Chapter 6 - The Medical OptionMelissa refused to let Lucas hear the recording alone.
Gregory Pike sat three chairs away from Lucas.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
Silver hair.
Tailored navy suit.
Perfect Windsor knot.
For eleven years Gregory had been Lucas’s closest corporate lieutenant.
He had attended Rachel’s funeral.
He had brought Emma birthday gifts.
He had once sat beside Lucas in a hospital waiting room when Emma needed emergency surgery for appendicitis.
That memory hurt more than the betrayal itself.
Gregory opened a leather folder.
“Lucas, before we start, I want you to know everyone here supports you.”
Lucas nodded.
“That means a lot.”
Several executives shifted uncomfortably.
News vans had been parked outside since dawn.
Vanessa had given a statement through her attorney describing Lucas as controlling and emotionally volatile.
Her lawyers claimed she had merely been researching schools because Emma needed “specialized emotional support.”
Lucas had said nothing publicly.
Gregory cleared his throat.
“Considering the media attention, I believe temporary leadership stability would reassure our lenders.”
Lucas folded his hands.
“I agree.”
Gregory’s shoulders relaxed.
“So I’ve prepared—”
“But before we discuss my leave, I want to address security.”
Gregory stopped.
“Security?”
Lucas nodded toward the door.
Melissa entered.
Behind her came two forensic consultants.
Gregory’s expression changed slightly.
Lucas continued.
“Last weekend, someone attempted to access confidential documents belonging to my daughter’s trust.”
Silence.
“Separately, someone attempted to access Hawthorne Estate’s security servers after the wedding.”
Gregory leaned back.
“What does that have to do with this company?”
“I was wondering the same thing.”
Lucas placed a document on the table.
“Until I learned that Pike Strategic Services provided the estate’s security infrastructure.”
Gregory’s jaw tightened.
“My brother’s company works hundreds of events.”
“Correct.”
Lucas slid another page forward.
“And one of the login attempts came from an IP address assigned to this building.”
Heads turned.
Gregory laughed.
“You’re accusing Bennett Holdings of hacking a wedding venue?”
“No.”
Lucas looked directly at him.
“I’m asking why someone used this building’s network to do it.”
Gregory’s face reddened.
“This is absurd.”
“Probably.”
Lucas leaned back.
“That’s why the police are investigating.”
Gregory went still.
Several executives looked at him.
Lucas continued.
“I also learned that a vice president inside this company requested restricted copies of the Bennett Family Trust provisions four months ago.”
Gregory said nothing.
“Using your authorization.”
“That was routine governance work.”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
Lucas opened another folder.
“Then explain this.”
He projected a document onto the boardroom screen.
It was an internal memo recovered from the archive.
Gregory had requested analysis of voting rights exercised by guardians of underage shareholders.
No one spoke.
Lucas looked around the table.
“My daughter is the only underage shareholder.”
Gregory stood.
“This meeting is over.”
Lucas remained seated.
“No.”
“I will not sit here and participate in your paranoid breakdown because your wedding failed.”
The insult was deliberate.
Lucas could see Gregory trying to plant the same narrative Vanessa had built.
Emotionally unstable.
Overwhelmed.
Paranoid.
Unfit.
Lucas almost admired the consistency.
“Sit down, Gregory.”
“I don’t work for a man who uses his family crisis to conduct a witch hunt.”
“You work for the board.”
“And the board deserves competent leadership.”
Gregory looked around.
“Lucas needs rest.”
Lucas nodded.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The phrase.”
Gregory frowned.
“For nine months, Vanessa has told people I’m exhausted. Overworked. Forgetful.”
Gregory’s face changed.
“Coincidence?”
Lucas continued.
“She encouraged medical evaluations.”
“You sound insane.”
“One doctor prescribed medication.”
Melissa’s eyes narrowed.
That part was new even to her.
Lucas looked at Gregory.
“I never took it.”
Gregory went pale.
Lucas noticed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Lucas had been prescribed an anti-anxiety medication three months earlier after Vanessa insisted he see a physician named Dr. Samuel Kerr.
Lucas filled the prescription but never used it because it made him uncomfortable.
Yesterday, a private investigator discovered Dr. Kerr had once worked with a health network financed by one of Gregory’s investment partners.
Maybe coincidence.
Maybe not.
Lucas wasn’t ready to accuse anyone.
But Gregory’s reaction told him something.
“You know the doctor,” Lucas said.
“No.”
“You reacted.”
“I reacted because you are making lunatic accusations!”
Lucas stood.
“I haven’t accused you of anything.”
Gregory stopped.
Lucas stepped closer.
“I said a doctor prescribed medication.”
Silence.
“You assumed I meant something sinister.”
Gregory’s eyes flicked toward Melissa.
The trap had worked.
Lucas returned to his chair.
“For the record, I am not taking leave.”
Gregory stared at him.
“Then lenders will panic.”
“They won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I spoke with all three major lenders this morning.”
Gregory’s confidence weakened.
“They support my continued leadership.”
Lucas looked around the room.
“I am also ordering an independent forensic audit of every request involving family trusts, voting rights, board proxies, and acquisition proposals during the last twelve months.”
One executive nodded.
Then another.
Gregory looked trapped.
“This is retaliation.”
“No.”
Lucas’s voice remained calm.
“This is governance.”
Gregory grabbed his folder.
“You’ll regret this.”
Lucas watched him move toward the door.
“Gregory.”
He stopped.
Lucas spoke quietly.
“Did Vanessa tell you Emma would be sent away before or after the wedding?”
Gregory turned.
For one second his face revealed everything.
Then it disappeared.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He left.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
The audit began immediately.
By three o’clock, investigators had discovered unexplained communications between Gregory’s office and Sinclair Family Foundation.
By five, they discovered that a Bennett Holdings analyst had prepared an acquisition model showing what would happen if Gregory controlled fifty-one percent of shareholder voting power.
By six, Aaron called Lucas.
“We recovered Vanessa’s phone.”
Lucas stood.
“You recovered the data?”
“Some of it.”
“And?”
Aaron’s voice sounded grim.
“There’s an audio recording.”
“Of what?”
“Vanessa and Gregory.”
Lucas went quiet.
“What are they saying?”
Aaron hesitated.
“They’re talking about Emma.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“How bad?”
“Bad.”
He heard paper moving.
“Gregory says the boarding school is only temporary.”
Lucas gripped his desk.
“What does Vanessa say?”
Aaron swallowed.
“She says once you have another child, you’ll stop fighting to bring Emma home.”
Lucas felt rage burn through him.
Then Aaron added one final sentence.
“There’s something worse.”
Lucas waited.
“Vanessa asks Gregory what happens if you refuse to change the trust.”
May you like
“And?”
“He says, ‘Then we use the medical option.’”
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