Lewis De Salvo's POV :
The rain hadn't stopped. It whispered against the tall windows like a lullaby for the ghosts.
Lewis sat in the dim quiet of his private study at Elden Hollow, the one place untouched by the De Salvo name.
A soft breath rose from the small bundle on the couch—Leo, curled up in sleep, clutching the pale scarf like it was spun from dreams. Bella's scarf.
Lewis stared at him. At the boy who wasn't his by blood—but might as well be carved from his soul.
His brother's words echoed, quiet and broken from a hospital bed two years ago:
> "Take care of him. Protect her."
Her.
He never said a name.
Just that.
Protect her.
Lewis had nodded, not understanding. Not asking. His brother had died hours later, Leo in his arms, a one-month-old who didn't yet know his world had shattered.
For a long time, Lewis assumed his brother had meant Leo's mother.
But then Bella appeared.
Elegant. Still-eyed. Sharp enough to see through stone. The moment Leo called her angel and clung to her scarf like it was home—a seed of doubt bloomed in Lewis.
Could she be the one his brother meant?
Could she be—?
He didn't finish the thought. Couldn't.
There was no proof. No truth. Just fragments. And Leo's eyes looking at Bella like he'd known her in another life.
If she was Leo's mother, why didn't she recognize him?
Why didn't she say anything?
And why had his brother never spoken her name?
Too many questions. No answers.
Now, they were engaged—on paper. A proposal she never asked for. A decision made by their families.
And yet, Lewis didn't stop it.
Not because he wanted her.
But because Leo needed her.
And Lewis needed to know the truth.
If Bella held the answers to Leo's past… if she was the key to the promise his brother made him swear to keep—then he would play along. For now.
But if she was lying—
If she really love Leo —
He'd find out.
And if she was innocent—
He'd protect her.
Even from his own family.
Even from himself.