Chapter 1

My wife, Mary Scott, took the USB drive and frowned slightly.

When she opened it, she found nothing inside but a collection of photos—just the two of us together.

She looked up at me, puzzled. "Why are you giving me this?"

I met her gaze. "Didn't our son say I sold off some kind of core technology? This is the evidence he was talking about."

In my previous life, someone had framed me—slipping classified files onto the USB drive I carried with me. But this time, the moment I was reborn, I had someone wipe it clean.

A flicker of surprise crossed Mary's face. She was just about to ask how I could hear our son's voice when the door was suddenly kicked open with a violent crash.

A man in uniform rushed in, his gun trained directly at me.

"Don't move! Hands where I can see them!"

His sharp, piercing gaze locked onto me. It was Brandon Dyer, my wife's partner and deputy.

Caught off guard, Mary turned to him in shock. "Brandon, why are you here all of a sudden? Lower your weapon first."

Her reaction didn't seem staged—she truly hadn't expected him to show up, which meant Brandon had come prepared.

"Mary, Jerry has leaked our military's core technology. He should be arrested immediately—"

I raised an eyebrow, a faint smile tugging at my lips. "Hold on. How do you know I leaked the technology?"

Then I turned to Mary, my voice sharp. "Was there already an order from headquarters to arrest me? Or are the two of you acting on your own?"

Brandon frowned, his tone turning cold. "Why are you still denying it? Isn't that USB drive the evidence?"

His eyes snapped to Mary as he urged impatiently, "Mary, the suspect is right in front of us. Are we not making the arrest?"

Expressionless, Mary tossed the USB drive to him. "Take a look yourself. There's nothing in it except photos of Jerry and me."

She pressed her lips together before adding reluctantly, "This time… the baby must have been mistaken."

Brandon stared at her in disbelief, shaking his head repeatedly. "That's impossible. How could it be wrong? The baby has never been wrong—every single time, it's been accurate."

He plugged the USB into a device, checking it over and over like a man possessed.

"There has to be something we missed."

The fact that even Brandon knew about our son's "voice" better than I, his own father, made my gaze darken.

I closed my eyes briefly, steadying myself before speaking.

"If there's nothing else, I won't disturb your work any longer."

I extended my hand toward him. "If you're done, return it."

Still unwilling to give up, Brandon searched through it several more times. Finding nothing, he finally gritted his teeth and handed the USB back to me. Then he turned and stormed out.

I gathered my things and reached for the door, about to leave, when suddenly, my son's voice rang out again.

"Bad Daddy! He must have moved the data and hidden it somewhere. Mommy, hurry and catch him for interrogation!"

My heart lurched. Cold sweat broke out across my back, but I forced myself to stay calm as I pulled the door open.

"Jerry, stop!" Mary's urgent voice called out from behind me.

I ignored her and kept walking.

"Traitor! Where do you think you're going?!"

In the next instant, Brandon came charging out of nowhere and kicked me hard, sending me stumbling back inside.