Chapter 2

Three hours. That was all it took for me to figure out what had happened during the sixteen minutes I was gone.

The disgust on Catherine's face hadn't even faded yet when I asked the question burning in my chest.

"I was only gone for sixteen minutes. How do you already have a new family?"

"Sixteen minutes?"

Catherine grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the calendar on the wall.

"Open your eyes and look! It’s 2032. You weren't gone for sixteen minutes. You were gone for six freaking years!"

My head spun. Only then did I understand what the aliens meant when they said "everything will have changed."

But Catherine didn't give me a second to process.

She pointed at the man next to her. "This is my husband, Donald."

Then she pointed to the baby girl in his arms.

"And this is my seven-year-old daughter."

"During the six years you were gone, I married the love of my life and had a beautiful daughter. This is the life I always wanted."

Her cold eyes made my heart ache.

This woman had once sworn to love me forever. Yet now, she didn't have a single word of concern for me. She just wanted me to know she had married her "true love" the moment I disappeared.

And the funniest part? The kid was already almost seven. The math didn't even add up.

I took a deep breath to swallow the bitterness in my throat.

"Since you have a new family now, then give me back my house."

Catherine blinked, and then she let out a mocking laugh. "Your house? What house do you have?"

Her snide look pissed me off.

"Theo is my son. And this house was bought by my dad. How is this not my house?"

Catherine pulled a death certificate out of the drawer and threw it in my face.

"Look closely, George. You were declared dead six years ago."

"For the past six years, Donald has been the one taking care of our son. In Theo’s heart, Donald is his only dad..."

"That’s impossible!" I snapped, cutting her off.

"Theo was eight when I left! I homeschooled him, tutored him, and took care of him every single day for eight years!"

"When he had pneumonia, I stayed up for three days straight in the hospital room holding his hand. I am his father!"

"I don’t have a father who abandons his family for another woman!"

Suddenly, a small figure rushed over and shoved me hard. I lost my balance and fell to the floor.

It was Theo. He glared at me with pure hatred. "You ran away with some side-chick and left us. You should have died out there! How dare you show your face here again?"

Looking at the boy who looked seventy percent like me, my hands shook as I reached out to touch his arm.

"Theo, I didn't abandon you. I was taken by aliens. It was a mistake."

Theo slapped my hand away.

"Aliens? Do you think I'm three years old?"

He turned to Donald.

"Donald told me everything."

"You’re just a serial cheater. We still have the photos of you with those other women. Someone like you doesn't deserve to be my dad!"

"Photos? What photos?"