Chapter 70

The fluorescent lights in the boardroom of the mental asylum flickered slightly, casting a cold, sterile light over the long wooden table where the board members sat. Ava stood at one end of the room, her hands gripping the edges of a file folder that held weeks' worth of work and hope. Beside her, Mark adjusted his glasses and gave her a small nod of encouragement. They were about to present their findings—evidence that could change Liam’s fate.

Ava took a deep breath. “Thank you all for meeting with us today,” she began, her voice steady but charged with emotion. “We have compelling evidence that my husband, Liam, is not a violent man. His recent outbursts were caused by being drugged, not because of any inherent mental instability.”

She opened the folder and began passing out copies of the report Mark had meticulously compiled. The board members, a mix of doctors, administrators, and legal experts, took the documents and scanned them with varying levels of interest and skepticism.