Chapter 4

The police arrived incredibly fast. I'd barely thrown on a jacket when they practically kicked down the front door.

Archie burst into tears and ducked behind one of the officers for protection. Pointing a trembling finger at me in panic, he yelled, "My dad's a kidnapper! He said he kidnapped me!"

The officers didn't catch it, but I saw the cunning sparkle in Archie's eyes earlier.

It was that same gloating satisfaction he always got whenever he used the "truth" to mess with me.

An officer pressed his baton against my shoulder. His voice was heavy with authority as he said, "Open up the safe. We need to inspect the contents."

Woken by the commotion, Elsie hurried out of the bedroom. The moment she heard the word "safe", panic seized her. "You can't open that!"

Seeing her reaction, the lead officer signaled his partner to start picking the lock.

Looking at the array of tools scattered across the floor, I turned my gaze toward Archie. "Archie, your mom told you earlier today that it was a joke. Why did you still call the police? Is that how 'telling the truth' works?"

Archie clamped his mouth shut, not saying a single word about what Elsie had told him.

I looked at Archie with a meaningful gaze. "You're going to regret opening that safe."

Archie pouted and let out a heavy huff. "You can never tell jokes from the truth, so I have to punish you. That way, you will learn to only tell the truth, just like me."

The police popped the first lock on the safe.

As the safe door swung open, a small, sealed container was revealed inside.

I asked Archie, "If this actually proves you're not my son, will you go back to your birth parents?"

Archie answered without missing a beat, "Yes! Every time I tell the truth, you get mad. I hate you!"

Whatever lingering fondness or hesitation I had left for him vanished entirely.

The sealed container was a high-density box I'd purchased years ago, which was nearly impossible to pry open by force.

Seeing the officer sweating bullets as he struggled with it, I finally spoke up. "I can open it with the passcode. But only if Archie signs a dissolution of adoption agreement with me."

Archie didn't understand what an adoption dissolution was, but seeing how desperate I seemed to keep the box locked, he nodded enthusiastically.

He pressed his palm print right onto the paper.

I punched in Archie's birthday, and the small box clicked open.

Inside lay three documents.

The first was an official adoption agreement.

The second was a news clipping detailing how I had risked my life to rescue him from human traffickers years ago.

The third was his biological parents' records.

The officer glanced at the first document and stayed silent.

When he reached the second, shock washed over his face. He flipped back and forth through the pages several times, and when he finally looked up, his eyes were filled with profound respect.

"You saved this kid from human traffickers at the risk of your own life? That's incredible."

Archie froze, utterly stunned when he didn't hear the officer yell at me but instead saw him give me a thumbs-up.

The officer's awe was brief. Out of professional habit, he quickly opened the third file.

With just one look, he froze on the spot.

He snapped his head up to look at me with disbelief written across his face. "A-are you sure they're his biological parents? Are you honestly sending him back to them?"

The other officers who hadn't seen the file were completely out of the loop. They crowded around to read the document together.

The very next second, every single one of them cast a look of deep pity toward Archie.

Everyone in the room waited for my answer.

I simply closed my eyes and nodded. "The adoption dissolution agreement has been signed. There's no turning back."

Looking around at everyone's expressions, Archie suddenly seemed to understand what was happening. Absolute terror spread across his face.