Chapter One: The Shocking Reveal

The afternoon light sliced through the iron gates of St. Aurelia’s Academy, throwing long bars of gold across the pavement. Lila Monroe was halfway through a client call when her phone buzzed with a message from the school’s number.

“We’re having an issue with Eli’s pickup. Please come immediately.”

Her heart lurched.

She dropped her sketchbook, spilling fabric samples across the taxi seat. “Driver, turn around. St. Aurelia’s, now!”

By the time the car reached the school, parents were clustering near the gates, their chatter tight with unease. Police officers had already covered the premises.

“Ms. Monroe?” The receptionist’s voice was thin and nervous. “There was a man, he said he was from your former employer, Hale Enterprises. He showed identification. We called for verification, but before we could, he tried to take Eli to a car.”

Lila’s blood went cold. “Where is my son?”

“Safe,” the woman said quickly. “One of the men from Hale stopped it. Your son’s with him now.”

“Hale?” The name stabbed at a memory she couldn’t face.

The guard pointed down the street. “They went that way. He said he was taking the boy to his office until you arrived.”

Lila didn’t wait. She ran out of the school gate and followed the direction the school guard pointed.

Just very close to the Hale’s building, it started raining, hammering against the windshield like it wanted inside

Lila didn’t wait for the car to stop. She threw the door open while it was still rolling, boots splashing into a puddle as she sprinted toward the revolving doors of Hale Tower.

“Ma’am, you can’t go in…”

The security guard barely finished before she shoved her phone in his face.

Her lock-screen: a little boy with cinnamon curls and storm-gray eyes.

“My son is in there!” Her voice cracked with panic. “Two men came to his daycare, fake Hale Tower badges, forged paperwork, they took him! Your men took him! Dominic Hale took him!”

The guard froze, radio lifted halfway. That heartbeat of hesitation was all she needed. Lila dashed past him into the gleaming lobby.

Marble floors. Glass walls. Air-conditioned silence.

The place smelled of rain and money.

She jabbed the elevator button three times before it lit.

Her pulse was a drum. Her fingers trembled against the chrome railing.

She hadn’t said his name in six years. Hadn’t even let herself think it.

Dominic Hale.

Just the thought made her stomach twist.

He wasn’t just rich. He was untouchable, the kind of man who made news anchors stumble over his name and CEOs lower their eyes.

He owned half the skyline she was staring at now, and once, for one reckless night, he had owned her.

Then he vanished.

No trace. No explanation.

Only a note on the pillow: Forget me.

She had tried. God, she had tried.

Until today.

The elevator opened on the top floor, silent, private, too perfect.

“Ms. Monroe,” a deep voice said behind her. “You made quite an entrance.”

She spun.

He stood by the wall of glass, the storm-lit city fractured across his face.

Tall. Precise. Controlled.

Black suit. Silver eyes. And in his arms,

“No.” The word broke out of her.

He was holding Eli.

Her son slept against his chest, one small hand curled into the lapel of his thousand-dollar jacket. Breathing softly. Peaceful.

Like he belonged there.

Lila’s knees nearly buckled. “Put him down,” she hissed. “Put him down right now!”

Dominic didn’t flinch.

“He was frightened when I found him,” he said quietly.

“Two men tried to access the restricted floors using forged credentials. They ran when they saw security approaching. Your son was left in the lobby, crying. I brought him here for safety.”

“You—found—him?” Her voice cracked.

“I didn’t take him.”

His gaze held hers: sharp, steady, earnest.

“If I had, you wouldn’t have walked past my security just now.”

Her breath stuttered. She didn’t want to believe him, but the words made too much sense.

“You think you can just hold my son like…”

“Your son?” His tone sharpened. “I didn’t say he was mine.”

She froze.

Dominic stepped closer, slowly and deliberately. The scent of his cologne pulled at a memory she hated.

“When I saw him,” he said, voice low, “I thought I was seeing a ghost. He looks exactly like me. Same eyes. Same mouth.”

Her hands curled into fists. “He’s not your responsibility.”

Dominic’s jaw tightened.

“You expect me to ignore that resemblance? After you vanished from every record six years ago, no contact, no trace? You think none of that matters?”

“You don’t remember me,” she whispered. “You don’t get to say what matters.”

A muscle jumped along his jaw.

“I don’t remember you,” he admitted quietly. “There was nothing, just your name.”

Lila froze. “What are you talking about?”

“I saw your name when the security alert triggered,” he said. “The moment you stepped into the building, my system flagged you. And when I read it: Lila Monroe, it did something to me. I didn’t know why. I still don’t.”

“But I know you disappeared after the night I lost my memory. I’ve had investigators trying to find you for years. And then today…”

His eyes dropped to Eli.

“You walk into my building with a boy who looks exactly like me.”

The air went thin.

Eli stirred against his chest, eyelids fluttering. A tiny hand lifted, brushing Dominic’s collar.

“Daddy?” he murmured sleepily.

Dominic went still.

The rain streaked down the glass behind him.

The city blurred into gray.

Lila couldn’t breathe.

She hadn’t taught him that word.

She had been so, so careful.

Dominic blinked slowly, as though trying to understand a language he once knew.

He looked down at the boy in his arms, the perfect reflection of his own face.

Then he lifted his gaze to Lila, something breaking open in it that she wasn’t ready for.

And in that moment, Lila realized what terrified her most:

Not that Dominic might hate her for keeping Eli a secret.

But that he might never, ever let them go again.