Chapter 11 - THE LIE ABOUT CHARLIE
"Don't you dare use my son to hurt me."
Maxwell's voice shook with fury.
Raymond gave a cold smile.
"Then maybe you should have asked more questions."
Officers escorted him away.
Audrey watched Maxwell closely.
For the first time, the man who seemed capable of controlling an entire city looked completely helpless.
Charlie touched his father's hand.
Then signed:
"DADDY SAD?"
Maxwell looked at Audrey.
"Tell him I'm okay."
Audrey shook her head gently.
"Tell him yourself."
Maxwell hesitated.
Then carefully signed:
"DADDY IS WORRIED. BUT I LOVE YOU."
Charlie nodded.
He understood.
He had always understood more than the adults believed.
Meanwhile, investigators searched the records Raymond had concealed.
They found medical documents from the hospital where Charlie was born.
Audrey sat beside Maxwell as he read.
The records showed Charlie had been identified as deaf during early childhood.
Nothing in the genuine medical files suggested a crime had caused his deafness.
But there was evidence someone had altered records afterward.
A forged report falsely claimed that Olivia had refused recommended medical care during pregnancy.
The document had been prepared years after Charlie's birth.
Maxwell stared at it.
"Why would anyone create this?"
Audrey examined the attached correspondence.
"Someone wanted you to blame Olivia."
An investigator soon discovered the answer.
Adrian Cross had attempted to use the fabricated report to pressure Olivia into signing away control of the foundation.
When she refused, he threatened to leak the document to the media.
Olivia had never believed there was anything wrong with her son.
She had wanted him loved, respected, and given the language access he deserved.
The scandal existed only in Adrian's manipulation.
Maxwell closed the file.
"My wife was protecting Charlie."
Audrey nodded.
"She was protecting him from people who saw his deafness as something they could exploit."
Maxwell looked toward his son.
Charlie was drawing a picture.
Three figures stood beneath a yellow sun.
A mother.
A father.
A little boy.
Above them, Charlie had written:
HOME.
Maxwell's eyes filled with tears.
His phone suddenly rang.
An investigator had located Adrian Cross.
"We found the warehouse."
"Is Olivia there?"
A pause.
Then the investigator answered.
"We believe so. But Adrian has made a demand."
Maxwell's jaw tightened.
"What demand?"
"He wants you to come alone."
"And if I refuse?"
The investigator hesitated.
"He says he has a video proving that your wife committed murder."
Maxwell looked at Audrey.
Then he whispered:
"Olivia has never hurt anyone."
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But the next message contained a photograph of a body lying on a warehouse floor.
And beside it stood Olivia, holding a bloodstained knife.
