Ethan Carter stared at the tiny human sitting in his CEO chair like he owned the company.
"…Did I hit my head on the way in?" he muttered to himself, glancing around the room for hidden cameras.
Alex was swinging his legs, completely relaxed.
"Are you my daddy now?" he asked again.
Ethan blinked. "No. I'm… I'm Ethan Carter. CEO. I run this company. I'm not… a daddy."
"But you look like a CEO," Alex insisted. "I always wanted a CEO daddy. And you have a nice chair."
Ethan rubbed his temple.
This was either a prank… or he was hallucinating from stress and lack of sleep.
"Okay, kid… where are your parents?" Ethan crouched down to Alex's eye level.
"I don't have any," Alex said softly, hugging his teddy. "They adopted me. But they were scary. They didn't smile. They shouted. I ran away."
Ethan's expression softened just a bit.
Still, he looked around. No hidden cameras. No social media pranksters jumping out. Nothing.
The boy's clothes looked a little dirty. His knees were scraped. And yet he was smiling.
"Maybe you're hungry," Ethan mumbled, standing up. "Let's get you something to eat first."
---
At the Café Nearby…
Alex's eyes widened at the menu.
"I can order anything?"
Ethan, already typing on his phone, nodded. "Yeah, sure."
Alex whispered to the waiter, "I want the biggest cake."
Ethan didn't even notice until the waiter returned—with a chocolate tower that could feed a wedding.
"…You said anything!" Alex reminded him, mouth full of cream.
Ethan just sighed and went back to his phone. He had already sent his assistant, Lily, to check if there were any missing child reports. He also messaged security to pull CCTV footage.
This kid… wasn't on the employee list. How did he even get in?
Suddenly, Ethan got a call from a client. He stepped outside to take it.
That's when it happened.
BOOM!
Screams.
Smoke.
Ethan froze.
"Alex!" he shouted, running back toward the café.
But fire was already rising inside. People were running out. Panic everywhere.
And then—through the smoke—
A woman appeared, carrying Alex in her arms like a hero in slow motion.
Her ponytail was messy. Her expression, furious.
She gently placed Alex on the ground and turned to Ethan.
"Is this your child?!"
"What—no, I—"
"You brought him here and left him alone in a café? Are you kidding me? Do you even know how to raise a child?!"
"I—he's not even—"
She didn't let him finish. She marched off with fire in her eyes.
Alex blinked, looking between the two adults.
"Wow," he whispered. "She'd be a perfect mommy."
---
At the Hospital…
Alex had minor burns, nothing serious. But something else shocked Ethan more.
"No ID?"
The nurse nodded. "No records. Not in school, not in child database, not in any adoption report."
Ethan looked at the small boy sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed, holding his teddy bear like it was the most important thing in the world.
"…So he wasn't lying," Ethan muttered. "He really has no one."
He sighed and leaned back in the chair, loosening his tie.
"What am I doing…"
And yet—
When the nurse asked who would take care of Alex from now on—
Ethan Carter didn't hesitate.
He signed the papers.
And wrote down a new name:
Alex Carter.