Chapter 7 - The Empire Trembles
While I spent my days in the pediatric wing of Mercy General, my corporate empire back downtown was facing its own violent storm.
Evelyn wasn't going down quietly.
Using her connections within the high-society philanthropic circles and a faction of disgruntled board members she had secretly cultivated over the years, Evelyn launched a coordinated media smear campaign. Anonymous leaks hit the financial news networks claiming that Lucas Carter was suffering a mental breakdown, abandoning his corporate duties for a fabricated family scandal, and acting unfit to lead Carter Global Enterprises.
On Wednesday morning, my phone buzzed incessantly while I sat beside Lily’s hospital bed.
It was Marcus, my head of security and chief of staff.
“Boss, you need to see Bloomberg and CNBC right now,” Marcus said, his voice tense over the encrypted line. “Evelyn’s allies on the board are trying to push an emergency vote to strip you of your CEO title and freeze executive voting rights under the morality clause.”
I looked over at Lily, who was fast asleep, clutching a stuffed bear I had bought her the day before. Natalie was sitting nearby, reading a book, sensing the tension in my posture.
“Call an emergency board meeting for Thursday morning at 9:00 AM sharp,” I instructed calmly, my voice dropping into the cold, ruthless tone I used for hostile takeovers.
“Sir, you’re at the hospital—”
“I said 9:00 AM, Marcus,” I interrupted. “Tell the board members that if they dial in remotely, they better make sure their cameras are on. Because I’m going to personally dismantle every single rat who decided to dance on my grave while my daughter was fighting for her life.”
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Natalie looked up from her book, her eyes full of concern. “Is it the company?”
“Evelyn is trying to launch a coup while I’m distracted,” I said, standing up and buttoning my suit jacket. “She thinks I’m weak because I’m a father now. She’s about to find out why they call me a shark.”
