“The Travis
Warner?”
Tristan nodded.
He’d never felt so low as he did when he read folder
A1618. It brought everything to a crashing halt. His very sanity was rattled.
He told the rest to Ryne Cavanagh. How Warner used
his friend – Sir James – as a connection to pull some strings. He changed the
entire profile of patient 572, from her name to her next of kin.
And all for just a frustratingly harmless reason,
Tristan later found out. Everything was done to keep her safe, to keep her out
of the public’s eye.
Everyone knew the famous Travis Anthony Gedi Warner was
in love with someone back in the days, before he took to a position in Gedi Institute.
Some people knew the lucky girl was of the name Avery Allton. They were
together for several blissful months.
Only a handful was aware of the terrible thing that
happened more than a year ago.
Tristan saw Ryne’s eyes widen as he told her. He
knew she’d recall it somehow, as grisly as the details were.
Rape case. The rapist was stabbed forty-two times
before the authorities came, and Avery was understandably distraught to the
point on insanity. She still had blood on her hands.
The popularity of Travis’ family’s company hit
rock-bottom right after the incident made the papers, even though Avery wasn’t
even involved in any of the dealings made by the institute – she was only
Travis’ girl, seventeen, and in highschool. It was horrendous P.R. The divorce
of Travis’ parents didn’t make matters any better.
Nobody questioned Travis’ decision to step up, stand
by his father’s side to save the reputation of their family’s pride, and
meanwhile, Avery, his highschool sweetheart now put to shame, vanished from the
eyes of the masses. She was easily forgotten by many.
But there were others who still hounded Travis and
his father for answers. There have always been those who were more pursuing
than others. It was carefully hidden by the both of them the true extent of how
damaged Avery really was, and they had no intentions of letting information leak
out; information on how poor Avery Allton had totally lost her mind because of
what has been done to her.
Certain measures had to be made. It was for Avery’s
sake, the company’s well-being, and the father and son’s peace of mind. Travis’
friend and another father figure, Sir James, being a manager at Macquarie, only
made the choice easier.
Soon, papers were drawn, signatures were taken, and
agreements were sealed. Nobody will ever find Avery Allton, if they ever came
looking, for the name was erased from all of the records and replaced with
another name; a name taken from another patient whose file had been randomly
taken, and was submitted for approval to Mr. Warner most discreetly.
The name was Reeya Hamilton.
Gedi Institute, same time
Avery.
Travis missed her with a love that increases by day.
He still visited, but now that G.I. was finally rising from the ashes, he got busier.
Visits to her had been more and more infrequent.
His feelings never faded.
If only I was
there that night, he thought
again, hands clenched. Everything toppled like a house of cards because of what
happened – the company was reduced to ruins, his mother moved out of the house,
and having the name of Warner suddenly wasn’t a badge of prestige anymore. It
became a mark of a scandal.
They were both young – and very much in love. He would
offer her the whole world, if he could. Fate seemed bent on changing all that.
He had more breathing room when they covered her up
in the hospital. Safe in the thought that she would never have to endure the
pressure of being discovered, Travis visited her from time to time. She was
calm when he’d come, but with him away, he heard she’d become violent. It was
worse when he was gone for weeks at a time.
Then Doctor Devon came in the picture.
He messed
everything up.
Nobody was to know Avery’s identity. It was the
whole purpose of changing her name, of turning her into an entirely different person
who led a normal past life before she was admitted.
Travis had to make decisions soon.
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