Chapter 14: Not just a name
502 Words
The question hung in the air.
“What’s your name?”
Simple.
Innocent.
But to Alice, it felt like everything was about to fall apart.
Her grip on him tightened slightly, not enough to be noticed.
But enough to steady herself.
“Go on,” she said gently, her voice calm despite the storm rising inside her. “Tell him.”
The boy looked up again, his chubby face open and curious.
“My name is—”
He paused.
Giving a faint Smile
“Ethan.”
The name settled between them.
Edwin repeated it slowly.
“…Ethan.”
Something about it lingered and stayed.
He didn’t know why, but it did.
“Nice to meet you, Ethan,” Edwin said.
His tone was different again.
Softer, Less controlled.
Ethan smiled brightly. “You too!”
Alice watched the interaction carefully.
Way too carefully.
Because she could see it—
Even if Edwin couldn’t.
The resemblance is not obvious, not immediate.
But it was certainly there.
In the eyes, in the way he stood.
Even in the way he spoke.
Her chest tightened.
“Alright,” she said quickly, placing a gentle hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “We should get going.”
Too fast, too sudden.
Edwin noticed.
“You’re in a hurry,” he observed.
Alice didn’t look at him.
“I have somewhere to be.”
A lie.
And this time, He heard it clearly.
“Wait.”
The word stopped her.
Not loud, not forceful.
But enough.
Alice turned slowly, her expression composed.
“Is there something else?”
Edwin stepped closer.
His gaze shifted briefly to Ethan, then back to her.
“You didn’t mention him before,” he said.
A pause.
“You didn’t ask,” she replied.
Another lie.
Another truth.
Edwin studied her.
Longer this time, even Deeper.
As if he’s trying to connect pieces that still don’t quite fit.
“You’re very guarded,” he said.
“I have reasons to be.”
“Like what?”
Alice held her gaze, Steady and Unshaken.
“Like knowing when something is none of my business,” she said.
That landed on a soft spot.
Edwin’s jaw tightened slightly.
He wasn’t used to this.
To resistance, to being shut out.
Especially not like this.
“Mom?” Ethan tugged lightly at her hand.
Alice softened immediately, glancing down at him.
“Yes?”
“Can we go now?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
And just like that—
She chose.
Not the past.
Not the tension.
But him.
“Goodbye, Mr. Gulter,” she said, her tone polite but final.
Then she turned and walked away.
Ethan’s hand in hers.
Small, Warm and Real.
Edwin didn’t move; he didn’t speak.
He just stood there watching them leave.
Ethan.
The name echoed in his mind.
“…Ethan.”
It shouldn’t matter.
But it did.
Because something about that child.
Felt Familiar.
And for the first time,
Edwin Gulter didn’t just feel curious.
He felt unsettled.
- Writer
