“That’s not possible,” I said. “I buried him. I saw—”
“You saw a closed casket,” Neil interrupted.
The room felt like it was spinning.
“No…” I shook my head. “No, no, no… what are you saying?”
Neil finally looked at me, his eyes filled with guilt I had never seen before.
“The accident was real,” he said. “He was hit. He was badly injured. The doctors weren’t sure he would survive.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. “Then how—”
“There was a couple,” Neil continued. “They had been trying for years to have a child. They had connections… money… influence. They offered something I didn’t think we could refuse.”
I stared at him in horror.
“What did you do?” I whispered.
“They said they could get Toby the best care, experimental treatments… things we couldn’t afford. They said he might not survive otherwise.”
“And me?” I cried. “What about me?!”
“They said it had to be a complete break,” Neil said, his voice shaking now. “No contact. No way to trace it back. They… they arranged everything. The hospital records, the funeral… the casket.”
My chest tightened like I couldn’t breathe.
“You let me believe my son was dead… for ten years?”
Tears streamed down my face now, hot and unstoppable.
“I thought I was saving him,” Neil said desperately. “I thought it was the only way.”
“You didn’t save him,” I said, my voice turning cold. “You took him away from me.”
Silence fell again—but this time, it was heavier. Final.
I turned toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Neil asked.
“To my son.”
I didn’t knock this time.
I rang the bell and kept my finger pressed until the door opened.
The woman stood there again, tense, guarded.
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