Bella's words were still hanging in the air.
This is him. The father of my child.
The man she had grabbed froze for half a breath. He was tall, clean-cut, wearing a navy coat that looked out of place in the late-night chaos of the cardiology corridor. His gaze was sharp enough to be a scalpel, yet calm enough to steady a shaking hand.
He also looked… familiar.
Bella's mind tried to chase the feeling, to drag a memory into the light, but the hallway was too loud and her daughter was too close. She couldn't afford nostalgia or doubt.
She leaned closer to the stranger and lowered her voice.
“Please," she whispered, the word barely moving her lips. “Just… help me once. Pretend with me."
It was wrong to pull an innocent man into her mess. It was reckless and humiliating and everything a
