The Barefoot Girl Promised the Millionaire's Son He'd Walk

CHAPTER 2 — The Mother Who Survived

Richard snatched the note away.

"That girl forged this."

Theo looked directly at him.

"Then why are you afraid?"

Richard summoned Dr. Malcolm Cole, the physician who had treated Theo since the crash.

Dr. Cole insisted the movement in Theo's foot was an involuntary muscle spasm. He prepared another injection.

Theo refused.

Richard ordered two nurses to hold him down.

Before they could administer it, Detective Laura Bennett entered with a warrant. Amara had taken her mother's evidence to the police.

The injection contained a powerful medication capable of causing extreme muscle weakness, confusion and loss of coordination.

Theo had received it for two years.

Richard claimed it controlled painful spasms.

Medical records showed Theo had never been diagnosed with spasms.

At the police station, Amara explained how she knew Evelyn.

Her mother, Naomi Brooks, was a physical therapist. Two years earlier, she found Evelyn injured inside an overturned car beside a rural road.

The vehicle had burned after Evelyn escaped.

Naomi took her to a small clinic. Evelyn survived with a fractured hip and partial memory loss.

When her memories returned, she tried to contact Theo.

Richard intercepted every call.

He obtained a court order declaring Evelyn unstable and dangerous. Dr. Cole signed the psychiatric report without examining her.

Evelyn went into hiding while Naomi gathered evidence.

"Why didn't my mother come herself?" Theo asked.

"Because your father had people watching her."

Amara showed Theo a recorded message.

Evelyn appeared on the screen.

"Theo, I never abandoned you. Your father is keeping you helpless because as long as you need a guardian, he controls your inheritance."

Theo's grandfather had left him majority ownership of Whitmore Holdings. Control would transfer to Theo when he became medically independent.

Until then, Richard controlled everything.

Detective Bennett reviewed the mansion's security recordings.

One video showed Richard entering Theo's room each night.

He crushed tablets into his son's drink whenever Theo refused to swallow them.

The final recording captured Richard telling Dr. Cole, "If the boy walks, we both lose everything."