While airport guards and doctors froze in panic over the millionaire's paralyzed boy, a seven-year-old girl in patched jeans dropped to her knees and did what no adult dared to do.

"Colin! Follow her!" Richard ordered, his voice raw as he cradled Ethan against his chest. "Don't let her leave the airport!"

Colin Dray blinked, snapping out of his stupor. He straightened his tie, pulled a thick leather wallet from his jacket, and rushed into the surging crowd near Gate B21.

By the time two uniformed airport paramedics finally sprinted up to Gate B23 with a heavy crash cart, the immediate crisis was already over.

"Sir, stay still! Let us examine the boy!" the lead paramedic shouted, dropping his gear.

"He’s fine," Richard said, his tone cold as ice as he stared down the hallway where the little girl had vanished. "No thanks to any of you. Check his cannula fitting. A seven-year-old child just did your job."

The paramedics checked Ethan’s vitals, completely stunned to find the boy’s blood oxygen levels returning to normal. Ethan was breathing evenly now, his tiny hand holding tightly onto his father’s lapel.

"Daddy..." Ethan whispered, his voice tiny and raspy.

"I’m here, buddy. I’m right here," Richard said, kissing his son’s forehead.

"Where is the girl?" Ethan asked, looking around the floor with wide, curious eyes. "The girl with the rabbit pin?"

Richard’s chest tightened. "She... she had to run, Ethan. But daddy is going to find her."

Ten minutes later, Colin returned. He was breathing heavily, his polished shoes scuffed, his face flushed.

"Did you find her?" Richard demanded, standing up as the paramedics transferred Ethan safely back into his upright wheelchair position.

Colin held up his hands defensively. "Mr. Harrison, I went all the way to the ground transit terminal. It’s a mess down there. Hundreds of people boarding the budget commuter buses to New York and Chicago. I couldn't spot her in the crowd."

Richard took a slow, menacing step toward his assistant. "You let a seven-year-old girl who saved my son’s life vanish into thin air?"

"Sir, be reasonable," Colin said smoothly, leaning in to lower his voice. "She’s clearly from a low-income background. Probably a runaway or a squatter’s child. I’m sure she just wanted a handouts. Look—she even dropped this while running."

Colin pulled something out of his pocket and held it out.

It was a frayed piece of red yarn—the makeshift shoelace that had fallen from Maya’s boot.

Richard stared at the yarn, then snatched it from Colin’s hand. He held it tightly in his palm, feeling the coarse, cheap thread.

"She didn't ask for a single cent, Colin," Richard said, his eyes burning with absolute disgust. "When my son was dying, doctors froze, guards stood like statues, and you tried to push her away. She saved Ethan because she had a heart. Something you clearly lack."

"Mr. Harrison, I was only protecting your privacy—"

"You’re fired, Colin."

The assistant froze, his face draining of all color. "What?"

"You heard me," Richard said coldly, signaling his private security detail, who had finally arrived through the VIP terminal gates. "Hand over your security credentials to Mateo. You are no longer employed by Harrison Global Enterprises."

"Richard, please!" Colin pleaded, stepping forward as two giant security guards stepped between him and the billionaire. "I’ve served you for five years! You can't fire me over a street kid!"

"She is not a street kid," Richard said, turning his back on Colin as he took hold of Ethan’s wheelchair handles himself. "She is the only reason my son is breathing right now."

Richard looked down at Ethan, who was holding the piece of red yarn his father had handed him.

"Mateo," Richard said to his head of security.

"Yes, Mr. Harrison?"

"Pull every second of security footage from Logan Airport from the last three hours," Richard instructed, his voice ringing with authority. "I want facial recognition run on that girl and her mother. I want transit logs, bus manifests, ticket purchases. If she boarded a bus to the end of the earth, I want to know what seat she sat in."