Chapter 12 - The Lawyer at the Table
Thomas Vale arrived at the board meeting wearing the same navy suit he had worn to Charles Beaumont’s funeral.
Adrian remembered because Thomas had stood beside him during the burial.
He had placed a hand on Adrian’s shoulder.
He had said, “Your father trusted me to protect this family.”
Now Adrian placed the incompetency petition on the boardroom table.
“Explain it.”
Thomas did not blink.
“I am protecting the family.”
Evelyn sat beside Clara.
Samuel joined by video.
Marcus stood near Adrian.
Half the Beaumont Foundation board attended in person.
The rest appeared on screens.
Thomas folded his hands.
“Mrs. Beaumont has demonstrated serious cognitive decline.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You have known me since I was thirty-eight.”
“Yes.”
“And you believe I am incompetent?”
“I believe you require evaluation.”
“You mean control.”
Thomas sighed.
“This is exactly the type of emotional interpretation that concerns me.”
Clara watched him carefully.
He used calmness like a weapon.
Vanessa had used rage.
Victor used power.
Thomas used reasonableness.
Different masks.
Same goal.
Adrian pushed another document forward.
“You filed the petition six hours after Vanessa was caught coercing my mother.”
Thomas barely glanced down.
“I had been preparing it for weeks.”
“That helps you?”
“It demonstrates last night did not cause my concern.”
Evelyn laughed softly.
“No.”
“It proves the trap was prepared.”
Thomas finally looked annoyed.
Adrian opened the Charles archive.
“Did my father tell you about Trial 17?”
Thomas froze.
There.
A tiny reaction.
Clara saw it.
Adrian did too.
Thomas recovered.
“I don’t know what that is.”
Adrian played a portion of Charles’s video.
Thomas’s face lost color.
Around the table, board members began whispering.
Adrian paused the video.
“My father named Victor.”
Thomas stood.
“This meeting is over.”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice was quiet.
“You’re fired.”
Thomas stared at him.
“You cannot terminate foundation counsel without a board vote.”
Evelyn smiled.
“I can.”
Thomas turned toward her.
“You currently have no authority.”
“The petition hasn’t been granted.”
Silence.
Evelyn looked toward the secretary.
“All in favor of removing Thomas Vale as foundation counsel?”
Hands rose.
One by one.
Thomas watched his thirty-one-year career collapse in less than sixty seconds.
Then something changed in him.
The patient expression disappeared.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“Then explain it.”
“You think Charles was a hero?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at the video.
“I think my father made mistakes.”
Thomas laughed.
“Mistakes?”
“He helped bury three deaths.”
Evelyn went pale.
Thomas continued.
“Victor didn’t create Trial 17 alone.”
“Neither did Charles.”
“Your father was terrified the truth would destroy Beaumont Medical.”
“So was I.”
Evelyn whispered.
Thomas turned toward her.
“You should have burned that box.”
“No.”
“You promised Charles.”
“I promised to protect the family.”
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“I did not promise to protect lies.”
Thomas stared at her.
Then smiled bitterly.
“You think truth cleans anything?”
“No.”
Evelyn’s voice strengthened.
“But hiding it made everything dirtier.”
Thomas picked up his briefcase.
Before leaving, he looked at Clara.
“You should have stayed a maid.”
Clara held his gaze.
“You should have stayed a lawyer.”
For the first time, several board members smiled.
Thomas did not.
He walked to the door.
Then Adrian asked one final question.
“Who paid you?”
Thomas stopped.
No answer.
“Victor?”
Still nothing.
Adrian continued.
“Or Vanessa?”
Thomas slowly turned.
“You still think this is about Vanessa.”
Clara felt the warning before he finished.
Thomas looked directly at Adrian.
“Ask your chief financial officer where he was when your mother fell.”
Then he left.
Everyone turned.
At the far end of the board table sat Jonathan Pierce.
Beaumont Medical’s CFO.
Adrian’s closest friend since college.
May you like
Jonathan had gone completely pale.
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