That night, Isabella couldn't sleep.
She lay in the guest room—though she hated calling it that—eyes open, staring at the ceiling while the silence of the mansion pressed in from all sides.
A child. Alexander had a child.
The image of the girl's curls and innocent smile danced behind her eyelids, tugging at something soft and painful in her chest. She wasn't angry at the girl—of course not. But the betrayal she felt from Alexander sank deeper now, into places she didn't even know still hurt.
She turned on her side, clutching the pillow tighter.
Outside her room, soft footsteps moved through the hall. She sat up instinctively, the instinct of an old wife returning.
Quietly, she opened her door. The light from the hallway spilled across the floor.
There, just down the corridor, was Alexander. Shirtless. Pacing with his daughter half-asleep in his arms.
He hadn't noticed her yet.
She stepped out. "Is she okay?"
He stopped. Looked over. For a moment, his expression softened. "Nightmare," he said quietly. "She has them sometimes. I usually walk with her until she settles."
Isabella approached slowly, her arms crossed—not out of anger, but as protection.
"You're a good father," she said before she could stop herself.
He blinked. "I don't know if I am. I try."
They stood there for a moment, the silence between them oddly gentle.
"She looks like you," Isabella murmured. "But her eyes…"
"Her mother's," he said, his voice tight.
"And you loved her?"
The question hung in the air.
He didn't answer immediately. "I tried to," he said finally. "But no. I didn't. Not like I loved you."
The hallway suddenly felt too quiet, too intimate.
Isabella felt her heart pull in opposite directions—toward the past, and away from it.
"She'll wake up if we talk louder," he said.
"I should go back to bed," Isabella whispered.
But neither of them moved.
The little girl stirred in his arms and opened her sleepy eyes, focusing on Isabella.
"Who's she, Daddy?" she asked, voice soft.
Alexander glanced at Isabella. His jaw tensed. He hesitated, then said:
"She's… someone very special."