Chapter 5 - The Legal Line
Elliott recognized the number too.
"That line was disconnected last year."
Rachel placed Alicia's screenshot beside the foundation phone records.
"It was assigned to outside counsel before disconnection."
"Which outside counsel?"
Nobody needed to ask.
Corinne Blake.
Elliott paced his study.
"If she threatened Alicia from a foundation number--"
"We do not know she did," Rachel cut in. "We know her firm had access to the line. That is evidence, not a conclusion."
She was learning how easily outrage could outrun proof.
The door opened.
"The board is meeting tonight."
Elliott stopped.
"About what?"
"About suspending your authority over the foundation until this is resolved."
"Because Leah reported a hospital issue?"
"Because confidential records are sitting in your house."
Rachel said, "They are being preserved for regulators."
Evelyn looked at her.
"And every donor knows it?"
"Donors are not my clients."
"Exactly."
Leah stood.
"This is not about donor discomfort."
Evelyn turned on her.
"You think I do not care what happened to Alicia Moreno?"
"I think you care about the Sutton name first."
The older woman went quiet.
That silence hurt more than an argument.
Later that afternoon, Leah opened her own maternity portal to print a list of medications for a new obstetrician.
A gold banner appeared above her name.
CROWN ACCESS - GUARANTEED.
She stared at it.
"Elliott."
He came over.
His face changed.
"I never asked for that."
"Neither did I."
Leah clicked the account history.
The flag had been added five months earlier.
Authorized by ADMIN LEGAL OVERRIDE.
She felt sick.
"They put me in the same system."
Elliott shook his head.
"We will have it removed."
"No. First we document it."
Rachel photographed the screen and called the regulator.
Ten minutes later, the banner vanished.
So did the account history.
"They are deleting evidence," Leah said.
Rachel's phone buzzed.
A new email.
No sender name. No subject.
One attachment.
It was a photograph of Leah standing beside the glass balcony that morning.
Corinne was behind her.
The image had been taken from inside the Sutton house.
May you like
Across the bottom, someone had typed:
YOU SHOULD HAVE SIGNED.
