Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR
News of Lauren’s cooperation reached Derek before prosecutors could seal the court filing.
He responded with another public attack.
His attorneys released selected excerpts from Madison’s therapy records.
The records came from counseling she received after Claire’s death.
They described panic attacks, insomnia, and survivor’s guilt.
Headlines called Madison fragile.
Unstable.
Delusional.
The release was illegal.
It also came from a confidential database controlled by Vale Women’s Health.
Derek had violated patient privacy to shame her.
Madison sat in Naomi’s office staring at the television.
“I told that therapist I wished I had asked more questions before Mom died.”
Naomi turned off the screen.
“There is no shame in grief.”
“He is making it sound like I imagined everything.”
“He is doing what abusers do when evidence appears. He is putting the victim on trial.”
Madison looked at herself in the dark television screen.
She saw the bandage beneath her sweater.
The bruises fading along her arm.
The fear still living behind her eyes.
For years, Derek had called her sensitive whenever she challenged him.
He dismissed her anger as instability.
He described cruelty as teasing.
He blamed her when she avoided family events.
Now he was using her grief as proof that she could not recognize reality.
“What if the board believes him?” she asked.
Naomi placed Claire’s old medical badge on the desk.
“I believed Derek once because he had authority. I will not make that mistake again.”
The privacy breach created a federal investigation.
Digital records traced the access directly to Derek’s personal device.
He had violated the court’s restriction against entering company systems.
A judge revoked his release.
Police arrested him at Robert’s mansion.
Derek shouted that the company belonged to his family.
Robert watched from his wheelchair as officers placed his son in handcuffs.
For the first time since the stroke, Robert’s speech became clear enough for everyone to understand.
“No… longer.”
Derek looked at him.
“Dad, you don’t understand.”
Robert lifted his left hand and pointed toward Madison, who stood beside Samantha near the doorway.
“She… does.”
Derek’s face hardened.
“You’re giving everything to her?”
Robert’s voice came slowly.
“You… took… everything.”
Police led Derek away.
Madison knelt beside Robert.
He touched her bandaged abdomen with shaking fingers, careful not to cause pain.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“Didn’t… see.”
Madison held his hand.
“Neither did I.”
Robert shook his head.
“Claire… did.”
He directed Madison toward his communication tablet.
A draft message had been saved for months.
It contained the name of a private investigator Claire hired shortly before she died.
The investigator had disappeared after delivering one report.
His name was Samuel Finch.
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👉 Claire had not relied only on internal records—she had hired someone to follow Meridian’s money beyond Derek and into a second network of victims.
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