Chapter 8 - The Sabotage
The illusion of peace, however, was shattered the following morning by a frantic phone call from Queens.
Emily was halfway through breakfast in the sunlit conservatory when her cell phone buzzed violently on the marble table. She checked the screen and saw Dr. Aris Thorne’s office number flashing.
"Excuse me," Emily muttered, standing up abruptly and hurrying out toward the quiet garden path. "Hello, Dr. Thorne?"
"Emily, thank you for picking up," the doctor’s voice was tense and rushed. "You need to get down to St. Jude’s Clinic immediately. Noah’s monitor flagged a severe arrhythmia spike an hour ago. We've stabilized him in the observation unit, but he's asking for you, and there's an issue with the insurance disbursement paperwork from Apex Technologies' trust fund."
Emily’s blood ran cold. "What do you mean, an issue? The trust was finalized three days ago."
"According to the hospital billing department, the corporate account linked to the disbursement was temporarily frozen late last night due to an administrative flag from the board," Dr. Thorne explained urgently. "Without immediate authorization from the primary account holder, his scheduled maintenance prescription won't clear."
Emily didn't hesitate. She hung up the phone, her hands shaking so violently she nearly dropped her device onto the cobblestones. She marched straight back into the mansion, her face pale with fury and panic.
She found Adrian in his grandfather’s private study, reviewing financial documents with Marcus, while Aunt Beatrice and Vanessa hovered near the doorway with smug, knowing smirks.
"Adrian," Emily’s voice cut through the room like a whip.
Adrian looked up instantly, his expression shifting from corporate calm to alarm the moment he saw her face. "Emily? What's wrong?"
"My brother is in the hospital. In observation," Emily said, her voice trembling with barely contained rage. She turned her glare directly toward Aunt Beatrice and Vanessa standing by the door. "And someone in this room managed to freeze the trust fund account overnight."
Adrian stood up so fast his chair tipped backward against the walnut desk. "What?"
"Oh, please, don't look at us with such melodrama," Vanessa scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "We merely pointed out to the board’s compliance officer that allocating a multi-million-dollar medical trust to an unverified minor without a formal audit violated corporate governance protocols. It's just business, darling."
Adrian’s face darkened into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. He didn't raise his voice, but the cold, deadly menace in his tone made even Aunt Beatrice take a half-step back.
"You audited my personal philanthropic directive behind my back?" Adrian asked, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper.
"We were protecting the family's assets from a gold-digging interloper," Aunt Beatrice snapped defensively, though her eyes flickered with unease.
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"That account is funded by my personal equity, not family trust capital," Adrian roared, slamming his fist down on the desk with a crash that rattled the crystal decanters. "You crossed a line. All of you."
He turned immediately to Emily, stepping forward and grabbing her trembling hands. "Get your coat. We're going to the hospital right now. And as for my family..." He glared back at his aunt and cousin. "Consider yourselves uninvited from every property, account, and holding I control, effective immediately."
