Chapter 6 - The Boardroom Execution
By 9:00 AM the next morning, the Bennett corporate empire was in absolute freefall.
Lucas hadn't just released the recording of the fake nurse. Over the past twenty-four hours, he and Marcus had compiled every shred of evidence—the forged documents, the wire transfers, the medical records—and handed it directly to a federal prosecutor who had been trying to nail Richard Bennett for corporate embezzlement for years.
The story hit the front pages of every major news outlet. BILLIONAIRE MATRIARCH ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER IN TWISTED HEIR PLOT.
Margaret and Richard had called an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors at the Bennett Tower downtown, desperately trying to initiate damage control. They planned to claim Lucas was having a mental breakdown and that the evidence was fabricated.
Lucas walked into the glass-walled boardroom just as Richard was sweating through his presentation.
“Lucas! You have no right to be here! You’ve been suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation!” Richard shouted, pointing a trembling finger at him.
The board members, a dozen wealthy, powerful men and women, looked between Lucas and Richard in stunned silence.
“I’m still the majority shareholder,” Lucas said, taking his seat at the head of the table. He looked at Margaret, who sat rigidly in her chair, her face a mask of furious humiliation.
“This is a farce,” Margaret hissed. “The board will not believe these ridiculous accusations. We are Bennetts.”
“You were Bennetts,” Lucas corrected.
The glass doors of the boardroom opened again. This time, it wasn't Marcus. It was four federal agents in dark windbreakers.
“Margaret Bennett and Richard Bennett,” the lead agent said, holding up a warrant. “You are both under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, wire fraud, and forgery.”
“You can't do this!” Richard shrieked, backing away from the table as two agents grabbed his arms, slapping handcuffs on his wrists.
Margaret stood up, attempting to maintain her dignity, but her hands were shaking violently. As an agent read her rights and placed the cold steel around her wrists, she glared at Lucas with pure, unfiltered hatred.
“You are destroying your own family,” she spat.
“No,” Lucas said, his voice echoing in the dead-silent boardroom. “I’m protecting it. I’m protecting my wife. And I’m protecting my child. You are just the rot I had to cut out to save the tree.”
He watched without a single ounce of pity as his mother and cousin were paraded out of the boardroom in handcuffs, their reign of terror permanently ended in front of the entire corporate world.
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Lucas stood up, buttoned his jacket, and walked out. He had a family to get back to.
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