Monday arrived with an unusual heaviness.
Alexandria Bolivar stood in front of her bathroom mirror, fastening the buttons of her blouse while mentally going through the day's schedule.
Board meeting at nine.
Client presentation at eleven.
Review reports before lunch.
Pick up Yuto's favorite strawberry yogurt on the way home.
Normal.
Routine.
Safe.
"Mama!"
Alex smiled as Yuto burst into the room.
"You forgot this."
He held up her employee ID.
"Oh, thank you, sweetheart."
Yuto grinned proudly.
"You'd be lost without me."
"I absolutely would."
He puffed out his chest.
"I'm very responsible."
Asha laughed from the doorway.
"He says that after hiding my slippers."
"It was an investigation."
Alex kissed the top of Yuto's head.
"I'll see you tonight."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
As she walked out the door, she didn't notice the way Yuto stood at the entrance, waving enthusiastically until she disappeared from sight.
---
Yujiro had always trusted facts over instincts.
Facts could be verified.
Instincts could be wrong.
Yet recently, instinct had become increasingly difficult to ignore.
His gaze drifted toward the folded drawing tucked neatly inside the top drawer of his desk.
He should have discarded it.
Instead, he'd kept it.
The memory of Yuto's bright smile lingered in his mind.
"Mama works hard."
"He can't color inside the lines."
"You're really tall."
The boy had been fearless.
Honest.
Warm.
Yujiro exhaled sharply and closed the drawer.
He had work to do.
---
By noon, Alex and Yujiro found themselves leaving another successful client meeting.
"You handled their objections well," Yujiro remarked as they walked down the hallway.
"Thank you."
"You anticipated their concerns before they raised them."
Alex glanced at him.
"Years of practice."
"You've had an unusual amount of experience for someone your age."
She smiled faintly.
"Life tends to accelerate certain lessons."
Before Yujiro could respond, Alex's phone rang.
Her expression changed instantly.
Warmth.
Concern.
Love.
"Excuse me."
She stepped aside.
"Hello?"
Even from several feet away, Yujiro heard the tiny voice through the speaker.
"Mama!"
Yuto sounded distressed.
"I fell."
Alex immediately straightened.
"What happened? Are you okay?"
"I scraped my knee."
"Did Auntie Asha clean it?"
"...Yes."
"Do you need stitches?"
"No."
"Then what do you need, sweetheart?"
A sniffle echoed through the line.
"You."
Alex's entire expression softened.
"I'm coming home early."
"Mama?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
She ended the call.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "My son got hurt."
Yujiro's gaze lingered on her.
"Go."
"What?"
"Go home."
"I still have reports—"
"They can wait."
Alex stared at him.
Then, sincerely,
"...Thank you."
She hurried away.
Yujiro watched her disappear down the corridor.
A mother.
A devoted one.
Everything about Alex changed when it came to her son.
The realization settled heavily within him.
He couldn't understand the man who had willingly walked away from that.
---
That evening, Alex arrived home to find Yuto dramatically sprawled across the couch.
"My leg is broken," he announced.
Asha rolled her eyes.
"It's a tiny scrape."
"I saw my life flash before my eyes."
"You asked for dinosaur bandages," Asha corrected.
"I was dying stylishly."
Alex laughed despite herself.
She gathered Yuto into her arms.
"You scared me."
Yuto wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
He pulled away slightly.
"Mama?"
"Hmm?"
"Can Mr. Tall Boss come over someday?"
Alex nearly dropped him.
"What?"
"He was nice."
"He drew dinosaurs."
"He looked lonely."
The words caught her off guard.
"Lonely?"
Yuto nodded.
"Like when you're sad but pretending you're not."
Alex stared at her son.
Children noticed things adults overlooked.
"I don't know, sweetheart."
Yuto seemed satisfied with that answer.
"Okay."
Then he whispered,
"I think he'd be a good daddy."
The room fell silent.
Asha slowly looked away.
Alex's heart clenched painfully.
"Yuto..."
Before she could say anything else, the little boy yawned.
"Can we have strawberry yogurt tomorrow?"
"...Of course."
---
Across the city, Yujiro sat in his penthouse, a glass of untouched whiskey resting beside him.
He stared at the city skyline.
Then his eyes drifted toward the drawing.
Without understanding why, he unfolded it.
Three stick figures.
One tall.
One small.
One with long hair.
All holding hands.
A family.
His gaze lingered on the smallest figure.
Yuto.
Something tugged at his memory.
The boy had said he was three.
Hadn't he?
Yujiro frowned.
No.
He had never asked.
His thoughts shifted.
Three years ago.
Rain.
A woman laughing.
A morning spent beside a stranger whose name he had learned only hours before.
Alexandria.
He remembered the timeline.
The dates.
The season.
The year.
His heartbeat slowed.
Then quickened.
His mind returned to Yuto.
His age.
Alex's protectiveness.
Her refusal to discuss the boy's father.
The fear in her eyes whenever the subject surfaced.
No.
His fingers tightened around the crayon drawing.
No.
It couldn't be.
Could it?
For the first time in years, Yujiro abandoned logic.
He pulled open the drawer of his desk and retrieved Alex's employee file.
His eyes scanned the information.
Harvard graduate.
Emergency contact: Asha.
Marital Status: Single.
Dependent Information...
He froze.
One listed dependent.
Yuto Bolivar.
Date of birth:
His vision blurred.
The world around him fell silent.
The numbers stared back at him.
Unchanging.
Unforgiving.
Three years old.
Born exactly when he would have been conceived.
Yujiro's breathing became uneven.
"No..."
He looked back at the drawing.
At the tiny stick figure.
At the place beside Alex.
Then back to the file.
Three years.
Three years of bedtime stories.
First words.
First steps.
Three years he hadn't known.
Three years he had lost.
The drawing slipped from his trembling hands.
He stared blankly ahead.
The truth he had unknowingly circled for weeks finally stood before him.
Not as a possibility.
Not as suspicion.
But as something undeniable.
Yuto.
Yuto Bolivar.
His son.
And somewhere across the city, completely unaware that his carefully guarded secret had shattered, Alexandria Bolivar tucked Yuto into bed and kissed his forehead goodnight.
She didn't know that the truth had finally found Yujiro.
And that tomorrow, everything would change.
Because some revelations don't quietly alter lives.
They destroy the foundations they were built upon.
And from their ruins, something entirely new must rise.
— End of Chapter 10 —