Chapter 13 - The Chairman’s Compromise
Dr. Arthur Whitaker was standing by the panoramic window of the executive lounge, a cup of black coffee steaming in his hand.
When I slammed the red accordion folder onto the marble table between us, he didn't flinch.
"I gave you that department, Emma," he said quietly, without turning around.
"You gave me a minefield, Arthur," I replied, my voice shaking with cold fury.
"Why is your signature on a secret Phase Zero trial dated three weeks before my mother died?"
He turned slowly, his face aged by ten years since the afternoon we exposed Daniel in front of the board.
"Your mother was dying, Emma."
"Don't you dare use her illness as a shield for your fraud."
"She needed clinical access that the FDA wouldn't grant," Arthur whispered, taking a weary step forward.
"Vancorp offered to fund her compassionate-use immunotherapy on one condition: they wanted unconditional rights to her valve prototype."
"And Daniel?" I demanded, the puzzle pieces clicking together into an ugly, suffocating picture.
"Daniel was the contact," Arthur admitted, closing his eyes in defeat.
"He brought Vancorp to the table."
"He promised me he could synthesize the delivery mechanism without compromising your mother’s intellectual property."
"He lied to you!" I shouted, the sound echoing through the empty marble boardroom.
"He stole her notebooks, he faked the clinical viability tests, and then he used your fear of a board scandal to secure his fellowship!"
"I know what he did, Emma," Arthur said, his voice breaking.
"And I thought that when we stripped him of his license, the nightmare was over."
"It’s not over," I said, throwing the federal summons on top of the Chimera file.
"They’re suing me for forty-two million dollars, Arthur."
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"And if Vancorp wins, they don't just own my career."
"They own every single medical patent my family ever created."
