Chapter 106 Truth Under Oath

• I couldn’t hear what the judge was saying anymore. His voice had become a distant hum behind the loud roar in my head as I watched Lucas walk calmly toward the front bench, his steps slow, deliberate, too steady for someone who had just thrown my entire understanding of reality into chaos. He sat beside the young man I had thought might be Keith earlier, and for a second I was almost sure it was just a coincidence. Almost.
• “That’s Kyle’s long-lost brother,” Ethan whispered beside me, leaning in slightly as though the truth could only be passed on like a secret.
• I chuckled under my breath—quiet, breathy, but sharp enough to carry disbelief. It wasn’t the kind of laugh you give when something’s funny. It was the kind that cracks out of your chest when your mind can’t process the madness it's being asked to believe.