picked up the file, and stared at it as if the paper might burn her hands.
My father said, “Mara…”
I said, “I have copies, and Elliot has copies too.”
​Celeste’s voice came out low: “You wouldn’t dare do that.”
“I’ve already done that.”
​The elevator doors opened, and the building’s security came one step closer.
Mrs. Ken’s door was closed with a light click.
​My father looked through the magic eye, and for a second, I saw the man who was carrying me through the hotel kitchen so that the chefs would steal me strawberry pies. Then Celeste touched his arm, and he turned his eyes away.
​I said, “Go away.”
​And they’re already gone. But at 12:38 a.m., Elliot called me.
His voice was alert and alert.
“Mara, Celeste has just filed an emergency petition claiming to exert illegal influence, bad financial eligibility, and credit fraud.”
​I looked at the corridor that is now empty except for the folder that Celeste dropped near the elevator.
I asked him, “Can she win?”
Elliott said, “No, but she can make a fuss.”
​I walked towards my window. Across the center of Denver, the Halston Meridian Hotel sign was glowing in gold in the black sky.
I said, “Let her do it. Tomorrow morning, we will make noise too.”
Third and final part: The Great Confrontation
​At eight o’clock the next morning, I was sitting in the head office of the Halston Meridian Hotel, behind my mother’s large wooden office.
​The door opened loud, and Celeste entered and was followed by Richard’s parents, with a lawyer in an expensive suit.
​Celeste said in a triumphant tone: “Mara, the game is over. We filed the petition with the court, and the trust fund’s accounts will be frozen by noon because of your financial manipulation.”
​I didn’t move out of my seat. I pointed with my hand to the seats in front of me and I said coldly: “Sit down.”
​I turned to their lawyers and said, “I think you didn’t read the file you left with your client yesterday. Preston, the son of Celeste, embezzled 840 grand through a shell company. As the new legal owner of the hotel, I have already filed a criminal case for federal embezzlement and money laundering an hour ago.
​The lawyer’s face was paled, and he looked at Celeste, who started to tremble in anger and fear.
​The bitter truth.
​I turned to my father, who was looking at the earth with helplessness.
“Dad, did you know about the thefts?”
​My father stepped in and said in a glowing voice: “Mara… I was trying to keep the family quiet. Celeste was pressuring me…”
​“My mother built this place sweaty with her blood,” she strictly interrupted. “And you allowed your new wife and son to destroy him, and even allowed her to expel me from my mother’s legacy. It’s over.”
​The lawyer looked at Celeste and told her in a low voice: “If this criminal case continues, your son will go to prison. The petition we have made is now worthless, Mara has all the trump cards.”
​The End and Victory
​Celeste signed papers filed by Elliott’s lawyers waiving any allegations against the trust fund, in exchange for her son’s file not being transferred to the police, provided that the misappropriated money was returned in full.
​My father signed his final retirement papers from the hotel management.
​Before he left the office, he turned to me with his eyes full of regrets: “Mara, I’m sorry…”
​I looked at him, and I didn’t feel hated, but with a bit of pity.
“You can keep the house, Dad, but the hotel, the land and my mother’s legacy… will stay with me.”
​They went out and locked the door behind them. I stood at the big window overlooking the city, and took a deep breath for the first time in years. The rights have returned to their owners, and a smile has appeared on my face as I prepare to start my first day as the actual manager of the Halston Meridian Hotel.