PART 3: HOMELESS Girl Calls A BILLIONAIRE Son’s Emergency Contact Then Everything Changes
“This morning?”
“My caretaker left me. She said she’d be right back.”
Lily stared at him.
The sun was already sinking behind the buildings. His lips were pale. His hands shook so badly he could barely move them.
“Where’s your family?”
“My dad’s at work.” Ethan’s voice cracked. “My phone is in my pocket. I can’t use it. My hands are too cold.”
Lily hesitated.
A phone meant adults.
Adults meant questions.
Questions meant social workers.
Social workers meant group homes.
But Ethan was freezing.
She reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. The screen lit up bright and perfect.
Dozens of missed calls.
Dad.
Dad.
Dad Emergency.
“Should I call him?” Lily asked.
Ethan nodded weakly.
“Emergency contact. Top of the list.”
She pressed the name before fear could stop her.
It rang once.
Then a man answered, frantic and broken.
“Ethan, thank God. Where are you?”
Lily swallowed.
“Sir, my name is Lily. I found your son in Central Park. He fell and can’t get up. He’s really cold.”
Silence.
Then the man’s voice changed.
Sharper.
Controlled panic.
“Tell me exactly where you are.”
“Near a big storm drain,” Lily said. “There’s a statue of a man on a horse not far away.”
“The General Sherman Monument,” he said instantly. “Stay there. I am three minutes away. Keep him awake. Please.”
The call ended.
Lily pulled off her coat and laid it over Ethan.
“No,” he whispered. “You’ll freeze.”
“I’m used to it,” she lied.
Headlights swept across the path.
A black Rolls-Royce stopped near the park entrance, and a tall man in an expensive suit came running across the grass.
“Ethan!”
Maxwell Blackwood dropped to his knees in the dirt.
Not like a billionaire.
Like a father whose whole world was on the ground.
Then he looked at Lily.
And before she could disappear, Ethan whispered, “Dad… don’t leave her here.”
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