Chapter 6 - the medicine before the calls
Clara remained in the hospital for three days while the sedative left her system.
On the second morning, she sat upright without swaying.
On the third, Dr. Ward fitted her with a temporary support brace.
Clara stared at it.
“Seline said braces make the nerve die.”
“That is not true,” Dr. Ward said.
“Will this hurt?”
“Some exercises may feel difficult. Nothing should feel frightening, and you can stop whenever you need.”
Clara looked toward Adrien.
“Really stop?”
“Yes,” he answered.
She tested him immediately.
Dr. Ward helped her place one foot on the floor.
Clara’s breathing quickened.
“Stop.”
Adrien did not encourage her to try one more step.
He did not tell her bravery meant continuing.
Dr. Ward lowered her back onto the bed.
Nothing bad happened.
Clara’s shoulders relaxed.
Seline had taught her that asking to stop led to punishment.
Relearning control began before relearning movement.
Detective Mara interviewed Seline again.
“Why did you give Clara unprescribed medication?”
“She could not sleep.”
“You administered it before therapy.”
“She became anxious.”
“And before calls with Adrien?”
“She worked herself into emotional episodes.”
“You wrote ‘court evaluation dose.’”
Seline’s attorney interrupted.
The notes, he argued, could refer to vitamins.
Laboratory tests removed that defense.
Seline changed her explanation.
She claimed Dr. Ward’s office verbally approved the medication.
The clinic had no record of such approval.
Mara placed photographs of Clara’s bruises on the table.
“She was falling because you shortened her crutch and sedated her.”
“I never shortened anything.”
“Your fingerprints were beneath the adhesive.”
Seline stopped answering.
At the mansion, investigators found the original adjustment pin inside her desk drawer. It had been wrapped in tissue beside a small file used to alter the metal.
The physical evidence connected her directly.
Adrien reviewed months of phone calls.
The family’s communication application stored low-quality audio even when video was unavailable.
Before several calls, Seline could be heard coaching Clara.
Smile.
Say therapy went well.
Do not mention falling.
Do not make him cancel another trip.
During one call, Clara whispered:
“Can I tell Dad my leg hurts?”
Seline replied:
“Only if you want him to send you somewhere with strangers.”
Adrien had heard Clara say she was fine seconds later.
He had thanked Seline for managing everything.
The memory sickened him.
Grace advised that he prepare for the custody review.
Seline’s attorneys would use his travel, missed appointments, and reliance on reports against him.
“They should,” Adrien said.
Grace studied him.
“You understand that admitting negligence could place your custody under supervision?”
“Yes.”
“You could argue that Seline deceived you completely.”
“She did deceive me. I also stopped checking because her explanations were convenient.”
He requested temporary oversight from an independent child advocate.
He hired no private investigator to attack Seline’s past.
He did not use his wealth to silence the hospital or former staff.
For the first time, he allowed an outside person to evaluate whether his home was safe for Clara.
The child advocate visited the hospital.
Clara told her:
“Dad came home, but he used to leave again before I finished being scared.”
Adrien remained silent.
The advocate asked what Clara needed before returning home.
“No locked therapy room.”
“No medicine from Seline.”
“My crutches where I can reach them.”
“And Dad reads the whole paper.”
Adrien agreed to every condition.
That evening, Clara asked for the temporary brace.
She stood between Dr. Ward and Adrien.
Her right leg trembled.
She remained upright for four seconds.
Then five.
She sat before fear took over.
Adrien smiled through tears.
“You did it.”
Clara corrected him.
“I stopped when I wanted.”
“Yes,” he said. “You did that too.”
The moment offered hope.
Then Grace arrived with Seline’s emergency petition.
Seline requested immediate custody, claiming Adrien had manipulated Clara’s testimony and subjected her to unsafe experimental treatment.
May you like
Attached was a video of Clara crying while wearing the new brace.
👉 Seline had turned Clara’s first attempt at recovery into fresh evidence that Adrien was hurting her.
