Chapter 6 - The First Time William Felt Rain
Rehabilitation hurt.
That surprised him.
For decades he imagined walking as freedom.
Nobody explained freedom could involve muscle spasms, nerve pain, nausea, frustration, and humiliation.
William hated parallel bars.
He hated therapists.
He hated Naomi counting repetitions.
He especially hated the twins cheering.
“Again!”
“I heard you.”
“Then do it!”
“You are children.”
“Do it!”
He did.
His right knee extended.
Three inches.
Ivy screamed.
William smiled despite himself.
Weeks became months.
Sensation returned unevenly.
Pressure.
Temperature.
Pain.
The first time he felt a pinprick in his foot, he thanked the therapist.
She laughed.
“Most patients hate that test.”
“I have strange standards.”
Then came rain.
Naomi wheeled him onto the terrace during a spring storm.
“Why?”
“You’re grumpy.”
“I’m wet.”
“Excellent observational skills.”
Rain struck his trousers.
William stared.
“Naomi.”
“What?”
“I feel that.”
She froze.
“Where?”
“My left knee.”
Rain.
Cold.
Tiny impacts.
Real.
William began crying.
Naomi knelt in front of him.
She took his hand.
He laughed through tears.
“I feel rain.”
“I know.”
The twins watched from the doorway.
Ivy whispered:
“He’s crying.”
June replied:
“Rich people do that too.”
William laughed harder.
Something changed between Naomi and him that afternoon.
She remained holding his hand longer than necessary.
Neither mentioned it.
Not yet.
Meanwhile, the investigation reached Ashford Dynamics.
Board members resigned.
Three executives were arrested.
William opened company records publicly.
Stock value collapsed.
His advisers begged him to stop.
“You’re destroying your own corporation.”
“No.”
He looked toward Naomi.
“I’m finding out whether it deserves to survive.”
The company did.
Barely.
Legitimate divisions were separated.
Victim compensation created.
Experimental research placed under independent ethics boards.
William personally surrendered controlling voting privileges during investigation.
For a man obsessed with control, it felt oddly peaceful.
Then Marcus discovered another secret.
Naomi’s termination twelve years earlier had not been authorized only by Holt.
A second signature appeared.
William’s.
Forged.
By whom?
Samuel.
William confronted him.
Samuel admitted it.
“I thought she was dangerous.”
“You destroyed her career.”
“I thought she worked for Arthur’s remaining network.”
“You didn't ask.”
“No.”
Naomi heard.
Her face hardened.
Samuel apologized.
She did not forgive him.
Not immediately.
William respected that.
Everyone in this family had spent too long demanding instant forgiveness because truth finally became inconvenient.
Samuel later created a restitution fund from his own inheritance.
Naomi eventually accepted his apology.
May you like
Not friendship.
Enough.
