SOMETHING DOESN’T ADD UP
1010 Words
Chapter 10
Jaden didn’t move for a long time.
The file remained open in front of him.
Ken winter
His eyes stayed fixed on it while silence filled the office like pressure waiting to explode. Slowly he leaned back in his chair.
His mind was somewhere else. Four years ago one night, one woman
Tara, his jaw tightened hard
No, it could be coincidence he looked at the date again. Then reached for his phone immediately.
“Clara,” he said coldly the second she answered. “Come to my office.”
Two minutes later, she stepped inside.
She stopped immediately when she saw his expression.
Something was wrong.
“Sir?”
Jaden slid the file across the desk.
“Read the child’s birth date.”
Clara frowned slightly before looking down. Then her eyes widened faintly.
The timing was exactly four years ago around the same period Tara disappeared.
Clara slowly looked up. “You think—”
“I’m calculating,” Jaden interrupted sharply.
His voice was controlled which meant he was dangerously close to losing it.
Clara stayed silent. Jaden stood abruptly and walked toward the windows again.
His thoughts moved rapidly to the night he met Tara the connection between them and how she vanished the next morning.
How he searched for years and now a child. A child whose age aligned almost perfectly.
His pulse slowed dangerously. “Get me everything on the boy,” he ordered quietly.
Clara hesitated. “Sir… legally, that may be difficult.”
“I didn’t ask if it was difficult.” The coldness in his tone sliced through the room instantly.
Clara straightened. “Understood.”
She left quickly while Jaden remained motionless.
But inside nothing was calm anymore.
Outside his office, Tara was barely surviving the day the workload hadn’t slowed down.
Emails piled endlessly across her screen while meeting requests overlapped with impossible deadlines.
“Tara, the finance department needs those reports.”
“Tara, the investors changed the presentation order.”
“Tara, Mr Jaden wants revised projections.” Her head pounded harder with every passing hour.
She stood quickly to grab another file and nearly lost her balance. Ethan caught her arm immediately.
“Whoa.”
Tara blinked rapidly. “I’m fine.”
“You almost fell.”
“I skipped breakfast.”
“And probably dinner yesterday too.”
She gave him a tired look as she laughed weakly. Then her phone buzzed.
Her expression softened instantly when she saw the screen.
Ken.
Ethan noticed immediately.
“That your son?”
Tara nodded softly before answering the call.
“Hi baby.”
“Mama!” Ken’s excited little voice instantly melted some of the tension in her chest. “When are you coming home?”
“Soon,” she promised quietly.
“You said that yesterday.” Guilt hit immediately.
Tara closed her eyes briefly. “I know.”
“Grandma burned dinner.” Ethan nearly laughed beside her.
Tara smiled faintly despite exhaustion. “Did she?”
“Yes. It was scary.”
“Poor you.” Ken giggled softly before asking, “Are you working again?”
“Yes.”
“You work too much.”
Tara swallowed hard. “I’m trying, sweetheart.”
“Hurry home.”
“I will.”
After the call ended, silence settled around her Ethan looked at her carefully.
“You’re doing all this alone?”
Tara nodded once.
“His father isn’t around?”
Something flickered across her face.
“No.” Before Ethan could ask more questions
her intercom buzzed.
CEO OFFICE.
Tara inhaled slowly. “Of course.”
Inside the office, Jaden’s expression was unreadable when she entered.
But something felt different immediately.
“Tara.”
Her stomach tightened slightly at the sound of her name in his voice.
“Yes, sir?”
Jaden studied her carefully.
Too carefully.
His eyes moved across her face like he was searching for something.
Tara shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze.
“Is there a problem?” A pause.
Then quietly “How old is your son?”
The question hit so suddenly she froze.
“What?” Jaden’s eyes never left hers.
“How old is he?” Tara’s pulse quickened instantly. Why did he ask that?
“Four,” she answered cautiously.
Something dark flickered behind his eyes exactly what he expected.
The tension in the room thickened instantly.
Tara frowned slightly. “Why are you asking about my child?”
Jaden didn’t answer immediately because his mind was already moving too fast.
Four years ago Tara disappeared, a child and the timing nothing about this felt random anymore.
“Tara,” he said slowly, “where were you four years ago?” Her brows pulled together immediately.
“What kind of question is that?”
“Answer it.”
The cold authority in his voice irritated her instantly. “I don’t see how that’s your business.”
His jaw tightened.
“It is if it affects this company.”
“That makes no sense.”
Neither of them moved the air between them became heavier with every passing second.
Then Tara spoke again carefully.
“Did I do something wrong?” Jaden stared at her and for the first time since she started working here he looked unsettled.
Like something inside him was beginning to fracture.
“No,” he said quietly but his voice sounded distant now. Tara stepped back.
“Can I go?” Jaden looked at her for one long moment before nodding once.
“Yes.”
She left quickly confusion twisting harder inside her chest.
The second the doors shut behind her, Jaden exhaled sharply as his hand moved across his face slowly.
Then back to the file again.
Ken Winters.
His mind replayed the timing repeatedly every detail aligned too perfectly.
And suddenly he remembered something. The boy’s eyes in the small photo attached to the file.
Gray.
His chest tightened violently.
No, that wasn’t possible Jaden stood abruptly and grabbed the file again.
His pulse pounded harder now.
- Writer
