CHAPTER 3: The Truth in the Boardroom
That afternoon, Elias appeared at the board meeting of Reed Industries.
Victor was standing at the head of the table, dressed in an elegant black suit, speaking with confidence.
“My uncle’s health is getting weaker. I think it is time for the board to consider transferring leadership—”
The door opened.
Everyone turned.
Elias Reed was pushed in by Martin. Behind him were his lawyer, his doctor, Leo, and Grandma Grace. In Martin’s hands was Clara’s wooden box.
Victor froze for exactly one second.
Only one second.
But Elias saw it clearly.
Panic.
“Uncle Elias,” Victor said with a forced smile. “Why didn’t you tell us you were coming? You should be resting at home.”
“I have rested enough.”
Elias’s voice was slow but sharp.
He placed the wooden box on the table.
“Seven years ago, you gave me a fake letter and told me Clara had abandoned me. You were also the one who blocked every letter from her. You had people watch her, threaten her, and hide the existence of my granddaughter from me.”
The entire meeting room erupted in murmurs.
Victor’s face turned pale.
“Uncle, who are you listening to? A street boy?”
Leo clenched his fists, but he did not step back.
Elias looked at Victor.
“Yes. A street boy with more humanity than you.”
The lawyer turned on the projector. On the screen appeared copies of returned letters, old camera images from the neighborhood where Clara had lived, Grandma Grace’s statement, and a recording from the small tape.
Clara’s voice echoed through the room.
Weak, but clear.
“Victor, I only want to see my father.”
Then Victor’s voice followed, cold and cruel:
“You think he still needs you? If you appear, the baby will disappear from your arms. Remember, I know where you live.”
Several shareholders stood up.
Victor stepped back.
“That’s fake! It was staged!”
Elias did not shout. He simply looked at the nephew he had once trusted like a son.
“Do you know what disgusts me the most, Victor? It isn’t that you wanted money. I have met many people who wanted money. It is that you allowed a newborn baby to live on the streets while calling me Uncle every day.”
Victor lost control.
“Without me, this company would have collapsed! You’re old! You’re weak! You’re nothing but a crippled old man—”
The room fell dead silent.
Elias placed both hands on the armrests of his wheelchair.
Martin immediately stepped closer.
“Sir…”
“Don’t help me.”
Elias looked toward the door.
There, Emma was lying in her stroller, her tiny hands moving in her sleep. Leo stood beside her, watching Elias as if waiting.
Elias remembered the doctor’s words.
If you try, one day you may be able to walk partially again.
He had not tried.
Because he thought he had nowhere left to go.
But now, the place he needed to go was only a few steps away.
To his granddaughter.
Elias gritted his teeth, pushed himself up with both arms, and slowly lifted his body.
His legs trembled violently.
A dull pain spread from his back down to his knees, but this time he was not afraid. Martin stood beside him, ready to catch him, but Elias kept one hand on the table.
One step.
The whole room held its breath.
His knee almost gave way, but he held himself up.
A second step.
Tears rolled down his aged face.
A third step.
He reached Emma’s stroller and sank down onto one knee. Martin quickly supported his back, but Elias had already managed to touch his granddaughter’s tiny hand.
Emma opened her eyes.
Her eyes were brown, exactly like Clara’s.
Elias cried.
“Grandpa is sorry,” he whispered. “Grandpa came too late.”
Leo stood beside him, his lips trembling.
“Miss Clara said… as long as you met Emma, you would find your way home.”
Elias reached out and pulled Leo closer.
“Not only Emma.”
Leo looked confused.
Elias looked at him, then at Mia and Toby hiding by the door.
“You too. All of you brought me home.”
Victor was suspended immediately at the meeting. The evidence was later handed over to Elias’s lawyers and the authorities. The people who had helped him block letters, forge signatures, and threaten Clara were investigated one by one.
Reed Industries did not collapse as Victor had threatened.
On the contrary, when the truth came out, many longtime employees stood by Elias because they remembered Clara — the girl who used to bring cakes to the workshop workers and call each of them by name.
But to Elias, the company was no longer the most important thing.
One week later, the glass room in the Reed mansion was opened again.
Dust covered the old potted plants. The tall windows welcomed the afternoon sunlight. In the center of the room was the white swing where Clara had once sat reading books.
Elias sat in his wheelchair at the entrance, nervous like a child.
Leo carried Emma inside first. Mia followed with her teddy bear, while Toby stared wide-eyed at the plants.
“This was Emma’s mother’s favorite place,” Elias said.
Leo looked around.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Tomorrow, people will come to plant flowers again. White roses, lavender, and sunflowers too.”
“Why sunflowers?” Mia asked.
Elias smiled sadly.
“Because Clara said sunflowers always know how to turn toward the light.”
From that day on, the Reed mansion was no longer quiet.
In the morning, Mia’s voice echoed on the stairs as she called for the cook.
At noon, Toby asked hundreds of questions about everything in the house.
In the afternoon, Leo read books in the library, though he often fell asleep because he was not yet used to feeling safe.
And Emma became the center of the entire home.
Elias began rehabilitation therapy.
At first, each session lasted only ten minutes. He was in pain, exhausted, and fell onto the mat many times. Some days, he became so angry that he slammed his hand against the support rail and said he was too old.
Whenever that happened, Leo would usually stand by the door silently for a moment before saying:
“You promised Emma you would teach her to walk in the garden.”
Elias gasped for breath.
“When did I promise that?”
“When you fell asleep in the chair. I heard you.”
Elias stared at the boy.
Leo shrugged.
May you like
“You can’t break a promise to a child.”
So Elias stood up again.
