Part 5
The sound of heavy tires gripping the gravel driveway signaled Arthur’s arrival.
Two minutes later, the study door opened.
Arthur stepped in, his sharp eyes taking in the scene instantly.
Behind him were two men in dark suits from the private security firm, and a woman carrying a specialized medical collection kit.
Margaret immediately went on the offensive.
“Arthur, thank God you're here,” she said, rushing toward him, her hands extended in a fake display of relief.
“My son has completely lost his mind. He’s threatening me, he’s trying to remove his unstable wife from the house against medical advice, and—”
Arthur didn't take her hands.
He kept his briefcase at his side and looked past her, directly at Daniel.
“Daniel,” Arthur said, his tone professional and grave.
“The medical transport is waiting at the gates. We have a secure wing prepared at St. Jude’s. The staff has been fully vetted. No one enters without your personal code.”
Margaret froze, her hands dropping to her sides.
“Arthur? What is the meaning of this? I am the matriarch of this family!”
Arthur finally looked at her, his expression filled with a cold pity that infuriated her more than anger ever could.
“Margaret, twenty minutes ago, Daniel authorized me to audit the family foundation’s medical expense accounts. Do you know what we found?”
Margaret’s breath hitched in her throat.
“We found a recurring monthly transfer of fifty thousand dollars to a private offshore account held by Dr. Evans,” Arthur said calmly, opening his briefcase and pulling out a stack of financial ledger sheets.
“The memos were listed as 'specialized care consultancy.' But Dr. Evans is a general practitioner. And the payments began exactly three months ago. The same week Ava’s health suddenly began to deteriorate.”
The room went dead silent.
The woman with the medical kit stepped forward, kneeling beside the puddle on the floor.
She drew a sample of the spilled liquid into a sterile syringe, sealing it in a glass vial.
“We will have the lab results in two hours, Mr. Vance,” the technician said to Daniel.
“But based on the viscous nature and the scent, it appears to be a high-concentration liquid solution of benzodiazepines and paralytic agents.”
Daniel’s face went entirely pale.
Paralytic agents.
They weren't just drugging her to make her sleepy.
They were actively paralyzing her body so she couldn't run away.
They were trapping her mind inside a prison of her own flesh.
He looked down at Ava, a wave of pure horror washing over him.
She had been trapped in that wheelchair, awake, aware, but unable to fight back while his mother whispered venom into her ear day after day.
Daniel stood up, his body shaking with a primal, protective fury.
He walked over to Margaret, his shadow completely eclipsing her.
“You are stripped of your position on the board,” Daniel said, his voice a deadly, low vibration.
“Your access to the Vance corporate accounts is frozen as of thirty seconds ago. I have signed the emergency executive order.”
Margaret’s eyes flared with a manic panic.
“You can’t do that! The shares—”
“The shares are tied to the family trust, which requires a morality and competence clause to maintain voting rights,” Arthur interrupted smoothly.
“Attempted poisoning of a family member and grand financial fraud definitely violate that clause, Margaret. If this goes to a judge, you won't just lose your shares. You will lose your freedom.”
Margaret looked around the room, realizing the walls were closing in.
The servants she had terrorized for years were standing in the hallway, watching her fall.
The lawyers she had used to bully others were now holding her handcuffs.
“This isn't over,” Margaret hissed, her voice venomous as she backed away toward the French doors.
“You think you can cast me aside for her? She is nothing! She will always be nothing!”
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“Get out,” Daniel said.
It was the last time he would ever speak to her as a son.
