Billionaire’s Twin Deception

Chapter 13

EDEN'S POV

The boy says it casually and for a second I just stare at him.

The hallway noise disappears, the kitchen disappears. Everything narrows down to the little boy sitting cross-legged on the floor holding a dinosaur drawing.

Jack looks completely innocent like he has no idea what those words just did to me.

Then Janice appears too fast. One second she's nowhere, the next she's crossing the hallway toward us like something is chasing her.

"Jack."

Every instinct inside me sharpens because that's not embarrassment on her face.

Jack brightens instantly. "Mama, look......."

"We need to go."

The interruption comes too quickly and Jack blinks in confusion. "But I was talking......"

"I know."

Her fingers close around his backpack too tight and I watch her carefully.

"You okay?"

Her eyes snap toward me.

"Fine."

Jack looks between both of us, confused now.

The air tightens painfully and I crouch slightly toward him.

"See you later, dinosaur expert."

Jack grins then points a warning finger at me. "You still don't know enough about velociraptors."

"I'll study."

"Good."

Janice doesn't smile, she barely looks at me at all before leading him away fast and that thought follows me for the rest of the day because Jack didn't sound abandoned or sound angry, he didn't sound hurt.

He sounded curious like somewhere in his mind there's a father worth asking about, a father worth finding.

By afternoon I'm completely useless as meetings happen around me, people keep talking, numbers flash across screens, and I absorb absolutely none of it.

Richard notices naturally and he closes the office door after another disastrous meeting.

"You need distance."

I lean back in my chair tiredly. "Why?"

"Because you're starting to look emotionally involved."

The words land harder because he's right, I already am.

Richard studies me carefully then asks quietly, "What exactly are you looking for here?"

I wish I knew instead I look away. That silence answers enough and Richard exhales slowly.

"This ends badly."

"Helpful."

"I'm serious."

The problem is I don't know why anymore, I spend the rest of the afternoon thinking about timelines.

Not records or forms but timelines, Chloe, the accident, the hospital, the months afterward, Janice, the betrayal, her disappearance, Jack's age and every time I calculate it again and again, the answer leads somewhere uncomfortable, not proof, never proof, but possibility, and possibility is already dangerous enough.

By evening my patience is gone completely. I find Janice near the staff elevators reviewing invoices.

The second she sees me, tension slides visibly through her shoulders.

"We need to stop meeting like this."

"That would require you answering questions."

Her jaw tightens immediately. "There you go again."

"Because something doesn't make sense."

"Not everything is your business."

"Then stop making it feel like it is."

The frustration between us crackles, years sitting under every sentence, every look and every silence.

Janice folds her arms tightly. "Stop asking questions Eden."

"Then stop giving me reasons to ask them."

"You don't understand."

"Then help me understand."

The words come out sharper and Janice goes still.

Something flashes across her face. "You really don't want the answers you're looking for."

The statement hits strangely before I can respond, Jack comes running down the hallway carrying a toy dinosaur.

"Mama, look what Chan gave me."

Janice softens. "What did he give you?"

"A triceratops."

"That's definitely a T-Rex."

Jack gasps. "No it's not."

I crouch beside him. "She's right."

Jack stares at me in betrayal. "You too?"

"Sorry."

"This family has no dinosaur education."

The word family catches strangely inside my chest.

Janice hears it too but for one dangerous second neither of us speaks then Jack gets distracted by nothing and runs off again.

A paper slips from his backpack onto the floor behind him and I pick it up.

A school worksheet, family tree assignment then my eyes catch the top corner.

Student Information: Jack Soto

Below it sits his birthdate and suddenly the hallway feels too quiet.

My heartbeat slows strangely because I already know the timeline.

I've calculated it repeatedly but seeing the actual date, seeing it physically written down hits far differently.

Janice notices my expression and freezes.

"Eden......"

But I'm already doing the math again inside my head, the months after Chloe died, the months before Janice disappeared, the timing, the betrayal, Jack and everything crashes violently together, not proof, still not proof, but close enough to make breathing difficult.

That night I go home and pull an old storage box from the back of my closet.

Dust rises into the air, the past waits quietly inside.

Photographs, letters and memories. Things I stopped touching years ago.

I sit on the floor sorting through them slowly.

Chloe smiles up at me from another lifetime then another photograph slips loose.

A beach trip and Chloe laughing beside the ocean. The date printed clearly on the back catches my attention instantly.

I grab Jack's worksheet from the table beside me look at the birthdate again then back at the photograph.

My pulse starts hammering violently now because for the first time, the timeline doesn't just fit, it fits perfectly.

I lower myself slowly into the nearest chair, unable to look away, unable to stop calculating and stop thinking and one terrifying possibility crashes straight through me.

What if Jack isn't simply connected to me, what if he's mine?