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🌙 Chapter 2 – The Fernandes Name
Dinner at the Watson house felt unusually formal that night.
Plates were placed carefully. Conversations were polite but guarded. The kind of politeness people used when history sat between them, unspoken yet heavy.
Noah Watson sat quietly at the dining table, her hands folded in her lap. Across from her sat Luca Fernandes, composed, unreadable—like someone who had learned early how to hide what he felt. He spoke little, but when he did, everyone listened.
Beside him, Adrien Fernandes was the opposite.
"So," Adrien said lightly, glancing around the table, "you guys have lived here forever?"
Sofia Watson smiled. "Basically, yeah. This house has seen chaos."
Liam Watson chuckled. "And drama. Mostly drama."
Adrien laughed, but his eyes drifted toward Noah—curious, soft, searching.
Luca noticed.
He always noticed.
"Noah doesn't talk much," Sofia added casually, watching Luca's reaction. "But she remembers everything."
Noah shot her a look.
"Sofia."
"What?" Sofia shrugged. "It's true."
Luca's eyes finally met Noah's properly this time.
Something passed between them—recognition, maybe familiarity. Or maybe just two people who understood silence too well.
"You're like that too," Luca said quietly. "People who observe more than they speak… usually carry the most."
Noah wasn't sure why, but her chest tightened.
She nodded slightly. "Or they just don't want to be misunderstood."
Luca didn't reply.
He didn't need to.
Across the table, Sabrina Fernandes watched them both, her expression thoughtful. She leaned toward Noah and smiled warmly.
"You feel familiar," she said. "Like we've met before."
Noah frowned. "I don't think so."
Sabrina tilted her head. "Maybe not face-to-face. But families meet long before people do."
That sentence lingered longer than it should have.
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Later that night, Noah stood on the balcony, wrapped in a light shawl. The city breeze brushed against her face, carrying thoughts she didn't ask for.
Footsteps approached.
"I hope I'm not interrupting," Luca Fernandes said from a distance.
She turned slightly. "No. I just needed air."
Luca leaned against the railing, keeping a respectful distance. "This house feels… heavy."
Noah smiled faintly. "It remembers too much."
Silence fell between them again—but this time, it wasn't uncomfortable.
"Why did your family come back now?" Noah asked suddenly.
Luca's jaw tightened for a moment.
"Because some things can't stay buried forever."
She looked at him. "That sounds dangerous."
He met her gaze.
"It usually is."
Inside the house, Adrien stood near the window, watching them from afar. His smile faded slightly—not out of jealousy yet, but realization.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the city, Alina stared at her phone, a slow smile curling on her lips as she read a message.
They're together again.
She typed back only one line:
Good. Let the game begin.
And unknowingly, Noah stood at the center of a story that was already moving—
whether she was ready or not.
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