Divorce With Benefits: A Second Chance At Love-Chapter 35: The Stranger Who Looked For Her

Jared exhaled deeply, the weight of her words hitting him harder than he wanted to admit. He nodded slowly, his gaze falling to the ground. She didn’t need to spell it out—he knew what she meant. The way he had shouted at her that night... and now at his mother. He had crossed a line.

Victoria was right. He was turning into something he never wanted to become. An animal. A beast.

"Do you have anything to say to me?" Jerica asked, looking at him.

Jared looked at her stunned that she would ask that out of him all of a sudden.

Jerica hoped he’d be open with her but it looked like he was not willing to speak to her.

Jerica turned to get inside the car and Jared followed. Silence was in the car for the rest of the ride.

-----

The next morning, Jerica sat at her desk in the City Hall office, her fingers skimming over the cool surface of the keyboard as she reviewed some mundane paperwork. The hum of the office was ever-present, a background noise of ringing phones and quiet chatter.

Regina, the Records Clerk, was her usual flustered self, darting from one task to another in her perpetual state of disarray. Jerica had come to recognize the distinct rhythm of Regina’s heels clicking frantically on the tile floor—this time they were accompanied by raised voices.

Curiosity piqued, Jerica pushed her chair back and stood up, the sound of an argument growing louder. Regina was in a heated discussion with the security officer outside the records room, her voice shrill as she gestured wildly.

"I don’t care how secure you think it is, something’s wrong!" Regina shouted, her face flushed. "My computer’s been hacked, and confidential information might have been stolen!"

Jerica arched an eyebrow as she neared, catching snippets of the argument. The security officer looked bewildered, clearly unsure how to deal with Regina’s frantic accusations. Soon after, the IT guy showed up, clearly bearing the brunt of her fury.

"You were supposed to have better security! This is unacceptable!" Regina’s voice grated against the IT guy’s already frayed nerves.

Jerica suppressed a grin. Regina, of all people, worried about security? The irony wasn’t lost on her. She retreated quietly, shaking her head as she returned to her desk. Sitting down, she leaned back in her chair and stared at the small file nestled inconspicuously in the corner of her desktop.

If Regina wanted her files to be safe, maybe she shouldn’t have made her password so obvious. Honestly, who in their right mind sets their birthday as the password for high-profile court documents?

Jerica clicked open the file she had retrieved from Regina’s computer earlier, skimming its contents with a practiced eye. It was nothing of too much interest—just some records Regina likely hadn’t even realized were missing. With a few taps of her keyboard, she erased all traces of the file from her system, her fingers moving swiftly as she closed any potential digital loopholes. Just as she was finishing, a slight movement caught her attention.

She felt a presence behind her.

Before she could react, a familiar voice murmured softly into her ear. "I knew it was you."

Jerica stiffened, instantly recognizing the warm, teasing tone.

Harold.

"Do you still hack for fun?" he whispered, his words laced with amusement as he leaned over her shoulder, his breath grazing her neck. His wide grin was evident in his tone like he thought he could just waltz back into her life after the emotional wreckage of the other night and everything would be fine.

Jerica didn’t even turn around. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him through the corner of her eye, the iciness of her expression enough to send a clear message.

"Get lost," her look practically said.

Harold, sensing her irritation, chuckled and held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I’m leaving," he said, still grinning but wisely backing off. He turned and walked away, but not before shooting her a quick, playful wink that made Jerica roll her eyes.

When he was finally gone, she rubbed her forehead, trying to clear the fog of emotions his presence always stirred in her. He had no right to come back into her life with that familiar ease, like everything between them was still the same. After everything he had put her through that night, he just had no right.

Her mind wandered, the lingering sense of unease returning as she thought of Jared. What was his connection to the Glover family? And why had Harold reappeared after all these years? There were too many unanswered questions, and the threads of mystery wrapped around her tighter each day.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a quiet voice at her desk.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Jerica looked up, blinking as her focus shifted. The meek voice belonged to an older man—one she’d seen a few times before in the clerk’s office. He stood there nervously, clutching his hat in his hands, his worn face creased with concern. He always seemed out of place here, his clothes a little too shabby for the polished halls of City Hall, but Jerica had noticed him coming in repeatedly for the past month.

Her heart softened as she realized he must have been running into bureaucratic red tape.

"Hello," she greeted him, offering a kind smile. "What can I help you with today?"

The other clerk, who had been filing her nails behind her desk, glanced up briefly before returning to her personal grooming, clearly uninterested in assisting. Jerica gave her an exasperated look before turning back to the old man.

"I’m trying to obtain information about someone," he explained, his voice wavering as he set down a form in front of her. His fingers shook slightly as he unfolded the paper, his eyes full of quiet determination.

Jerica glanced at the form. It was a public information request—nothing too out of the ordinary. These were routine enough in her line of work. People often filed requests to obtain records or personal information about others, especially when it involved legal matters or land ownership.

But as her eyes skimmed over the name on the request, her breath caught in her throat.

Elizabeth Evans.

Her mother’s name.

Born Elizabeth Hackley.

Jerica’s hands froze, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. Why would this man be requesting information about her mother? Who was he?