Damien’s POV
From his office window, Damien’s gaze tracked the courtyard below. Aria stood in the sunlight with Ethan, her laughter carrying faintly through the open air. She bent to brush dirt off her son’s knees, whispering something that made the boy grin wide, his brown hair falling across his face.
She looked so human. So fragile. And yet… he knew better now.
The investigator’s report lingered in the back of his mind: no birth records, no clear trail, adoption papers that felt half-formed, as though parts of her past had been erased. Conveniently erased. It gnawed at him.
Why hide who she was? What part of her truth was too dangerous—or too shameful—to tell?
He hated how the doubt settled heavy in his chest. His instincts screamed that Aria wasn’t being fully honest with him, tha
