He had been taught.
And whoever had taught him had known what they were doing.
What Arthur Had Done
That night, Arthur returned to his mansion.
He sat alone in the library.
He asked his assistant to retrieve every document connected to Elena Reed.
For hours, he read.
He discovered that Elena had warned him.
Repeatedly.
She had written that Meridian required patience.
She had requested funding for a controlled clinical trial.
Arthur had denied it.
Why?
Because he had been impatient.
He wanted a commercial breakthrough.
He wanted exclusive ownership.
He wanted to beat his competitors.
Elena had told him the treatment could save thousands of people.
Arthur had told her:
"Thousands don't matter if the technology isn't profitable."
He remembered saying it.
He remembered not regretting it.
Until now.
Arthur opened a drawer.
Inside was a photograph of himself before the accident.
He was standing beside a helicopter.
He looked arrogant.
Invincible.
Arthur stared at the photograph for a long time.
Then he whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Nobody heard him.
But the next morning, Arthur made a decision.
He would finish Meridian.
Not for himself.
For Elena.
For Daniel.
For everyone who had been told there was nothing more that could be done.
But before he could do that, he needed to discover who had destroyed the original research.
The Missing Patient
Daniel revealed another secret.
Meridian had been tested.
Not successfully.
But tested.
On a patient.
A teenage girl named Lily Grant.
Arthur ordered a search.
The records showed Lily had disappeared from the medical system six years earlier.
She was now twenty-one.
They found her living in a small apartment across the city.
Lily had been injured in a car accident.
She had been paralyzed from the waist down.
But unlike Arthur, she had received an early version of Meridian.
It had partially restored sensation.
Not movement.
Sensation.
Then the treatment stopped.
Lily told Arthur what happened.
"Dr. Vane said the project was being canceled."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Did he say anything else?"
Lily looked at him.
"He said someone had decided disabled people were a bad investment."
Arthur felt sick.
"Who?"
"I never saw them."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Did you keep anything?"
Lily nodded.
She opened a box.
Inside was an old recording device.
"My mother kept this."
Arthur listened.
Elena's voice filled the room.
"If anyone finds this, Meridian was not a failure."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"It worked."
Elena continued.
"Someone is suppressing the research."
Then another voice appeared.
Arthur recognized it immediately.
Marcus Vane.
"You were warned."
The recording ended.
Arthur looked at Daniel.
"Your mother knew."
Daniel nodded.
"She knew they would come."
"Why didn't she go to the police?"
"She was afraid."
Arthur stared at the floor.
Then he realized something terrible.
Elena had not died from illness.
At least, he no longer believed that.
The Attack
Two days later, Daniel disappeared.
Arthur received a phone call at 2:17 in the morning.
A distorted voice said:
"Stop Meridian."
Arthur's blood ran cold.
"Where is Daniel?"
"Forget the boy."
"Where is he?"
A pause.
Then:
"You were warned."
The call ended.
Arthur immediately contacted security.
They traced Daniel's last known location to an abandoned warehouse.
Arthur went there himself.
Police arrived minutes later.
The warehouse was empty.
Daniel's backpack lay on the floor.
Arthur found the notebook nearby.
Several pages had been torn out.
Then he heard a sound.
A faint tapping.
Inside a locked storage room.
Arthur ordered the door opened.
Daniel was inside.
Shaken.
But alive.
Arthur crouched as close as his wheelchair allowed.
"Are you hurt?"
Daniel shook his head.
"They wanted the notebook."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Arthur looked at him.
Daniel hesitated.
"One of them knew my mother's name."
Arthur's jaw tightened.
He picked up the boy's backpack.
"We're going home."
Daniel looked surprised.
"Your home?"
Arthur nodded.
"You're safer with me."
Daniel studied him.
"Why?"
Arthur answered honestly.
"Because I owe your mother."
Daniel said nothing.
But he took Arthur's hand.
It was the first time anyone had touched Arthur without wanting something from him.
The Truth About the Accident
The investigation finally uncovered the truth.
Arthur's helicopter crash had not been caused by weather.
A navigation system had been tampered with.
The evidence had been hidden.
The person who authorized the alteration was Marcus Vane.