Chapter 55
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The legal battle escalated rapidly the following morning. Helena, completely unaware that we possessed the photograph linking Jenkins to Caldwell, ordered her legal team to execute their most aggressive maneuver.
I was standing in the clinic's rehabilitation gym when my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was an urgent call from David.
"Maya, they filed the injunction early," David announced the moment I answered, his voice tight with professional urgency. "Harrison and Associates just petitioned the federal judge for an immediate, emergency freeze on all of Sovereign's operational accounts. They are arguing that the fake reviews and canceled insurance contracts indicate your business is failing, and they need to secure the ten million dollars before you declare bankruptcy."
"They caused the business to fail to justify the freeze," I realized, the sheer, toxic brilliance of Helena's strategy making my blood run cold. "When is the hearing?"
"Tomorrow morning at nine a.m.," David replied. "It's an emergency hearing in the judge's chambers. If the judge grants the freeze, your payroll accounts will be locked by noon. We have to present the photograph of Jenkins and Caldwell to the judge and argue that the lawsuit is a malicious, fraudulent attack orchestrated by OmniCare."
"Will the photograph be enough to stop the freeze?" I asked, pacing the empty hallway near my office.
"It proves a relationship, but Caldwell's lawyers will argue it's circumstantial," David warned. "They will claim it's just a coincidence that Jenkins knew Caldwell. To completely bury this injunction and trigger a federal fraud investigation, we need direct evidence that Jenkins is faking his paralysis right now. We need the private investigator to deliver."
"He has until tomorrow morning," I said firmly.
I hung up the phone and walked back into the gym. Sarah was watching me with wide, concerned eyes.
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"Are we going to be okay, Maya?" Sarah asked softly.
"We are going to be fine," I promised her, projecting an aura of absolute sovereignty I was desperately trying to maintain. "OmniCare thinks they have us cornered. But tomorrow, we are going to show the judge exactly what kind of monsters they really are."
