Chapter 12 - the first step)
Chaos exploded.
Reporters shouted questions.
Guests tried to leave.
Federal investigators surrounded Richard.
Nia stared at Naomi.
"Grandma?"
Naomi pushed through the crowd.
"He's lying."
Richard laughed.
"Am I?"
Evan looked at Naomi.
"Who paid you?"
"Claire."
"For what?"
"Records."
Richard interrupted.
"Children."
Naomi turned on him.
"Shut up."
That reaction frightened Evan.
Richard saw it.
"Tell him, Naomi."
Marcus stepped forward.
"Richard."
"No. He deserves the truth."
An investigator grabbed Richard's arm.
Richard pulled free.
"Claire Whitmore selected every child in the original Lantern trial."
Marcus said, "For legitimate treatment."
"Was it?"
"Yes."
Richard looked at Evan.
"Your mother wanted to prove damaged nerves could be retrained through long term stimulation."
Evan frowned.
"That isn't a crime."
"No."
Richard smiled.
"But ask what happened when the first patients didn't improve."
Marcus's face changed.
Evan saw it.
"What happened?"
Marcus said nothing.
"Marcus."
The doctor looked toward the floor.
"Some protocols became aggressive."
"Whose protocols?"
"Eleanor's."
"And my mother?"
"She approved early trials."
Evan felt betrayed again.
Richard spoke softly.
"Your mother was not a saint."
Evan looked at the giant photograph of Claire hanging above the fundraising stage.
For three years, Richard had turned her into a perfect dead woman.
Now he was trying to turn her into a monster.
Maybe both versions were lies.
Nia squeezed Evan's hand.
Richard noticed.
"Tell him what Claire wrote in the second ledger, Naomi."
"I never saw it."
"You stole it."
"I protected it."
Richard smiled.
"Same thing."
Federal agents finally restrained him.
But he kept speaking.
"The ledger has thirty two names."
Evan asked, "What names?"
Richard's gaze settled on Nia.
"Children Claire chose herself."
Naomi slapped him.
The room gasped.
Agents pulled her back.
Richard only laughed.
Then Evan felt something.
His right leg.
A tremor.
Not involuntary.
He looked down.
His knee moved.
Nia saw it.
"Evan."
Marcus saw it too.
"Don't force anything."
Evan ignored him.
He placed both hands on the wheelchair armrests.
Richard stopped laughing.
Evan pushed.
Pain shot through his hips.
His legs shook violently.
Marcus rushed forward.
"Slow."
Evan lifted himself two inches.
Then collapsed.
Guests gasped.
Richard stared.
Evan tried again.
His muscles screamed.
Nia stood in front of him.
"Look at me."
He did.
"Not them."
He stopped watching the cameras.
Stopped watching Richard.
Stopped watching Marcus.
He looked only at Nia.
"Come with me," she whispered again.
Evan pushed.
His knees straightened.
For one impossible second, he stood.
Then two.
Then three.
The ballroom became completely silent.
Richard looked as if someone had struck him.
Evan's legs buckled.
Marcus caught him.
The crowd erupted.
Evan laughed and cried at the same time.
He had not walked.
Not yet.
But he had stood.
His father had spent three years convincing the world that moment could never happen.
Now the entire world had watched it.
Federal agents led Richard toward the doors.
He turned once.
"Evan."
Evan looked at him.
Richard's expression was no longer angry.
It was almost sad.
"When you find Claire's ledger, remember that I warned you."
Then he was taken away.
Maya's live broadcast continued.
Donors began calling.
Not to give money.
To demand investigations.
Parents of Lantern children contacted reporters.
Hospitals suspended Whitmore partnerships.
Board members resigned.
Within hours, Richard Whitmore's empire began collapsing.
Evan sat beside Nia as the ballroom emptied.
He should have felt victorious.
Part of him did.
But one sentence remained.
Thirty two names.
Children Claire chose herself.
Nia looked at Naomi.
"What ledger?"
Naomi stayed silent.
Evan finally asked, "Do you have it?"
May you like
Naomi closed her eyes.
"Yes."
