Her Father Was Never Told She Could Walk

CHAPTER 3 - Malik's Little Notebook

Helena arrived at the house with Dr. Mercer and a lawyer.

She demanded that Sophie be returned to her private medical team.

Daniel refused.

"The cast was unnecessary. The medicine made her too weak to stand."

Helena looked at Ruth.

"That woman is manipulating you."

Ruth remained calm.

"Then explain why your company received four million dollars."

Helena claimed the money paid for specialists, equipment, and round-the-clock care.

Daniel had his financial manager examine every invoice.

Most of the equipment did not exist.

One bill charged the trust for a motorized hospital bed, but Sophie still slept in the same wooden bed Laura bought before she was born.

Another bill listed daily visits from three therapists.

Sophie had not seen any of them.

Helena turned to her lawyer.

"This conversation is over."

As she moved toward the door, Malik blocked her path.

"You forgot about my notebook."

Malik had started recording everything after his grandmother was fired. He wrote down the times when the private nurse arrived, the license plates of visiting cars, and the packages carried into the house.

He also wrote down Sophie's condition each day.

On mornings after taking the medicine, Sophie could barely hold her crutches.

When Malik secretly replaced the medicine with water, she became stronger.

Ruth looked shocked.

"You replaced her medicine?"

"I saw it making her sick."

Daniel knelt beside him.

"You should have told an adult."

"I told Grandma. She tried to tell you."

Daniel could not argue with that.

The notebook showed that Dr. Mercer visited the estate three times, although he claimed he had not seen Sophie for two months.

Security footage confirmed that each visit happened after midnight.

Police searched the Bright Path office.

They found forged treatment records, fake employee names, and payments from Helena to Dr. Mercer.

They also found an application to transfer Sophie to a private residential facility after her ninth birthday.

Once Sophie entered the facility, Helena would become her official medical guardian and gain direct control of Laura's trust.

Daniel confronted his sister.

"She is your niece."

"She has more money than she will ever need," Helena replied. "I kept some of it inside the family."

"You kept her frightened and unable to walk."

Helena lowered her voice.

"You disappeared into your work after Laura died. Someone had to make decisions."

Daniel stepped back.

Helena was right about one thing.

He had disappeared.

But she had used his absence to hurt his daughter.

Before the police could question her, Helena left the house through a side door.

Minutes later, Sophie was missing from her bedroom.

Malik looked at his notebook and pointed to one of the license plates.

"I know which car she took."

Helena had lost control of the trust, so she decided to take Sophie instead.