Chapter 12: Unfinished thoughts
739 Words
Edwin didn’t believe in coincidences.
Not in business.
Not in life.
Everything in his world had a reason.
A pattern.
A purpose.
So why,
Out of all the places in the city.
Had he run into her?
He stood by the window of his office, his gaze distant, though the city stretched wide beneath him.
Busy, Predictable.
Controlled.
His thoughts were wavering.
“No records of her, nothing too serious”.
Andrew’s voice broke through the silence as he stepped into the office, a tablet in hand.
Edwin didn’t turn, like the words spinning him round.
“Explain.” In a sharp, curious voice
Andrew walked closer, glancing briefly at the screen.
“No records linked directly to her name in any major business network.
No high-profile affiliations, no obvious connections to your company either.
Striking chills ran through his veins, a pause.
“She’s… normal,” Andrew added.
That made Edwin frown.
“Normal?”
He repeated, trying to picture what Normal means.
Andrew nodded. “At least on paper.”
Edwin’s jaw tightened slightly.
From the look I saw, that wasn’t normal.
No normality from the way his racing heart kept reminding him of something about her. That’s not normal!
“And the child?”
Edwin asked faintly with a slight smack on his lips.
Andrew hesitated.
Just slightly.
“No registered father,”
He said carefully. “Just Alice's name appears.”
Silence.
Edwin’s expression didn’t change, but something in the air did.
“Interesting,” he murmured.
Because now that feeling from earlier?
That faint, unexplainable pull?
It had something to hold onto.
Across the city—
Alice was doing everything she could to forget.
“Mom, look!”
She turned just in time to see her son holding up another drawing, his face lit with excitement.
“What did you make this time?” she asked, kneeling slightly.
“It’s us,” he said proudly, and hurriedly handed the paper to her.
Alice took the paper gently.
Three figures, Herself, Him.
And a third figure, taller, struck her with a sense of familiarity.
Undefined, her fingers still couldn’t get to understand who the third figure is.
“Who’s this?” she asked softly.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, Mom, I just drew it out of imagination”.
Something in her chest tightened.
Forcing a small smile, she handed it back. “It’s beautiful.”
He grinned.
Satisfied.
But Alice’s mind had already drifted.
Back to earlier.
To him.
The way he had looked at her, not recognizing her.
But not completely unaware either.
“I need to be careful,” she whispered under her breath.
Because this time—
There was more at stake.
Back at Gulter Enterprises—
Edwin sat at his desk, the file in front of him untouched.
He had work, Important work.
Deadlines,
Decisions.
But none of it held his attention.
Instead—
His mind replayed a single moment.
Her voice.
“I don’t think so.”
A lie.
He was sure of it.
And he didn’t like being lied to.
“Find out where she works,” he said suddenly.
Andrew surprisingly looked at “Edwin”, seeing how desperate he was to know things about her.
“Discreetly.”
A pause.
Andrew studied him for a moment, then nodded once.
“Alright.”
But as he turned to leave, he couldn’t help but ask.
“This isn’t like you.”
Edwin didn’t respond immediately.
Because he knew that.
He didn’t chase people.
He didn’t question things that didn’t matter.
And yet—
“This one does,” Edwin said quietly.
Later that evening—
Alice stood by her window again, the city lights flickering in the distance.
Her son was asleep.
The apartment was quiet.
Too quiet.
Her thoughts refused to settle.
“He doesn’t even have a clue”, she said in a soothing tone.
It should have made more sense if he did.
But it didn’t.
Because now—
He was looking.
And if Edwin Gulter was looking.
He would find something.
Alice closed her eyes briefly, her hand resting lightly against the window.
“I won’t let him disrupt this,” she whispered.
Not her life again, not even her child’s own.
Her tone is firm and grounded.
Not the peace she had fought so hard to build.
But deep down.
She knew.
Alice knew it was far from over.
- Writer
