Isabella left the room with the thought that her children would soon drift into sleep. What she did not know was that the three of them had plans of their own.

“Alright, do you both remember the plan?” Leon asked, his tone sharp with authority as he looked at his siblings.

“Yes, of course I do. But I doubt this pea brain even remembers a thing,” Leandro muttered, pointing at Leona with a mocking grin.

“Who are you calling pea brain, jerk? And of course I remember. I’m not as dumb as you think!” Leona fired back, her small voice rising in indignation.

“You are the dumb one here, Leona. How could you ask Mummy that question in the bathroom? We were supposed to keep it secret, and you almost ruined everything, dummy!” Leandro snapped.

“Enough. Both of you, enough,” Leon cut in firmly, raising his voice above theirs. “You’ve fought enough for one night. Let’s focus on what matters.”

He cast a glare at Leona, who was already reaching to pull at Leandro’s hair. “Tomorrow we carry it out. I want both of you to memorize it, and don’t forget a single detail. This is serious.”

Before either of them could respond, the sound of footsteps echoed outside.

“It’s Mummy! Quick, back to bed!” Leon ordered in a rush.

The three of them scrambled back under the covers, squeezing their eyes shut and pretending to be asleep just as the door creaked.

*******

The next morning, Isabella and her children arrived at the rented house she had secured earlier. The place had already been cleaned and prepared by the housekeeper, so it stood ready for them to move in.

They only needed to arrange their belongings and set things in order, and within half an hour, the home was neatly settled.

“Leon, take care of your brother and sister. I’m going out to buy groceries. We’re short on supplies,” Isabella said, reaching for her purse.

“Alright, Mummy!” Leon replied without hesitation.

The moment the door closed behind her, the children sprang into action. They darted toward the laptop on the table, and Leon quickly powered it on. He typed with practiced speed until a news channel appeared on the screen, showing President Booker Blackwell in the middle of an interview.

“Wow,” Leona breathed, clutching her Barbie doll tightly to her chest. “Is that our Daddy?”

“Yes,” Leandro answered, nodding toward the screen. “That’s him. And between the three of us, you’re the one who looks the most like him.”

Leon lifted his gaze back to the screen, his silver eyes narrowing with focus. “Do you both remember everything you were taught?” he asked firmly.

“I bet she doesn’t,” Leandro muttered with a smirk, teasing his sister.

“Yes, I do!” Leona snapped back, balling her tiny fists as her childish voice rang with determination. “I told you last night, and I wasn’t joking. I’ll carry out the plan perfectly.”

*******

After Isabella stepped out of the house, she hailed a cab that carried her to the nearest supermarket. She moved briskly through the aisles, selecting what she needed until her cart was full. At the cashier’s counter, she set her items down and waited for the attendant to ring them through.

Then she heard it. A voice that sent a shiver down her spine. A voice she knew far too well.

“Well, I didn’t expect our wedding announcement to go viral.”

Her head snapped up, but the sound hadn’t come from behind her. It came from the large television screen mounted above the counter. The broadcast was live.

“Of course,” Cassandra said sweetly, sitting with practiced poise beside Booker. “For now, we have no plans for a ceremony. Our schedules are too full, and work keeps us both occupied.”

The host laughed warmly. “That is understandable. Everyone knows your bond runs deep. President Blackwell, you and Miss Vance have been together for four years now. The whole city sees you as a perfect pair.”

Isabella’s grip on the trolley’s handle tightened until her knuckles whitened. The words carved straight into her chest, cutting deep as she stared at the screen. There they were, her two greatest betrayers, basking in admiration, pretending at love before the world.

Her mind spun back to that forged will Cassandra had paraded before the press. In it, Booker was instructed to marry her, to let her fill the empty space Isabella’s “death” had left behind. That single lie had bound them publicly, sealing their engagement in a spectacle that humiliated Isabella even in supposed death.

Now they smiled together as if the past carried no shadows. And Isabella was forced to hide her face, her name, her very existence.

Lost in the storm of her thoughts, she pushed forward without looking, and her trolley collided hard into another body.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean—” she lifted her eyes, ready to apologize.

But the words froze on her tongue.

Standing before her was someone she never expected to meet again.

The man standing before her was tall, his frame lean yet commanding. That cold, arrogant presence of his lingered in the air like a shadow. Five years had passed since she had last laid eyes on him, and in that time he had only grown sharper, more hardened, yet impossibly striking.

Isabella’s hands trembled on the trolley handle. Of all the places, of all the moments, she had not expected this encounter to happen on her very first day back.

His eyes cut into her with an icy glare. “Are you blind? Do you not watch where you’re going?”

Of course, he did not recognize her. Her face was no longer the same. Five years ago, the accident had left it shattered and inflamed, forcing her into surgery. The surgeons had reshaped her features until even she had struggled to accept the reflection that stared back at her. For months she could hardly recognize herself in the mirror.

She steadied her breath, clutching to what composure she had left. “I am sorry,” she murmured quietly. “I was distracted by you and your fiancée’s interview on the screen. I didn’t realize where I was going.”

His expression eased, though his voice remained cool. “So, you recognize me then?”

A polite smile touched her lips. “Of course. Who wouldn’t? You are President Booker Blackwell, heir to Blackwell Enterprises.”

Something flickered in his eyes as he studied her. “Strange. You look familiar. Have we met before?” He narrowed his gaze, as if trying to place her face.

Panic swept through Isabella’s chest.

Could he recognize her?

This was dangerous.