Chapter 2 - The CatalystVictoria's laugh cut through the ballroom.
It was soft, elegant, and cruel.
"That's adorable."
She lifted her champagne glass.
"Even the world's greatest surgeons couldn't make him walk. What makes you think a little girl can?"
A few people laughed.
Others looked away.
Julian's jaw tightened.
He had endured pity.
He had endured humiliation.
But watching a child become the target of Victoria's cruelty awakened something fierce inside him.
"Lily," he said quietly. "You don't have to prove anything."
She didn't look at Victoria.
She looked only at him.
Then she reached into the pocket of her little dress.
She pulled out a tiny glass vial.
The room seemed to change.
The vial contained a strange silver substance that appeared to glow beneath the chandeliers.
Julian frowned.
"What is that?"
"My mother told me never to lose it."
"Your mother?"
Lily nodded.
"She said it was meant for someone who had forgotten how to stand."
Victoria rolled her eyes.
"This is ridiculous."
Lily ignored her.
She pressed the vial against Julian's leg.
Then she whispered something so softly that only Julian could hear it.
"Don't be afraid."
The vial suddenly became warm.
Julian's breath stopped.
For seven years, his legs had been nothing but dead weight.
Now—
Something moved.
A tiny pulse.
Then another.
His eyes widened.
"Lily..."
May you like
She smiled.
"Now stand."
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