page.
The order requested temporary medical authority over Lena’s unborn child if Lena became incapacitated.
It described her as emotionally unstable, transient, and financially dependent.
Attached to it was a statement signed by Henderson.
Adrian tore the order down the middle.
Then he tore it again.
“This has not been filed,” Henderson said quickly.
“It was only prepared as a precaution.”
“A precaution against what?” Adrian asked.
Henderson said nothing.
Adrian looked at the two security officers.
“Escort my mother and Mr.
Henderson from the floor.
Freeze their building credentials and notify general counsel that no instruction from the family office is to be followed without my personal authorization.”
Evelyn gave a quiet laugh.
“You cannot freeze the person who still controls your board.”
Adrian handed the torn order to his security chief.
“Then call an emergency board meeting.”
Evelyn stepped closer to him.
“You are about to destroy this company over a woman who hid your child from you.”
Lena flinched.
Adrian noticed.
His anger did not disappear, but its direction changed.
“She hid because you threatened to take the baby.”
“And you believe her?”
Adrian lifted the paternity report.
“I believe documents.
I believe call records.
I believe your own voice.
Most of all, I believe that every time I asked where my wife was, you gave me a different answer.”
Evelyn’s expression sharpened.
“Be careful, Adrian.
You are emotional.”
“No,” he said.
“I was emotional when I signed a divorce petition without forcing my wife to stand in front of me and tell me she wanted to leave.
This is what I look like after I understand what that mistake cost.”
The paramedics transferred Lena onto the stretcher.
She gripped the rail while pain rolled through her in waves.
Adrian walked beside her toward the elevator.
“You are not coming,” she whispered.
He stopped.
For a moment, she saw the instinctive refusal in his face.
Adrian was accustomed to doors opening, plans changing, and people moving when he spoke.
Then he stepped back.
“Do you want me to call someone?”
Lena thought of the rented room she had prepared for the baby.
She thought of her elderly landlady, who had promised to drive her to the hospital when labor began.
She thought of how carefully she had built a life in which no Whitmore could reach her.
But labor had started early, her hospital bag was miles away, and the only person who knew the full danger was standing beside her.
“You can follow the ambulance,” she said.
“You do not ride with me.”
Adrian nodded once.
He obeyed.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed that Lena was in premature labor.
The baby’s heartbeat was strong, but her blood pressure had risen dangerously.
Nurses moved quickly around her, attaching monitors and asking questions while Adrian waited outside the room.
He could have demanded entry.
His family had donated an entire wing to the hospital.
Instead, he stayed behind the closed door until a nurse came out.
“She asked for her bag,” the nurse said.
“It is at her apartment.”
“Can someone retrieve it?”
Adrian called his driver, then stopped before giving the address.
He did not know where Lena lived.
The realization struck him harder than any accusation.
His wife had spent eight months carrying his child, and
