Chapter 8 - Nathan’s Vote
Nathan Ellis was Michael and Victoria’s maternal uncle.
He had served on Ellison Biomed’s board for eighteen years.
He was also one of the people Laura trusted most at family dinners.
That trust disappeared in one afternoon.
Nathan denied accessing the hospital portal.
The family-office network logs placed his laptop there.
He called it coincidence.
Owen found the device certificate.
Same laptop.
Nathan’s lawyer ended questions.
The board suspended him pending investigation.
Victoria lost her closest ally.
Then Nathan’s personal banking records revealed motive.
Argon Peak had paid a consulting company controlled by him $2.3 million over four years.
No clear work product.
Laura stared.
“Everyone is being paid.”
Owen nodded.
“Not everyone. Just enough people.”
That distinction chilled her.
The conspiracy was not giant.
It did not need to be.
Victoria.
Nathan.
Possibly Dr. Rowe.
Corporate counsel’s involvement remained unclear.
And Argon.
The money trail showed Victoria’s private debt drove everything.
But Laura still did not understand why Victoria had borrowed $12 million initially.
Michael knew.
Their father had hidden it.
Nine years earlier, Victoria launched a chain of luxury outpatient surgery centers through a personal investment vehicle.
She believed Ellison Biomed would eventually acquire them.
Jonathan refused.
The clinics failed.
Victoria owed lenders $19 million.
Argon refinanced twelve.
Jonathan guaranteed six.
Victoria personally covered one.
“She almost bankrupted herself trying to prove Dad wrong,” Michael said.
Laura looked through the glass.
“And Dad rescued her.”
“Yes.”
“Then hid it from you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Michael laughed quietly.
“Because Ellisons protect each other.”
“That sentence needs to die.”
“Yes.”
Jonathan had written a private letter after the rescue.
Michael read it for the first time.
Victoria is brilliant when she is not afraid. When she is afraid, she treats control as oxygen.
Laura understood.
Victoria’s debt was not merely money.
It represented the failure Jonathan never let her forget.
Argon knew it.
They offered refinance after refinance.
Each one tightened their grip.
Victoria began helping them gain influence over Ellison transactions.
At first small.
Vendor introductions.
Consulting agreements.
Then Northlight.
Then the surgical-imaging option.
Laura almost felt pity.
Then she remembered Victoria’s hand in her hair.
The slap.
The attempt to use Ben.
Pity was not absolution.
At family court, Victoria filed an emergency petition claiming Laura had created “instability” around Ben by involving him in Michael’s corporate dispute.
Leah Morgan, Laura’s family lawyer, responded with the hospital incident report.
Security footage showed Victoria assaulting Laura while Laura held Ben.
The judge denied emergency relief.
But ordered both women not to discuss litigation in Ben’s presence.
Fair.
Laura accepted it.
Victoria looked shocked.
She had assumed wealth would make her argument stronger.
The judge did not care.
Afterward Victoria cornered Laura in the courthouse hallway.
“You think you’re winning.”
Laura looked at her.
“No.”
“That’s wise.”
“You think this is a game.”
“It is a business.”
“My son is not business.”
Victoria’s eyes flicked.
“He inherits forty-four percent if Michael dies.”
Laura’s blood went cold.
“Do not talk about my husband dying.”
“I’m talking about estate reality.”
“Then say it to a lawyer.”
Victoria leaned closer.
“You married into a family where children are ownership events.”
Laura stared at her.
“That’s what you believe.”
“That’s what the documents say.”
“No.”
Laura stepped back.
“Documents say what people wrote. They don’t tell you what a child is.”
Victoria laughed softly.
“You still think love exists outside money.”
“No.”
Laura thought of Michael’s hidden company.
His secret payments.
“I think love gets corrupted when people refuse to tell the truth about money.”
Victoria’s smile vanished.
That evening Michael’s condition improved enough for transfer out of isolation the next day.
Ben would finally be able to hug him.
Laura told him.
Michael cried.
Then Aaron brought bad news.
Argon Peak had exercised a contractual notice claiming Ellison Biomed owed it $31 million under Northlight-linked guarantees.
Michael stared.
“Thirty-one?”
Aaron nodded.
“Victoria signed.”
“On behalf of the company?”
“Yes.”
“She didn’t have authority.”
“Argon says she did under a 2020 delegation.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“Did I sign that too?”
Aaron did not answer immediately.
Laura felt dread.
Then he slid the document forward.
May you like
Michael’s signature appeared at the bottom.
Again.
