Chapter 2 - The Hospital
I stared at the glowing screen of my phone.
My father had collapsed.
Despite the blinding fury I felt toward Arthur Callahan, an instinctual, primal panic flared in my chest.
He was still my father.
I grabbed my keys and sprinted out of my office, ignoring Daniel’s confused shout as I passed his desk.
The drive from Austin to Dallas usually took three hours. I made it in two and a half, gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles ached.
When I burst through the sliding doors of the Dallas Memorial emergency room, I expected chaos. I expected to find Vanessa weeping in the waiting area and Ryan pacing the floors.
Instead, the waiting room was entirely empty, save for a few exhausted strangers staring at a muted television.
I rushed to the front desk.
“I’m looking for Arthur Callahan,” I told the triage nurse, trying to keep my voice steady. “He was brought in by ambulance.”
The nurse typed his name into the computer.
She frowned.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we have no record of an Arthur Callahan being admitted today.”
I froze.
“Are you sure?” I demanded.
“My stepmother texted me. She said he collapsed at the office.”
The nurse turned her screen slightly to show me the empty admission logs.
“I’m positive.”
Confusion immediately morphed into a deep, sickening dread.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Vanessa’s number.
It went straight to voicemail.
I dialed Ryan.
Voicemail.
I stood in the sterile hospital lobby, realizing I had been played.
Vanessa had manufactured a medical emergency to lure me back to Dallas.
But why?
The answer hit me like a physical blow.
While I was driving three hours away from my company headquarters, distracted and panicked, they were making a move.
I dialed Daniel Brooks immediately.
He answered on the second ring, sounding completely frantic.
“Emily!” Daniel practically shouted into the receiver.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in Dallas,” I said, my voice dropping to a harsh whisper. “My father isn't at the hospital.”
“It was a lie.”
“I know it was a lie!” Daniel yelled over the background noise of the Hartwell office.
“Because Arthur Callahan is standing in our lobby right now.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He just walked in with Ryan and a team of corporate lawyers,” Daniel explained, his voice shaking.
“He is holding a court order demanding an immediate audit of our servers.”
I felt the floor drop out from beneath me.
“How did he get a court order?” I demanded.
“He claims Hartwell Supply Chain Solutions committed corporate espionage against Callahan Freight,” Daniel stammered.
“He told the judge that our proprietary routing algorithm was stolen directly from his internal servers.”
Arthur had figured it out.
He knew I owned the company, and instead of admitting his daughter had outsmarted him, he was trying to legally seize my entire life’s work.
“Do not let them touch the servers, Daniel,” I ordered.
“I’m coming back right now.”
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“It’s too late, Emily,” Daniel whispered, sounding utterly defeated.
“They already have the physical hard drives.”
