A child who had spent months being told to lower her hopes had asked to try again tomorrow.

And for the first time in seven months, nobody was going to stop her. She smiled.

Chapter 3 – THE REPORT THAT NEVER ARRIVED

At seven fifteen the next morning, the mansion’s front hall was full of people who had not been invited to breakfast.

Luca’s attorney, Daniel Cho, arrived carrying two briefcases and the expression of a man who had already read an alarming number of messages. Dr. Bianchi came with a folder of his own. Sofia’s regular physical therapist, Maya Patel, arrived ten minutes later, wearing a navy coat and carrying a tablet. She had treated Sofia since the hospital discharge and had been the one to design the standing exercises Emily helped her practice.

The first thing Dr. Patel did was kneel beside Sofia’s chair.

“Good morning, superstar. I heard you stood at dinner.”

Sofia’s face colored. “Almost a minute.”

“Fifty-eight seconds, according to your dad,” Emily said.

Dr. Patel smiled. “Then I want to hear from you what it felt like. Not what anybody else thinks it means.”

Sofia described the shaking in her legs, the pressure in her palms, and the moment she realized she could keep standing for a little longer. Dr. Patel asked whether she had felt pain, dizziness, numbness, or unusual weakness. Sofia answered carefully. The therapist took notes and checked her movement within the limits of the treatment plan.

“Your progress is real,” Dr. Patel said when she finished. “It doesn’t mean we can promise when or how you’ll walk independently. Recovery isn’t a straight line. But the work you’ve been doing is consistent with what we have been hoping to see.”

Luca sat very still.

“Why didn’t I receive that update?”

Dr. Patel glanced at him. “I sent it to the address on file six weeks ago. Then I received a message saying all updates should go through Ms. Bellini because you were traveling and preferred not to be disturbed. I thought that was unusual, but the message came from your household office.”

Daniel opened one of his briefcases. “We’ll need a copy of that message and the delivery record.”

“I can provide both,” Dr. Patel said. “I also sent an appointment summary after Sofia’s assessment last Friday. That was the appointment she attended with Emily.”

Vanessa had told Luca she was taking Sofia to a consultation with a specialist in the city. Instead, she had driven the girl to Dr. Patel’s clinic, then waited outside the room while Sofia completed her exercises. According to the therapist, Vanessa had asked afterward for a letter stating that Sofia’s recovery had plateaued and that long-term residential care should be considered.

“I told her I could not make that recommendation based on the assessment,” Dr. Patel said. “Sofia had improved in several areas. We discussed continued outpatient therapy and a full review by her rehabilitation physician. I also explained that a residential program was not indicated simply because recovery was taking time.”

Luca’s fingers tightened around the arms of his chair.

“Did she ask you to change your report?”

“She asked me to phrase it more pessimistically. I refused.”

“Did she threaten you?”

“No. She said the family needed a clear plan before the wedding and that she was trying to prevent false hope. I told her that false certainty in either direction would be inappropriate.”

Dr. Bianchi nodded. “She gave me a different account. She said the regular team believed Sofia had no meaningful potential for improvement.”

Dr. Patel looked at him. “That is not what I said.”

“I understand that now,” he replied. “I should have insisted on seeing the records before agreeing to consult.”

Daniel recorded the details and asked each medical professional to provide a signed account. He also advised Luca to avoid making public accusations until the documents were reviewed. The priority was Sofia’s care, followed by an investigation into how her medical information had been withheld and misrepresented.

Sofia watched the adults with a growing crease between her eyebrows.

“Am I in trouble?” she asked.

Every face turned toward her.

“No,” Luca said immediately. “Not even a little.”

“Then why does everyone look so angry?”

“Because adults made decisions they should not have made,” Dr. Patel said. “That isn’t your responsibility.”

Sofia looked down at her hands. “Vanessa said the reports would make Daddy worry. She said he had a company to run, and I should let her handle the boring things.”

Dr. Patel’s expression softened. “Your health is not a boring thing, Sofia. You deserve to understand your own treatment, and you deserve to be included in conversations about it in a way you can understand.”

“Can I still do the exercises?”