Chapter 8 - The Price of Silence
The board delayed the final vote for twenty-four hours.
Charles requested time to produce financial explanations.
Raymond agreed.
Emily did not.
But she understood why.
A rushed decision could be challenged.
A documented one would be harder to undo.
Outside the boardroom, Charles caught up with her.
“Five minutes.”
Emily kept walking.
“Emily.”
She stopped.
Sarah remained beside her.
Charles looked toward Sarah.
“Privately.”
Emily shook her head.
“She stays.”
Charles did not like it.
He accepted it.
“There is a way to end this.”
Emily stared at him.
“Vanessa signs an admission.”
“Preston resigns from hospital operations.”
“You withdraw any challenge to the management agreement.”
Emily almost admired the efficiency.
“You want me to sacrifice Vanessa and keep Whitmore Medical Management alive.”
“I want to protect thousands of employees.”
“Then why did you use restricted patient funds to protect your development company?”
Charles’s mouth tightened.
“You don’t understand corporate finance.”
“I understand theft.”
“That word is irresponsible.”
“So was forging my signature.”
Charles lowered his voice.
“Name a number.”
Sarah looked at him.
Emily did not move.
Charles continued.
“Fifty million.”
Nothing.
“One hundred.”
Emily finally spoke.
“You think I’m negotiating.”
“I think everybody negotiates.”
Emily stepped closer.
“My mother spent the last six years of her life building that women’s health fund.”
Charles’s expression faltered.
“She created it because she remembered women sitting in hospital parking lots trying to decide whether they could afford treatment.”
Emily’s voice stayed quiet.
“You took money from that fund.”
“You put my name on it.”
“Then your son stood in the hallway while his mistress kicked me beneath a sign carrying my mother’s name.”
Charles said nothing.
“So no.”
Emily walked away.
Her phone rang before she reached the elevator.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Emily Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Marcus Hall.”
Emily glanced at Sarah.
“I worked in finance for Whitmore Medical Management until last month.”
Emily stopped walking.
“Why are you calling me?”
“Because I saw the news leak about yesterday.”
Emily’s expression changed.
“What news leak?”
Marcus ignored the question.
“I have copies of internal accounts.”
“What kind of accounts?”
“The ones your husband doesn’t think exist anymore.”
Emily’s pulse increased.
“Where are you?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then his voice dropped.
“Before I tell you that, you need to understand something.”
“What?”
“The four million dollars is not the real problem.”
Emily looked through the glass wall toward Preston’s former executive office.
May you like
Marcus continued.
“It’s closer to forty-three million.”
