Kieran Lockhart had never known hesitation.
He had made billion-dollar decisions before breakfast. Toppled monopolies by dinner. In a world where most men climbed mountains, he simply moved them. And yet… he found himself pacing in front of his desk, one hand tugging at his tie, the other buried in his pocket.
He was supposed to be reviewing a merger with a South Korean tech giant.
Instead, he was remembering the girl in the rain.
No. Not a girl. A woman.
Strong, composed, and fearless in a storm. She had taken over his thoughts like wildfire—calm and controlled at first, then consuming. And for days now, he had fought it.
Until this morning.
Until he had opened the engagement file he'd buried in his desk drawer.
The arranged marriage contract between him and Aira Laurent.
He'd never paid much attention to the details. It had been signed when they were infants—nothing more than a polite agreement between empires. A formality. A relic. One that could be broken.
He stared at the name again.
Aira.
How strange. Her name felt familiar now. Warm.
"What if it's her?" he muttered under his breath.
Then scoffed.
No. That would be ridiculous.
The girl he saw wasn't dressed like a Laurent. She wasn't guarded, escorted, or dripping in couture. She was silent, precise, and almost… hidden.
And yet, something inside him wouldn't let go of the possibility.
The haunting way her hood had slipped just enough to reveal her jawline. The elegant, steady fingers. The voice—calm, commanding, laced with quiet authority.
He didn't even know if the Laurents had found their missing daughter yet.
But if they had…
Kieran stopped pacing.
"I'm going to the Laurent estate," he said aloud.
From the door, Caleb looked up from his tablet. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Kieran replied, striding over. "I want to end the engagement. In person."
There was a pause.
Then, very slowly, Caleb raised an eyebrow. "The engagement you haven't acknowledged for over two decades?"
Kieran's lips curved into something too self-aware to be called a smile. "Yes. That one."
Caleb didn't ask why. Kieran appreciated that about him.
"Prepare a formal gift package," Kieran continued. "Something… impressive. No—many things. Lavish, but tasteful. Enough to ease the blow."
"So," Caleb said dryly, tapping notes into his device, "you want to personally go cancel your engagement with the Laurents, bearing more gifts than a royal envoy?"
Kieran met his gaze.
"I need to see her."
"Her?"
A brief silence.
Then, Kieran finally said it, low and certain:
"I'm in love with her, Caleb. I just don't know who she is yet."
Caleb's fingers slowed on the tablet.
A statement like that—coming from Kieran Lockhart—was enough to freeze time.
Kieran turned toward the window again, his voice distant.
"I saw her save a life like she was saving the world. That kind of woman… you don't forget."
And in his gut, in his soul—he knew it.
He had to find her. Even if that meant breaking an engagement he no longer believed was symbolic.
Even if it led him straight into the very house he was unknowingly tied to.