Trapped in a secret hotel floor, a Hollywood producer finds his dead sister's recorder and uncovers his mentor's dark studio network
👉 Previous Choice: You continued the story from Chapter 2.
Evelyn Zhao stood silent for a moment, her flashlight beam steady on my face. She didn’t call security. Instead, she lowered the light and walked closer, her eyes scanning the dusty suite.
“You shouldn’t be here, Julian,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Arthur… he’s expecting you to raise hell, not snoop.”
She pressed a heavy metal keycard into my palm. It was cool against my skin, the edges worn smooth from use. “This is a master key. For all unlisted floors. And a few private offices.”
My fingers closed around the card. “Evelyn, what is this place? What happened to Clara?”
She sighed, a long, weary sound. “Six months ago, Carter DeWitt, the studio chief, ordered me to wipe all hotel elevator logs from that night. He was covering for Arthur.”
My breath hitched. “You wiped the logs? You knew?”
“I did what I was told. I always do,” she said, her eyes fixed on the empty filing cabinets. “But I also hit the recall button on the elevator from the lobby, hoping to pull her back up. I didn’t know the lockout was engaged for the hidden floor. I didn’t know…”
She trailed off, pressing her lips into a thin line. “Arthur doesn’t just run illegal auditions here, Julian. He skims money. A lot of money. From his ‘investors.'”
“What investors?” I asked, a cold dread spreading through my chest.
“The kind who don’t call the police when they’re ripped off,” Evelyn replied, her gaze hardening. “The Syndicate. They backed his last three feature films. If you want real justice, Julian, legal channels will only get you killed. They’re too slow, too public. Arthur controls the narrative.”
She glanced towards the hallway. “You need to understand. This isn’t just about Clara anymore. It’s about a web, and Arthur is just one of the spiders.”
➡️ Read Chapter 7 to continue the story
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