Chapter 7 - VICTOR'S COUNTERATTACK
Victor did not fold.
He hired David Rosen, a brutal white-collar litigator.
Their defense was simple.
Margaret was mentally unstable.
Victor believed he was protecting her.
The proxy documents were prepared by professionals.
Any irregularities were administrative.
Ethan was exploiting his mother’s condition to regain corporate power.
Then Victor released photographs.
More than the hospital envelope.
Hundreds.
Margaret sleeping outside.
Talking to herself.
Refusing shelter beds.
Arguing with outreach workers.
The implication was obvious.
Look at her.
Ethan nearly exploded.
Margaret surprised him.
She watched the press coverage once.
Then said:
“Let them.”
Ethan stared.
“Mom.”
“They want me to be ashamed of surviving badly.”
Her voice shook.
“I’m not.”
That sentence became the emotional center of the case.
Being homeless did not prove incapacity.
Fear did not prove delusion.
Trauma did not make every accusation false.
The defense needed medical evidence.
Independent geriatric psychiatry found Margaret competent.
Depressed.
Traumatized.
Anxious.
Not psychotic.
Not cognitively impaired.
Then Denise Parker—the caregiver—came forward.
Victor’s team called her a disgruntled employee.
She brought receipts.
Texts.
Payment schedules.
Instructions from Owen Grant.
One message:
No direct calls. Mrs. Hale is not to contact either son.
Another:
If she asks about Ethan, redirect. Family says contact worsens symptoms.
Family.
Which family member wrote the instruction?
May you like
Owen testified:
“Mr. Victor Hale.”
