“I’m sorry it took me so long,” he murmured. “The guards kept stopping me.”
Charles frowned. How did he know about the security fence?
Dr. Pierce stepped forward. “Don’t touch her—”
Charles raised a hand. “Let him.”
Mason squeezed Olivia’s hand and closed his eyes.
“Liv,” he whispered—a nickname Charles had never heard. “It’s me. I kept my promise.”
The heart monitor remained steady.
“This is enough,” the doctor muttered.
Mason leaned closer. “You don’t have to hide anymore. Remember the oak tree.”
Suddenly, the monitor spiked.
Charles stared. “What’s happening?”
Dr. Pierce faltered. “Her brain activity—it’s increasing.”
“Wake up, Liv!” Mason cried. “I won’t let him lock you away again!”
Olivia’s fingers curled tightly around his.
Her eyelids fluttered.
She opened her eyes.
“You came…” she whispered.
“I promised.”
Charles collapsed over the bed, sobbing. “Olivia!”
She looked at her father, then pointed weakly toward the doctor.
“He gave me the blue pills,” she said hoarsely. “Said they were vitamins. Then everything went dark.”
Silence filled the room.
Dr. Pierce paled. “She’s confused—post-coma trauma—”
“She’s telling the truth,” Mason interrupted. “I saw you from the tree outside her window. I tried to tell someone, but no one listens to kids like me.”
In an instant, Charles understood. The unexplained treatments. The endless fees. His daughter had been drugged—kept ill for profit.
“Security,” Charles said calmly into the intercom. “Call the police. Attempted homicide.”
Dr. Pierce tried to flee, but Charles blocked him.
Later, after the doctor was taken away, Olivia asked to explain.
She and Mason had met through a gap in the fence near an old oak tree. She had been lonely; he scavenged nearby. She passed him sandwiches. He told her stories. They became friends.
“The day he caught us talking,” Olivia said softly, “he got angry. Said you’d never allow it. He gave me pills to ‘calm me down.’”
“I saw her collapse,” Mason added. “I came every day after that.”
Charles felt shame heavier than any financial loss. He had built towers but neglected his child.
“Mason,” he asked gently, “do you have family?”
“No, sir.”
Charles nodded. He made a call.
“Attorney Collins, I need adoption papers and revised trust documents tomorrow morning.”
Mason stared. “Adoption?”