Chapter 5 - The Patriarch’s Verdict
Back in his Monument Avenue study, Dr. Henry Whitmore sat motionless in his leather armchair. The audio file had played through three times. Each time, the whispers of the unnamed woman—“Samuel, come back to me”—echoed in the quiet room like a death knell.
His desk phone buzzed. It was Chief Miller.
"Dr. Whitmore. I checked the logs and the internal security cameras."
"Go on," Henry said coldly.
"Dr. Samuel Whitmore was not in the emergency trauma bays tonight. According to keycard access logs, he swiped into the private executive suite on the fourth floor—Suite 412—at approximately 7:45 PM. He was accompanied by Dr. Jessica Hayes, one of the pediatric cardiology fellows."
Henry’s eyes narrowed into slits. Jessica Hayes. A brilliant young doctor from a prominent North Carolina family, ambitious, attractive, and entirely devoid of professional boundaries.
"And are they still in Suite 412?" Henry asked.
"No, sir. Dr. Samuel left the suite about ten minutes ago and headed down toward the maternity wing after receiving your... well, after the page went out. Dr. Hayes is still up on four."
"I see," Henry murmured. "Thank you, Chief Miller. That will be all."
Henry hung up the phone. He didn't yell. He didn't slam his fist against the desk. Anger was a wasted emotion; precision was everything. For eight years, Henry had watched Eliza Whitmore. He knew she was too intelligent, too dignified, and too strong for Samuel. He had often wondered how long it would take for his son’s shallow, self-serving nature to shatter the fragile glass house he lived in.
Now, on a night when the city of Richmond was being battered by one of the worst storms in a decade, the reckoning had arrived.
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Henry stood up, buttoned his tailored wool overcoat, and picked up his heavy ebony cane and his leather briefcase. He walked out of his study, through the grand foyer of his estate, and climbed into the back of his chauffeured black Mercedes S-Class waiting in the circular drive.
"Whitmore Medical Center," Henry instructed the driver as the heavy iron gates swung open against the howling wind. "And drive fast."
