Chapter 4: The Diagnosis
Daniel denied everything.
He denied hiring the laboratory.
He denied planning to challenge Emily’s competence.
He denied knowing why his assistant had transferred seventy-five thousand dollars to a neurological consultant in Boston.
Then Arthur produced the invoices.
Daniel’s attorneys had ordered a confidential medical evaluation using blood taken from Emily during a routine insurance examination.
The report claimed she had early symptoms of a degenerative neurological condition.
If accepted by the Carter Trust’s board, the diagnosis could have removed Emily from active control of her family’s assets.
Daniel would have become her legal spouse.
And under the consolidation agreement he had pushed her to sign, he would have received temporary voting authority over her shares.
“It’s false,” Emily said.
Arthur nodded.
“Completely fabricated. The physician listed on the report died two years ago.”
Guests began reaching for their phones.
Daniel looked around as if searching for someone willing to defend him.
No one stepped forward.
Vanessa backed away from the chair.
“You said the medical report was only leverage.”
Daniel turned on her.
“Stop talking.”
“You said she was unstable.”
“I said stop.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
Until that moment, she had believed she was Daniel’s partner.
Now she realized she had been another tool.
Emily noticed the realization but felt no sympathy.
“Why was my ankle injured?” Emily asked.
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“The west staircase was covered with something.”
“It was an accident.”
Arthur signaled to the head of security.
A man approached carrying a small evidence bag. Inside was a folded cloth stained with clear wax.
“We found this beneath a service cart,” the guard said. “The wax matches the substance spread across the third stair.”
Emily looked at Vanessa.
Vanessa shook her head immediately.
“I didn’t do that.”
“You were seen near the staircase,” Arthur said.
“I went there because Daniel asked me to bring Emily downstairs.”
Daniel’s expression darkened.
Vanessa continued before he could interrupt.
“He told me she might be nervous. He wanted me to make sure she didn’t change her mind.”
Emily stared at Daniel.
“You needed me injured?”
“I needed you at the ceremony,” Daniel snapped. “You had been avoiding me all morning.”
“So you made it harder for me to leave.”
“You’re twisting everything.”
“No,” Emily replied. “I’m finally seeing it clearly.”
Sirens sounded outside the estate gates.
Daniel glanced toward the windows.
Three government vehicles were entering the property.
Vanessa looked at Arthur.
“Who did you call?”
Arthur’s answer was calm.
“I did not call the police.”
May you like
He looked at Daniel.
“I called the federal banking investigators already examining Brooks Hospitality.”
