Chapter 3 - We Are Past Stopping
Mark stroked the back of Diane’s hand.
His thumb moved gently.
Anyone watching through glass might have thought he loved her.
“Diane,” he whispered. “I know you can’t answer me, but I need you to cooperate when the doctor comes back.”
Diane kept her eyes closed.
Rachel stepped into the room.
“Mark, the board call starts in forty minutes.”
“I know.”
“If she wakes before then—”
“She won’t.”
Diane felt his hand tighten.
Then he leaned closer.
“You always made everything harder than it needed to be,” he whispered, almost tenderly. “All you had to do was let me help.”
Rachel’s voice shook.
“You said this wouldn’t hurt her.”
Mark turned.
“It didn’t.”
“She looks terrible.”
“She’s nauseated and sedated. That’s not hurt.”
Diane’s stomach twisted.
Sedated.
There it was.
Not enough to kill.
Not enough to leave obvious proof, Mark hoped.
Enough to blur her speech.
Delay her.
Make her appear unstable.
Make the board believe she needed temporary control transferred.
Enough for Mark to step in with concern.
Enough for Rachel to carry the folder.
Enough for tomorrow morning to become theirs.
Diane forced herself not to react.
Her pulse monitor betrayed her by climbing slightly.
Mark noticed.
He looked at the screen.
“Diane?”
She let out a faint breath, then relaxed again.
Rachel whispered, “Maybe we should stop.”
Mark’s voice hardened.
“We are past stopping.”
That sentence mattered.
Diane hoped the room’s audio caught it.
It did.
Mark did not know the corporate medical suite recorded during executive incidents. Diane had approved that policy herself after a senior partner once claimed a fainting analyst had “agreed” to return to work before she was fully conscious.
The room had cameras.
The corridor had cameras.
The medical tray had timestamps.
The IV changes had logs.
And now Robert had the phrase.
Execute the plan now.
Nine floors below, Robert Hale was already moving.
He did not call Mark.
He did not call Rachel.
He called board counsel.
Then the independent medical director.
Then building security.
Then the audit committee chair.
His email subject line was simple:
INCAPACITY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED — DO NOT ACCEPT SPOUSAL AUTHORITY DOCUMENTS.
By the time Mark adjusted his tie beside Diane’s bed, the company servers had locked him out of proxy systems.
May you like
By the time Rachel checked her folder again, every document inside had been copied to independent counsel.
By the time Mark whispered, “Everything will be ours,” it already wasn’t.
