Chapter 6 - The Boardroom Execution
On the twelfth floor of St. Matthew’s Hospital, the atmosphere inside the grand mahogany-paneled boardroom was tense.
Twelve men and women—the elite board of directors, chief financial officers, and senior department heads of the hospital—sat around a massive oval table. At the head of the table sat Dr. Arthur Vance, a silver-haired man in an expensive suit, looking thoroughly irritated.
"This is absurd!" Dr. Vance slammed his fist onto the table. "Who authorized an emergency board meeting at five o'clock on a Tuesday? I have a private dinner with the mayor in thirty minutes!"
"I authorized it, Arthur," a smooth, lethal voice spoke from the back of the room.
The heavy double doors of the boardroom swung open.
Lucas Hale walked inside. Behind him came Teddy Voss, accompanied by two tall men carrying heavy leather briefcases.
The members of the board looked up in confusion and annoyance.
"Who are you?" one of the female board members demanded. "This is an executive session! Security!"
"Security is currently being replaced by my private staff," Lucas said calmly, taking his seat at the opposite end of the long mahogany table. He rested his hands on the polished wood, his gray eyes scanning the twelve faces sitting before him. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lucas Hale."
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
These were wealthy, powerful people who moved in high society, but everyone in Ashford Bay knew the name Lucas Hale. They knew he controlled the shipping lines, the union contracts, the waterfront real estate—and the dark, hidden machinery of the city.
Dr. Vance’s face paled, but he quickly tried to regain his composure. "Mr. Hale... I don't know what business the waterfront syndicate has with a private medical facility, but I assure you—"
"As of three-thirty this afternoon," Lucas interrupted, popping open a leather binder handed to him by his assistant, "Vance Holdings LLC purchased sixty-four percent of the outstanding municipal bonds and private equity shares of St. Matthew’s Hospital."
Lucas looked up, a cold, terrifying smile touching his lips.
"Which means, Dr. Vance, that I own this hospital. I own your building, I own your equipment, I own your retirement funds—and I own your contracts."
The room descended into absolute chaos. Board members began shouting, scrambling for their phones, looking at each other in sheer panic.
"This is illegal!" Dr. Vance shouted, standing up, his hands shaking. "You can't just buy a non-profit medical institution!"
"It ceased being a non-profit the moment you started selling donor kidneys for three hundred thousand dollars cash," Lucas said quietly.
The boardroom went dead silent.
Dr. Vance froze, his eyes widening in horror. "What... what are you talking about?"
Lucas gestured to his assistant, who tossed twelve thick, wire-bound dossiers onto the table, sliding one in front of every board member.
"Those dossiers," Lucas explained smoothly, "contain six years of audited bank transfers from offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands registered under the names of Dr. Arthur Vance, Chief Billing Manager Mrs. Gable, and four senior members of this board."
Lucas leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.
"You systematically suppressed organ transplant profiles for low-income patients—including the children of your own staff members—to clear room for wealthy foreign buyers who paid under the table. You stole life insurance payouts from dying nurses. You falsified medical records to force families into bankruptcy."
"This... this is blackmail!" one board member stammered, sweating profusely through his silk shirt.
"No," Lucas corrected flatly. "Blackmail implies I want your money. I don't want your money. I have plenty of my own."
He stood up slowly, towering over the table like an executioner delivering a final verdict.
"Here are my terms," Lucas announced, his voice reverberating off the mahogany walls. "First, every person named in those dossiers will sign a full resignation and asset forfeiture agreement within the next ten minutes. All stolen funds will be transferred directly to a newly established charity foundation bearing the name of Marian Beckett."
Dr. Vance gritted his teeth, his face twisting in rage. "And if we refuse? We have lawyers! We have political connections!"
Lucas took a slow step toward Dr. Vance.
"If you refuse," Lucas whispered, his gray eyes burning with a dark, ancient fury, "the files will be delivered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Attorney General, and the local news stations in twenty minutes. By midnight, your assets will be frozen, your licenses revoked, and your names ruined forever."
Lucas paused, bending down until his face was inches from Dr. Vance’s ear.
"And if you somehow avoid prison," Lucas added softly, "you will have to deal with me on the waterfront. And I promise you, Arthur... the Gravedigger lives up to his name."
Dr. Vance fell back into his leather chair, his breathing ragged, his spirit completely broken. He reached for the pen resting on his dossier, his hands shaking so violently he could barely hold it.
May you like
One by one, the twelve board members picked up their pens and signed the papers.
Lucas watched them sign, his face emotionless, his hand resting securely over the silver paper crane in his vest pocket.
