Chapter 5 - The Snake's Counterattack
By sunrise, the rain had cleared over Chicago, leaving behind a cold, gray autumn fog. But inside the headquarters of Reed Global Enterprises, sixty floors above the city streets, a tempest was brewing.
Victoria Reed sat in the massive executive office that had once belonged to her husband. She slammed her coffee mug onto the mahogany desk, glaring at Andrew Vance and a team of four corporate defense attorneys.
“How could this happen?!” Victoria screamed, her poise completely shattered. “A custodian’s child?! A five-year-old girl with an insect ruined three years of planning in five minutes?!”
Andrew paced along the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, chewing on the end of an unlit cigar. “Calm down, Victoria. Panic is a luxury we can’t afford. The trust transfer deadline is forty-eight hours away. If Jonathan is reclassified as conscious by a state medical board, the legal guardianship is suspended automatically. Marcus Sterling will file for an emergency conservatory, and every asset transfer we executed over the last twenty-four months will be audited by federal regulators.”
“We can’t let that medical board meet,” one of the senior attorneys advised darkly. “If Dr. Harris files the formal neurological reclassification paperwork with the state department of health, it becomes public record. Once the press gets wind that Jonathan Reed has waked up, the company stock will surge, but our control will evaporate instantly.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed into dark, cold slits. She stood up, smoothing down her designer skirt. “Then we make sure Dr. Harris never files that paperwork. And we deal with that custodian.”
Two hours later, Maria Lopez was called into the hospital director’s office at St. Vincent Medical Center.
Hospital Director Richard Vance—Andrew’s third cousin—sat behind a massive glass desk. Standing beside him was a representative from the hospital’s legal department and two private security officers.
“Maria Lopez,” Director Vance said coldly, sliding a pre-printed termination document across the desk. “You have violated fundamental hospital protocols by bringing an unauthorized minor into a level-four restricted intensive care unit. Furthermore, your child tampered with a patient’s medical environment, creating a severe biological hazard.”
“Sir, please,” Maria begged, her voice choking with tears. “My daughter didn't mean any harm! She just wanted to show him—”
“Silence!” Vance barked. “You are terminated immediately without severance. Furthermore, St. Vincent Medical Center is filing a formal civil complaint against you for trespassing and reckless endangerment. If you ever set foot on hospital grounds again, you will be arrested on sight.”
Maria stood frozen, tears streaming down her face. She knew what this meant. Without a job, without a reference, and with a legal complaint against her, she would be homeless within a month.
As she walked out of the administrative wing clutching her small box of personal belongings, a sleek black town car pulled up beside the hospital sidewalk.
The rear window rolled down, revealing Victoria Reed’s ice-cold face behind dark sunglasses.
“Ms. Lopez,” Victoria said softly, her voice dripping with venom. “I suggest you take your daughter and leave Chicago before the police start asking questions about how much money Marcus Sterling paid you to fake my husband’s sudden recovery.”
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Maria gasped. “I didn't take any money! I don't even know who Mr. Sterling is!”
“Nobody will care what you say,” Victoria sneered as the dark window rolled back up. “Get out of my city.”
