At three in the morning, he walked quietly into Noah’s room and picked up the device that had been left on the bedside table.
He set it aside and reached for an old music box that had belonged to his wife, then gently turned the key to let a soft melody fill the room.
Noah stirred in his sleep, then opened his eyes slowly and looked directly toward the source of the sound.
Christopher froze as his son whispered, “Da… da?” with uncertainty, and that single word shattered something deep inside him.
He collapsed beside the bed, shaking as tears filled his eyes, because he realized that his son had never been broken.
The only thing that had been broken was the truth he had refused to see.
The next morning, Caroline was called back, and together they took Noah to a different hospital where real specialists conducted proper evaluations.
After thorough testing, the results confirmed what Caroline had already discovered, which was that Noah’s hearing was completely normal.
The device turned out to be part of an illegal experimental program targeting children from wealthy families without their consent.