Chapter 6 - The Dragon's Wrath
Victoria Drake swept into the VIP corridor wearing a tailored cream cashmere coat, her silver hair styled in a flawless chignon, her pearl necklace gleaming under the fluorescent lights. Two hospital administrators were trailing behind her, looking utterly terrified.
"Griffin!" Victoria barked as her son stepped out into the hallway, slamming the heavy wooden door of Sloan’s ICU room shut behind him. "What is the meaning of this spectacle? The press is calling my estate! They are saying you dragged emergency services to some low-class neighborhood in Fremont for a—"
"Marcus," Griffin cut in, his voice shockingly quiet.
Marcus Vance stepped forward immediately. "Yes, Boss?"
"Revoke my mother’s security clearance for all Drake properties, effective immediately," Griffin commanded, staring down at Victoria with eyes that looked like frozen steel. "Freeze her corporate expense accounts, terminate her access to the private jet fleet, and instruct the legal department to initiate an internal audit of her charitable foundation."
Victoria’s aristocratic face flushed a violent red. "Have you lost your mind?! I am your mother!"
"You are a criminal," Griffin spat, stepping into her personal space. He loomed over her, six feet two inches of pure, concentrated fury. "Ten years ago, you committed corporate espionage, wire fraud, and extortion against Sloan Callaway and her family. You spliced audio recordings. You bribed private investigators."
Victoria’s breath hitched. A flicker of genuine panic crossed her aged eyes. "Griffin... she lied to you! She was a nobody! She was trying to trap you—"
"She was carrying my twin daughters!" Griffin screamed, his voice exploding through the quiet ICU wing like a thunderclap.
The hospital administrators gasped, covering their mouths. Marcus didn't even blink.
Victoria stumbled back a step, clutching her pearl necklace. "What... what did you say?"
"Eight years ago, Sloan gave birth to twin girls," Griffin hissed, his face inches from his mother’s pale, trembling face. "My daughters. The heirs to the Drake empire. And because of your sick, twisted, pathetic need for control, I missed their first smiles. I missed their first steps. I missed eight years of their lives while their mother worked three jobs to put food on their table!"
"Griffin... I didn't know..." Victoria stammered, her regal composure completely collapsing. "I didn't know she was pregnant!"
"You didn't care!" Griffin roared. "You destroyed my life! You destroyed her life! And today, Victoria, your time in my world is over."
He turned to Marcus. "Call the board of directors. Schedule an emergency meeting for 8:00 AM. I am removing Victoria Drake from the Board of Trustees, and I am turning over the documentation of her extortion to the State Attorney General."
"Griffin, you can't do this to your own mother!" Victoria shrieked, tears of rage springing to her eyes as two security guards stepped up on either side of her.
"I can," Griffin said, his voice dropping back into a terrifyingly calm whisper. "And if you ever come within five hundred yards of Sloan, Hazel, or Iris again, I won't just ruin you financially. I will put you in a federal prison. Escort her out."
The security guards gripped Victoria’s elbows, turning her around and marching her down the hallway despite her furious screams.
Griffin stood alone in the quiet corridor, his chest heaving, his hands trembling. He pulled his phone from his pocket, opened his contacts, and dialed his personal attorney.
May you like
"Arthur," Griffin said into the receiver, his voice cold and unwavering. "I need you to draw up papers immediately. I am establishing a fifty-million-dollar trust fund for Hazel and Iris Callaway. And I need a deed of transfer for the penthouse on First Avenue."
He hung up, turned around, and opened the door back into the quiet ICU room.
