Chapter 4

Alexander watched the woman retreat through the crowd, his expression unreadable. The tailored suit on his frame seemed to constrict him more than usual, as if something in the air had shifted—off-balance, disjointed. That woman… her face haunted him, even though he couldn’t place it. Not yet.

“Sir?” the hotel staff greeted politely, holding out the meeting documents.

He barely acknowledged them. “Send them to my office.”

Theo clutched his fingers, unusually quiet.

“She was nice,” the boy murmured.

Alexander looked down at his son. “Hmm?”

“The lady. She smelled like sunshine,” Theo said, as if that was the most important detail in the world.

Alexander blinked. The words pierced deeper than they should have. Sunshine.

He didn’t reply. He only tightened his hold on Theo’s small hand and guided him toward the elevator.

---

Later that night – Sterling Estate

Alexander stood in the study of his penthouse, the lights dimmed to a warm amber hue. The skyline of the city blinked outside the tall glass windows, but his attention was focused solely on the large monitor before him.

He had called his tech assistant hours ago, requesting the full security footage from the hotel lobby. He told himself it was for protocol—ensuring his son had been safe.

But that wasn’t the whole truth.

He fast-forwarded through the footage until the moment the woman appeared.

Pause.

Danielle Carter. He didn’t know her name. But as she knelt before Theo, her gentle hands brushing the child’s hair from his eyes, Alexander found himself frozen. Theo’s normally guarded, stubborn nature seemed to melt in her presence.

The child leaned into her touch as if he’d known her forever.

Alexander zoomed in slightly. Her face came into focus—kind eyes, high cheekbones, soft brown hair pulled into a neat bun.

There was something maddeningly familiar about her.

A flash of memory.

Sheets tangled in the dark. A breathless moan. The taste of something sweet and unfamiliar. And eyes—brown eyes, wide with wonder and haze.

His brows furrowed. That night.

But no, it couldn’t be. He hadn’t even seen the woman’s face clearly that night. The hotel room was dark, and both of them—strangers in that moment—had been under the influence. He’d only woken with the faint scent of vanilla and the echo of someone calling him something soft…

His heart skipped.

That voice.

Danielle had said nothing to him earlier but her presence had… stirred something. A shadow of something unfinished.

Alexander exhaled, raking a hand through his hair. This wasn’t like him. He didn’t dwell. He didn’t get distracted.

Still, his hand hovered over the keyboard, fingers twitching before he did something entirely uncharacteristic—

He saved the footage.

“Just in case,” he murmured to himself.

---

Meanwhile – Across the City

Danielle sat in Aria’s living room, her heels kicked off, a cup of tea in her hands. Her expression was unreadable, her thoughts spinning in circles.

“Dani,” Aria called from the kitchen. “You good?”

Danielle didn’t answer immediately.

“That little boy from earlier,” she finally said. “He… reminded me of someone.”

Aria poked her head around the corner. “A kid? Reminded you of who? You don’t even hang around children.”

Danielle’s voice was quiet. “He had gray eyes. Just like… him.”

Aria stilled.

“You’re thinking about that night again, aren’t you?” she asked cautiously.

Danielle shook her head, but the lie was weak.

Aria joined her on the couch. “It’s been a long time, Dani. And you’ve rebuilt your life. You escaped your family’s toxicity. You’re doing amazing at Bennett & Blake. Why dig up the past?”

Danielle smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“It’s not about digging up the past. It’s that the past… keeps finding me.”

She looked down into her tea, watching the ripples. “He called the boy Theo.”

Aria blinked. “Theo?”

“Yeah.”

The name felt like a blade twisted gently into her chest.

That was the name I wanted to give my son, she thought.

But she didn’t say it aloud.

Aria watched her quietly for a moment. “You know it’s not him, right? It’s just a coincidence.”

“Right,” Danielle murmured.

But she wasn’t so sure.

---

Sterling Enterprises – Next Morning

Alexander entered the office later than usual, his schedule packed back-to-back with investor meetings and quarterly strategy reviews. But his mind refused to engage.

The image of Danielle crouching in front of Theo refused to leave his head. He had seen many women in his life—beautiful, powerful, manipulative. But there had been no ulterior motive in her eyes.

Just kindness. And something else. Pain.

“Boss.” Damian strolled in, two coffees in hand. He tossed one to Alexander and leaned on the edge of his desk. “You’ve been brooding since yesterday.”

“I don’t brood,” Alexander muttered.

Damian snorted. “Right. You just sit in the dark watching security footage of random women.”

Alexander’s glare was sharp, but Damian didn’t back down.

“You recognized her, didn’t you?” Damian asked. “The woman with Theo.”

There was a beat of silence.

“I don’t know,” Alexander said truthfully. “But… Theo seemed drawn to her.”

Damian’s smile faded into something more serious. “You think she could be related to him? To the woman from back then?”

Alexander’s fingers tightened around the coffee cup.

“I don’t know.”

He remembered the envelope left at his doorstep. No return address. No name. Just the child. A DNA test later, it had confirmed Theo as his.

But the mother? That had remained a blank space.

Until now?

“I need to find out more about her,” he said finally.

Danielle returned home that night to her small but cozy apartment. As she settled into bed, she opened a drawer from her bedside table. Inside were a few keepsakes—a photo of her and her mother before she passed. A baby blanket. And the ultrasound image from three years ago.

She traced the blurred image with her fingertip.

“My little one,” she whispered. “I hope you’re somewhere safe.”

Her eyes welled, but she blinked the tears away. She had cried enough. There was no point in hope anymore.

Her baby was gone.