Chapter 6 - The Matriarch’s Counter-Attack
The arrest of Mrs. Ashcroft made national headlines by morning. “SHADOWS OF ASHCROFT MANOR: OIL HEIRESS IMPRISONED DAUGHTER-IN-LAW FOR TWO YEARS,” screamed the digital banner of every major news network.
Stock prices for Ashcroft Industries plummeted forty percent within the first hour of trading as investors panicked over the impending corporate restructuring and criminal indictments.
Yet, true to her formidable nature, the matriarch did not go down quietly.
From her holding cell at the county detention center, operating through her high-priced legal team, she launched a devastating counter-offensive. She didn't deny keeping Evelyn in the west wing; instead, she released a sealed psychiatric evaluation dating back to the week before Evelyn's "death"—a document bearing the signature of three certified physicians stating that Evelyn Ashcroft suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and had attempted to harm infant Theo during a psychotic break.
By noon, the public narrative began to shift. Sensationalist tabloids ran pieces questioning whether Victor Ashcroft was exposing his family to danger just to spite his mother.
Victor sat at his executive desk on the top floor of the Ashcroft Tower downtown, staring at the flashing red alerts on his computer screen while his phone buzzed incessantly with calls from board members, journalists, and panicked shareholders.
The intercom on his desk buzzed sharply.
"Mr. Ashcroft," his executive assistant’s voice trembled slightly. "You have an unscheduled visitor in the lobby. She... she insists on seeing you immediately. She says she was a nurse at the clinic where Mrs. Ashcroft was originally taken."
Victor’s head snapped up. "Send her up. Now."
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Three minutes later, the heavy mahogany doors of his office swung open. Standing in the doorway was an elderly woman in a worn gray coat, clutching a battered leather handbag against her chest. Her eyes were sharp, weathered, and filled with a fierce, nervous energy.
"Mr. Ashcroft," she said, closing the door behind her and locking it with a firm click. "My name is Martha Higgins. I was the head night nurse at the St. Jude Medical Facility two years ago. And I’m the one who helped your mother smuggle your wife out of the building through the loading dock."
