Chapter 3 - THE FIRST TEST RESULT
By the second afternoon, Alexander's condition had stabilized enough for a longer conversation.
Sophie sat in a chair near the window.
He watched her with the same unsettling attention he had given her in the library.
“You should go home,” he said.
“Probably.”
“You haven't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Sophie considered the question.
“Because someone accused me of stealing a medication case.”
Alexander's expression sharpened.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
He reached for his phone.
His hand trembled.
Sophie waited.
She did not take it from him.
Eventually he managed to unlock the screen.
“Call my attorney,” he said.
“Which one?”
“Not the company attorney. My personal attorney. Miriam Cole.”
Miriam arrived two hours later.
She was a compact woman in her fifties with silver-framed glasses and a voice that made people stop interrupting.
Alexander told her everything.
The symptoms.
Richard's insistence that he sign documents.
The forbidden west wing.
The emergency.
The allegation against Sophie.
Miriam listened without taking her eyes off him.
Then she asked, “When did you last personally review your medical records?”
Alexander frowned.
“Months ago.”
“Your bank accounts?”
“Richard handles most of the operating accounts.”
“Your voting rights?”
Alexander hesitated.
Miriam's expression changed.
“Alexander.”
He looked away.
“I've been too sick.”
Miriam opened her briefcase.
“Six weeks ago, your board received a physician's statement asserting that your condition might soon prevent you from managing your affairs.”
Alexander stared.
“What statement?”
“One bearing the signature of Dr. Malcolm Voss.”
Alexander swallowed.
“My doctor.”
Miriam nodded.
“The statement was attached to a proposal granting Richard expanded authority if you became incapacitated.”
Sophie felt a chill.
Alexander looked toward the hospital door.
“He's been asking me to sign something.”
“Yes,” Miriam said. “And now I think I know what.”
That evening, Dr. Ortiz returned with a toxicology specialist.
Some preliminary results had raised concern about exposure to a substance capable of affecting multiple organ systems.
The doctors emphasized that additional testing was necessary to identify the substance, assess the extent of exposure, and determine whether it was accidental or deliberate.
Alexander listened without speaking.
Finally he asked, “Is this why my hands are numb?”
“It may be contributing,” the specialist replied. “We need to understand the complete picture.”
“Can I recover?”
The doctor paused.
“Some effects may improve. Others can take time, and we can't promise full recovery yet.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Sophie saw the fear move across his face.
He had been preparing himself to die.
He had not been prepared to learn that someone might have helped him toward it.
After the doctors left, Alexander asked Sophie to stay.
“I need to tell you something.”
She sat down.
“Okay.”
“Three months ago, I started finding gaps in my memory.”
Sophie listened.
“I would wake up exhausted. I'd lose track of conversations. Sometimes I'd discover I'd agreed to meetings I couldn't remember.”
He swallowed.
“Richard said it was the disease.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
“Why?”
Alexander looked at her.
“Because the alternative was that I was losing my mind.”
Sophie felt her chest tighten.
He continued.
“Last month, I found a bruise on my wrist. Dr. Voss told me I'd needed an intravenous treatment during an episode.”
Sophie remembered the scar.
“Were you awake?”
“I don't remember.”
A knock interrupted them.
Miriam entered carrying a sealed envelope.
Her face was pale.
“Alexander, I obtained the most recent draft of the document Richard wants you to sign.”
She placed it on the bed.
Alexander opened it slowly.
The first page contained a proposed transfer of controlling voting authority.
The second named Richard as permanent executive chairman.
The third contained a provision concerning the Whitmore Family Trust.
Alexander stared at the final paragraph.
Then looked up.
“If I die before the transfer is challenged…”
Miriam finished quietly.
“Richard retains control of the trust's principal business interests.”
Sophie watched Alexander's expression collapse.
May you like
His uncle had not merely been waiting for him to become helpless.
He had been preparing to profit from it.
