I don't own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Chapter 1- The Truth

Ilsa was gazing out at a view of the Tipton from the St. Marks imperial suite. She couldn't believe that today was the day. Mr. St. Marks came into the suite.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

She nodded. They been planning this for years. Everything had gone according to plan.

The battle would begin.

Maddie Fitzpatrick was standing at the candy counter, fuming. She was sick and tired of it. London snubbing her. Moseby always on her. Zack and Cody wreaking the hotel and dragging her into it. She just wanted a break.

Better yet, she wanted to be in charge. She wanted to be the lucky one, the one with everything on her side for a change.

Finally, her shift was over. She walked outside, smelling the winter air, and immediately ran into Ilsa. She tried to run away, but Ilsa grabbed her arm.

"Don't be afraid candy girl," she said in her thick accent. "Or should I say, Maddie St. Mark?"

Her comment left Maddie speechless. She numbly walked with Ilsa into the St. Mark and the imperial suite.

Zack and Cody were practicing their skateboarding skills when they saw Maddie abducted by Ilsa.

"Hey, Cody, check it out," Zack said.

Cody looked over and tried to go after Maddie until Zack stopped him.

"No," Zack grabbed his brother by the shoulder. "We'll need to tell Moseby, we're going to need some backup."

They ran inside the Tipton.

Meanwhile, Maddie was sitting in the Imperial suite, listening to Mr. St Mark talk.

"I have been searching long and hard for you, my dear. You are my daughter, Madeline St. Mark. You see, when your mother had you, we were very poor. I thought it might be better if your were given to some other family until we could get back on our feet. A few years later that happened. I went over to your foster family's apartment to get you, but we I saw how happy you looked, I decided that it would be cruel to rip you away from your foster parents and siblings."

As he said that, Maddie's mind flashed back to when she was 6. She was running through the kitchen with her brothers when she noticed a strange man sitting at the kitchen table. She had later on asked her parents who he was, but they changed the subject before she could get an answer. Then all of a sudden she thought of something.

"But… Todd and I look nothing alike. And how come he didn't tell me when he came to visit?" She croaked out.

"Ah, you see, when I decided to let you stay with your other family for a while, I tried made all the possible arrangements for when the day would come when I would tell you.

I opened up the St. Marks hotel right across the street, and, once I told Todd my secret, he came here to live with me. I forbade him to visit you because he might not be able to resist, and tell you the secret. It was too early for you to know. Finally, he could not resist. When I was on a business trip, he went over and pretended to fall in love with London to get closer to you. Once I found out about this, I made him go to dental school to protect my secret. You see, I wanted to tell you when you were old enough to handle the truth. And this day has finally come. Now that you are 16, you can now handle the truth. You are the rightful heir to the St. Marks hotels, and all its business. Todd was in line, but he wanted to become a dentist, and I could not deny him of his dream. His going over to the Tipton was the perfect excuse to send him to dental school. I did not want him to inherit this business if he did not want it.

As for why you do not look like Todd, you get most of your looks from your mother. Here, have a look."

Mr. St. Mark opened a drawer in his desk and took out a picture of a beautiful woman with long blond hair. Maddie stared at it for a while, and then managed to stutter out, "Where, where is she now?"

Mr. St Mark sighed and bowed his head. Very quietly, her said, "She was in a car accident a few months after you were born. That is another reason why I thought that it would be better for you to be adopted. You would get a mother, and sisters too."

Ilsa stepped forward and said, "While you did not know this, others knew. Many other hotels had heard of Mr. St Mark's sacrifice, and criticized him for it. One of the most brutal of these was the Tipton Hotel.

When you walked into get a job, all of the staff recognized you, even the little heiress girl, London. They decided to make you one of them before Mr. St Mark could tell you the truth. That's why I was hired. I was sent to protect you from becoming a Tipton. But it may be too late. Are you willing to give up your job, and take you place as the heiress of the St. Marks hotels? Are you willing to take down the Tipton? For whatever it takes?"

By now, Maddie was feeling something other than shock. She was furious. Everyone at the Tipton know, London, Zack, Mr. Moseby, even Muriel! She wanted to tear something apart, and burst into tears. She had been betrayed by everyone who she thought was her friend! Instead, she did the next best thing.

"I will." She said, in a quiet, confident whisper. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring down the Tipton."

Ilsa nodded in confirmation, then turned and looked out the window. "Here comes your first chance, candy gir- heiress." She pointed to the street below and Maddie looked out. She saw Zack, Cody, London, Moseby, Carrie and Estaban running toward the St. Marks.

Zack and the others burst into the Tipton. "Okay, nobody move! We're just going to get our friend, and leave." He said in a voice that he hoped sounded as if he knew what he was doing, because, really, he was clueless.

Suddenly, a familiar voice said, "She's right here!" Everybody's heads turned as they saw Maddie walking down the wide stairs that lead to the upstairs. Zack heard whispers of "It's the heiress!" and "It's her!"

Maddie approached them, with Ilsa and Mr. St. Mark right behind her. He had never seen her so angry. Her blond hair seemed to fly out from behind her, and her eyes had a wild spark of fire in them.

"Oh, Maddie," Estaban said, sounding relieved, "it is good that you are unharmed. Now let us go home to the Tipton."

"Go home?" Maddie's voice actually sounded amused. "You mean to the place where EVERYBODY LIED TO ME!"

"Maddie," Mr. Moseby said, "be reasonable. We wanted Mr. Saint Mark to tell you, not us-"

"Yeah, right." Maddie scoffed. She narrowed her eyes and the spark in her eyes seemed to turn into a wildfire. "Get out of my hotel."

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-WhiteIce