The bathroom door opened. Ethan Sullivan stepped out, drying his damp hair.

Sophia Laurent sat propped against the headboard, his phone clutched in her hand.

Her expression gave nothing away, but his sharp instincts detected her subdued mood.

He settled beside her on the bed, fingertips grazing her cheek. "Who upset my Sophia?"

She handed him the device. "See for yourself."

Ethan's gaze flickered across the screen - an intimate message from Isabella Valentine.

He deleted and blocked the number without hesitation. "Next time, just handle these yourself. No need to show me."

Sophia lowered her lashes, fingers absently tracing the quilt's edge. "Why were you with her originally?"

"Business marriage." He captured her restless hand. "Our families had years of collaboration needing that connection."

She turned her face away.

Though she knew better than to ask, the question burned within her.

Ethan read her perfectly, drawing her into his embrace. "Back then, I was ice to everyone. She pursued me relentlessly."

Only then did the tension leave Sophia's shoulders.

She changed the subject. "What did Evelyn's daughter... look like?"

His eyes momentarily lost focus. "Stunning from birth. Porcelain skin, eyes that seemed to speak. Evelyn named her Isabella."

Sophia stiffened.

Softly, she confessed, "Mother said I looked like I stepped from a painting as a child. Hence 'Laurent.'"

Ethan's heart clenched.

He crushed her against him. "When Grandmother arranged introductions, I only met you."

Sophia's breath caught.

So it was the name he'd loved first.

Just as she'd been drawn to him for eyes that mirrored Kyle's.

Fate had written their story long ago.

She lifted her face, pressing her lips to his.

He cradled her head, deepening the kiss.

Memory flashed to their first kiss - that winter night he'd insisted on moon-watching.

Bare branches etched the courtyard, stars dusting the sky.

That heartbeat of longing had been love's first shape.

Days after New Year's, Sophia received Kyle Grant's call.

He mentioned visiting Kyoto on business and wishing to meet Vincent Laurent.

When she sought Ethan's opinion, he was packing for a business trip.

"Go ahead." He adjusted his tie. "I trust you."

The following evening at Kyoto Grand Hotel, Sophia made introductions.

As Kyle and Vincent shook hands, their gazes turned razor-sharp.

Over dinner, Sophia's phone kept vibrating.

Ethan's messages flooded in:

"Food to your taste?"

"How's your father reacting to him?"

"More welcoming than with me?"

Finally, a call came.

Sophia excused herself. "I need to take this."

The moment the private room door closed, Kyle cut to the chase. "I've investigated Evelyn."

Vincent's chopsticks stilled.

"She took medical leave from school, not maternity leave." Kyle's voice turned blade-sharp. "Why lie?"

Vincent countered, "Why should I believe you?"

"At ten, I took a bullet for Sophia." Kyle's low tone carried steel. "Reason enough?"

Vincent studied him at length.

Finally, he spoke. "Sophia was switched at birth. That dead infant... was a decoy."

Kyle's knuckles whitened.

"The culprit remains free." Vincent's expression darkened. "Revealing the truth would alert them."

Pain lanced through Kyle's chest.

"Leave it to me," he vowed.

Vincent arched a brow.

"Five years in Special Forces." Kyle's gaze never wavered. "Protecting her is my duty."

No word of love passed between them, yet devotion ran deeper than oceans.