Voss looked at her, broken fury in his eyes.
“You took my son.”
Mom’s voice was calm.
“I raised mine.”
Voss looked at me then.
For one second, I saw the life that might have been. A father at birthday parties. A man teaching me to ride a bike. Someone beside my mother in old photographs without his face scratched out.
Then I saw the truth.
He had not come for me because he loved me.
He came because I was useful.
I stood beside my mother.
“My name is Lucas Miller,” I said. “Not Voss.”
His face went still.
That was the last thing I ever said to him.
The official story was simple.
A retired officer suffered a medical emergency after a school assembly. Captain Rachel Miller assisted in locating him at a private facility. A technology theft investigation was ongoing. No further details were available.
People believed what they were allowed to believe.
