Chapter 256

But the thing is, we had already made a deal about how to tell him. We were worried Evan wouldn’t take the truth well if we just dumped it on him all at once, so the plan was to ease him into it. First, bring him back home for a few days, then pick the right time to explain—tell him that Jason Smith isn't actually his biological father. Clearly, Henry Smith did what we agreed, but… turns out it didn’t go so great. I mean, Evan had lived with Jason for five years. You can’t just rip that bond apart and expect everything to be fine overnight. "I like Uncle. But I like Dad too. Did Dad go on another business trip?" Evan brought up what happened last time, when his dad left and we looked after him. The moment he said that, Henry went silent. Because Jason wasn’t on a trip—he'd just vanished. That’s also why we hadn’t told Evan the whole truth yet. If we tell him now, the first thing he’s gonna want to do is talk to his dad. But with Jason missing... there’s no way he’ll believe us. "Evan,