Chapter 2 - DAD… I BELIEVE HIMRosalie stood for only six seconds.
Dante counted every one.
At seven, her knees buckled.
He caught her before she fell.
“Easy.”
“I’m okay.”
“No.”
He lowered her back into the wheelchair.
Rosalie was crying.
Laughing too.
“I felt it.”
Dante crouched.
“What?”
“My feet.”
He stared.
“I felt the ground.”
The guards remained frozen behind him.
Dante turned sharply.
“Call Dr. Levin.”
One guard reached for his phone.
“Now.”
Rosalie grabbed Dante’s sleeve.
“Dad.”
He looked at her.
“Eli.”
Dante turned.
The boy was standing now.
He looked frightened.
Not triumphant.
Not excited.
Like someone who suddenly realized powerful adults might blame him for what happened.
Dante walked toward him.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“You touched her?”
“No.”
“You gave her something?”
“No.”
“Did you know this would happen?”
Eli shook his head.
“No.”
Dante’s temper rose.
“You walked into my estate and told me you could make my daughter stand.”
“I said I could help.”
“How?”
“I prayed.”
Dante stared.
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Eli looked down.
“No.”
That answer stopped him.
“What?”
“You don’t have to believe me.”
Rosalie spoke from behind them.
“I do.”
Dante closed his eyes.
“Rosalie.”
She smiled faintly.
“You saw it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you mad?”
Because fear often wore anger in Dante’s body.
He did not say that.
Instead:
“I don’t know what I saw.”
Rosalie looked at her legs.
“I do.”
Eli stepped backward.
“Can I go?”
Dante stared.
“You want to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Eli looked toward the gate.
“My mom will worry.”
Dante studied him.
“No one walks in here, makes my daughter stand for the first time in years, and leaves before I know who they are.”
Eli’s face tightened.
“I didn’t make her.”
“You keep saying that.”
“It’s true.”
Dante ordered:
“Bring him inside.”
Eli panicked.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Rosalie immediately spoke.
“Dad.”
Dante stopped.
“He’s scared.”
“He should be careful.”
“Of you?”
The question landed hard.
Dante looked at his daughter.
Rosalie held his gaze.
“He helped me.”
Dante exhaled slowly.
Then looked at Eli.
“You’re not a prisoner.”
Eli said nothing.
“You’ll eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
His stomach growled.
One guard looked away to hide a smile.
Dante almost did too.
“Clearly.”
Rosalie smiled.
“Come on.”
Eli hesitated.
Then followed.
Inside the mansion, his eyes moved everywhere.
The chandelier.
Paintings.
Polished floors.
A table holding silver-framed photographs.
One showed Rosalie younger, standing between Dante and a beautiful dark-haired woman.
Eli stopped.
Dante noticed.
“You know her?”
Eli looked at the photograph.
“Is that Rosalie’s mom?”
Dante’s expression hardened.
“Yes.”
“Isabella.”
Silence.
Dante stepped closer.
“How do you know her name?”
Eli looked frightened again.
“My mom told me.”
“Your mother told you my wife’s name?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Eli swallowed.
“She said if I ever saw Rosalie, I should be kind to her.”
Dante stared.
“When did she say that?”
“A long time ago.”
“How old were you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe seven.”
Dante’s suspicion deepened.
“Who is your mother?”
“Grace Mercer.”
The name meant nothing.
Or so he thought.
A maid brought food.
Eli stared at the plate like it might disappear.
Sandwich.
Soup.
Fruit.
He tried to eat slowly.
Failed.
Rosalie watched him.
“When did you last eat?”
“Yesterday.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“Where do you live?”
Eli stopped chewing.
“With my mom.”
“Where?”
He looked down.
“Different places.”
Dante understood enough.
“Shelter?”
“Sometimes.”
“Family?”
“Just Mom.”
“What happened to your father?”
Eli became still.
“He died.”
Rosalie’s face softened.
“I’m sorry.”
Eli nodded.
Dante looked away.
Death was a language this room understood.
His phone rang.
Dr. Levin.
Dante answered.
“Get here.”
“What happened?”
“Rosalie stood.”
Silence.
Then:
“What?”
Dante looked at his daughter.
“She stood.”
Within forty minutes, the courtyard had become a medical examination room.
Dr. Levin tested reflexes.
Strength.
Sensation.
Rosalie could move her toes.
Not perfectly.
Enough.
He looked stunned.
“When did this start?”
“Today.”
“Any new medication?”
“No.”
“Therapy changes?”
“No.”
Dr. Levin examined Eli from across the courtyard.
“What did he do?”
Dante answered dryly:
“Prayed.”
The doctor stared.
Rosalie said:
“That’s what happened.”
Dr. Levin looked back at her legs.
“I don’t have an explanation.”
Dante hated those words.
Doctors had given him too many explanations before.
Now the absence of one frightened him more.
He turned toward Eli.
But the chair was empty.
Dante looked around.
“Where’s the boy?”
A guard ran toward the gate.
“He left.”
Dante’s expression changed.
“Find him.”
Rosalie looked up.
“Dad.”
He turned.
“Don’t scare him.”
Dante stared toward the gate.
“I’m not looking for him to hurt him.”
“What then?”
Dante looked back at his daughter’s legs.
May you like
“I need to know why he knew your name.”
And why Grace Mercer had known Isabella.
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