Mercer’s voice came out lower than before.
“…No.”
The courtroom shifted.
A prosecutor leaned forward.
“Your Honor?”
But Mercer did not respond.
His eyes stayed locked on the paper.
Ellie took another step forward.
“I told you,” she said softly. “My mommy said you’d read it.”
A chill passed through the room.
The judge slowly lifted his head.
“Who is your mother?” he asked.
Ellie hesitated.
For the first time, her confidence flickered.
Then she answered.
And the entire courtroom changed temperature.
“Dr. Liora Vance.”
Silence.
Not confusion.
Not disbelief.
Silence that came from recognition.
Then, slowly, someone in the back row whispered it like a curse.
“…That’s not possible.”
Daniel Whitaker’s face went pale.
“Liora Vance is dead,” the prosecutor said sharply. “She died fifteen years ago in a laboratory fire.”
Ellie shook her head.
“No.”
The judge’s hands tightened around the note.
“What did you just say?”
“My mommy isn’t dead.”
A ripple of unease spread across the courtroom.
Mercer’s voice sharpened.
“Where is she now?”
Ellie looked at him steadily.
“She said you would know where she is.”