Chapter 4 - The Tectonic Collapse of Hartwell Development
Back in Boston, forty-eight hours after the winter gala, Richard Hartwell was facing the worst corporate nightmare of his thirty-year career.
He sat behind his massive mahogany desk on the fiftieth floor of Hartwell Tower, staring blankly at his computer screen in sheer horror.
The headline flashing across every major financial news network and legal wire read:
HARTWELL DEVELOPMENT FACES FEDERAL INVESTIGATION; BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY CALLS FOR EMERGENCY OUSTER OF CEO RICHARD HARTWELL AMID MEDICAL FRAUD AND SUPPRESSION ALLEGATIONS.
The office doors suddenly flew open without a knock.
Mark Sterling, Richard’s chief legal counsel and prospective son-in-law, rushed into the office, his suit jacket rumpled, his face pale with panic.
“Richard! We are completely underwater!” Mark shouted, slamming a stack of emergency injunction notices onto the desk. “The SEC has frozen our secondary asset accounts! The federal prosecutor's office just subpoenaed all internal records regarding Project Genesis! And the media is swarming the lobby asking about Olivia!”
Richard rubbed his temples, feeling a sharp, burning pain erupting behind his eyes. “Where is Olivia? Have you tracked her phone?”
“Her phone is switched off,” Mark gasped, his voice cracking. “And worse... our corporate spy in Maine reports that she’s currently inside Evan Cole’s abandoned laboratory facility. Richard, if she connects with him and he releases the suppressed clinical data to the press, we’re facing criminal fraud indictments and multi-billion-dollar civil lawsuits!”
Before Richard could answer, the heavy oak doors of his executive suite swung open wide once more.
Two armed federal marshals, flanked by an independent state prosecutor, stepped uninvited into the room.
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“Mr. Richard Hartwell?” the lead marshal announced formally, holding up an official arrest warrant bearing a federal seal. “You are formally under arrest for corporate fraud, suppression of life-saving medical data, and civil rights violations. You have the right to remain silent.”
Richard stared at the shiny steel handcuffs dangling from the agent's hand, feeling the multi-billion-dollar empire he had built on lies crumble into absolute dust around him in a matter of seconds.
