Chapter 12 - THE BOARDROOM
The Walker boardroom had never been quiet when Adrian entered.
That morning, it was silent.
Twelve directors sat around the long glass table.
Harrison Pike stood at the far end.
Martin Shaw was beside him.
Uninjured.
Adrian's hands curled into fists.
"We are here because Mr. Walker has suffered an understandable breakdown."
Adrian took his seat.
"You forged my wife's medical directive."
"You see?"
He spread his hands.
"Paranoia."
Victoria entered last.
Pike smiled.
"Victoria, perhaps you can explain your son's condition."
Then at Gabriel.
"My son is not unstable."
Pike's smile disappeared.
Victoria placed Charles's medical refusal record on the table.
"I was manipulated."
"I signed a decision based on a forged directive presented by Harrison Pike."
The room erupted.
Pike snapped, "Careful."
Victoria looked at him.
"I have spent my life being careful."
She pulled out an old ledger copy.
"That is why men like you stayed powerful."
Adrian watched his mother destroy the alliance that had protected her for years.
"Convenient."
"And the mysterious man beside them?"
Gabriel stepped forward.
"Gabriel Walker."
"There is no Gabriel Walker."
Gabriel placed the DNA report on the table.
"There is now."
The board meeting collapsed into shouting.
Then Shaw moved.
Emma screamed.
Adrian crossed the room before anyone else reacted.
"Back up!"
Noah began crying.
"Daddy!"
Pike backed toward the private elevator.
"Bring the boy."
The board vote had been a distraction.
Shaw dragged Noah toward the elevator.
She threw a glass water pitcher at Shaw's hand.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Adrian caught Noah before he hit the floor.
Pike escaped into the elevator alone.
As the doors closed, he smiled at Victoria.
"You should have let Celeste die quietly."
Victoria went completely white.
Because the elevator was going down.
May you like
Not to the lobby.
To the Walker archive beneath the building.
