The Gilded Boardroom
By 11:00 AM, the administrative machinery of St. Jude Memorial had shifted into full damage-control mode.
In the executive boardroom on the twelfth floor, Arthur Vance, Diane Sterling, and three senior executives from Apex BioPharma sat around a massive glass conference table.
"The situation is contained internally," Diane Sterling reported, reviewing her tablet. "Reyes is barred from the premises. We have initiated a secure server purge of all fourth-floor Pyxis records under the pretext of a system-wide software upgrade."
"What about the pregnant woman?" asked Julian Cross, the Chief Executive Officer of Apex BioPharma, who had flown in from New York on a private helicopter. "Hannah Cole. She's a former employee. Her non-disclosure agreement gives us immediate injunctive relief."
"Our legal team is filing an emergency restraining order in federal district court," Sterling replied. "If she speaks to the press or regulatory agencies, we seize all liquid assets belonging to her family."
"And the child? Maya Vance?" Cross asked coldly.
"Her mother is a destitute widow," Vance sneered. "We offered her a full, compassionate-use clinical scholarship covering all medical expenses, private home nursing, and a $250,000 hardship grant. She will sign the liability waiver by noon."
The boardroom door opened, and a junior administrative assistant stepped inside, looking terrified.
"Dr. Vance... Mrs. Vance is downstairs in the administrative lobby," the assistant whispered. "She refused to sign the grant documents. And... she brought someone with her."
"Who?" Vance barked.
"Assistant United States Attorney Claire Higgins," the assistant replied. "And six federal marshals."
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The color drained from Arthur Vance’s face. Julian Cross stood up so violently his leather executive chair crashed backward against the mahogany wall paneling.
"Get the shredding trucks to the research warehouse now," Cross hissed into his phone, but before he could finish the sentence, the heavy double doors of the boardroom swung open.
