Chapter 1 The boy with his eyes

The cafe smelled like burnt coffee and rain.

Leah tightened her grip on the tray, her fingers slick with sweat. Table 4 needed their drinks, and the lunch rush hadn't even started yet. She pasted on a smile as she approached the booth, but it slipped the moment her eyes caught him.

Her world stilled.

Adrian Blackwood.

He sat with one arm draped over the back of the booth, like he owned the air around him. Tailored charcoal suit, icy expression, eyes like a storm-he hadn't changed. If anything, he looked colder. Sharper. Deadlier.

He looked like the kind of man who broke hearts and didn't bother to remember the names.

Leah's knees buckled beneath her.

He didn't glance at her tray. Didn't smile. He looked her dead in the eye and said, "We need to talk."

No, her mind screamed. He can't be here.

"Excuse me?" she whispered, pretending she didn't know him. Hoping this was some sick trick her exhausted brain was playing.

Adrian's voice dropped to a razor-sharp murmur. "Don't play games, Leah. Not when you've kept my son hidden for five years."

The tray slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor, mugs shattering at her feet.

Gasps echoed around the cafe. Her manager shouted from behind the counter. But Leah heard nothing beyond the blood roaring in her ears.

He knows.

---

Twenty minutes later, they sat in her small, dim apartment above the cafe. Her heart hadn't stopped pounding since she'd left work early with a lie tumbling from her lips. Adrian hadn't said a word on the walk here. But his silence cut deeper than shouting ever could.

She poured two glasses of water with shaking hands. He didn't touch his.

"How did you find us?" she finally asked, her voice cracking.

Adrian leaned forward, elbows on knees. "A DNA test. A background search. A mistake you made enrolling him in school under your maiden name."

Her eyes burned. "I wasn't hiding him from you. I was protecting him."

His laugh was cold. "From me? Or from the truth?"

She flinched. "Adrian-"

"I want custody."

Leah's blood ran cold. "You what?"

"You heard me. Joint at first. Then full." He stood and walked to the window, arms crossed. "You took five years of my son's life. Five years I'll never get back. I'm done asking politely."

Her breath came in shallow gulps. "You can't just-"

"I can. And I will." He turned to face her. "Unless you agree to my terms."

A chill ran down her spine. "What terms?"

"Marry me. For one year. No media. No drama. Be my wife on paper-and I'll give you time with him. Refuse, and I take you to court. And with my resources?" He paused, eyes narrowing. "You'll lose."

Leah stared at him, stunned. "This is about revenge."

He didn't deny it.

But beneath the fury in his eyes, she saw something else-pain. Betrayal. A broken past neither of them had spoken about.

She closed her eyes. For her son... for the boy she loved more than life...

"When do we get married?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Adrian's lips curled.

"Tomorrow."

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