Gisele watched as Caden, oblivious, steered a visibly shaky Kasey toward the exit. Kasey hadn’t screamed. She hadn’t pointed. For now, fear was keeping her mouth shut. The knot in Gisele’s stomach loosened a fraction.

“Mom, was that her?” Leo’s voice was low. “Kasey? The one who stole our things?”

Gisele nodded, her eyes still on the couple moving away. “That’s her.” She knelt, adjusting the collars on both children’s jackets. “Remember the rules. While we’re here, my name is Thea. You don’t call me Mom in public. Got it?”

Both children nodded, solemn. They’d gone over this for months.

Up ahead, Caden and Kasey stopped for a wall of photographers. Flashbulbs popped, creating a strobing halo around them. Kasey, in an elegant cream dress, beamed—her earlier shock now buried under a celebrity mask. Caden stood beside her, his face unreadable, a king scanning his domain. They looked perfect.

The sudden, sharp flashing startled Gia. Her small hands, already unsteady, lost their grip on the crystal ball she always carried. The glass sphere slipped, hit the polished floor with a soft thud, and started rolling.

It rolled straight for Caden Sterling’s expensive shoes.

“No,” Gisele breathed, but it was too late.

Gia’s face crumpled. She scrambled after it, her movements clumsy, small legs struggling.

She was just a couple of feet from Kasey when her foot caught the edge of a tile. She stumbled, lurching forward, straight toward Kasey’s pristine dress.

Gisele caught it—a flicker of disgust in Kasey’s eyes, there and gone. And in that same split second, she saw Kasey’s stiletto shift, angling to trip the already-falling child.

Time stretched. Gisele moved. Not a mother rushing to her child—a predator blurring through the space. Before anyone registered what was happening, she was there.

One arm hooked around Gia’s small body, pulling her back from the fall. At the same time, Gisele’s foot shot out, hooking Kasey’s ankle with surgical precision.

Kasey yelped, her ankle twisting, balance gone. She flailed, staggering, a graceless surprise all over her. To anyone watching, it looked like she’d just lost her footing.

Gisele pulled Gia close, her pulse hammering against her ribs. She looked up, locking eyes with Kasey. Her voice came out cold. “Watch your step, miss. You wouldn’t want to scare the children.”

Caden’s attention shifted from the crystal ball by his feet to the woman who’d appeared out of nowhere. He took in the scene, his gaze landing on Gisele. He studied her face. Smooth skin, flawless—no trace of the scars etched into his memory. But her eyes… there was a cold fire there that stirred something uneasy in his chest.

“Caden, my ankle!” Kasey whimpered, switching instantly to her wounded-damsel voice. “It hurts so much. She did it on purpose.”

A dry smile touched Gisele’s lips. She ignored Kasey, setting Gia gently on her feet before bending to pick up the crystal ball.

But Caden was faster. He stooped, his big frame moving with surprising ease, and closed his fingers around the glass sphere. The sight of his hand—long, elegant fingers—sent an unwanted, sharp pull through Gisele’s memory.

He held the ball out to Gia. The little girl, shy and overwhelmed, hid behind Gisele’s leg. Gisele reached to take it for her.

As she took the ball, her fingertips brushed the back of his hand.

A faint current passed between them. Caden’s whole body tensed. For years, the lightest touch from a woman made his skin crawl—a deep, gut-level rejection he couldn’t control. But this stranger… nothing. No disgust. Just a strange, electric warmth.

Gisele felt the sudden stiffness in his muscles. She pulled her hand back like she’d been burned, putting more space between them.

Kasey saw it all. She saw Caden freeze, saw the confusion flicker across his face. Something venomous sparked in her eyes.

Without another word, Gisele took Leo’s hand, scooped Gia into her arms, and turned. She melted back into the river of travelers.

Caden stayed where he was, eyes fixed on her disappearing figure. A deep frown pulled at his brow. He turned to his assistant. “Find out who that woman is.”

“Caden, forget her,” Kasey whined, tugging his arm. “She’s just some rude nobody. My foot is killing me. Let’s go.”

He put an arm around her to steady her, but his gaze didn’t leave the spot where Gisele had vanished. Questions were piling up in his head, forming a heavy, unsettled cloud.

As the crowd swept them away, Leo glanced back over his shoulder. He looked at the powerful man his mother had told him to avoid, his young face caught between a kid’s curiosity and a wariness too old for him.

“She was horrible, Caden,” Kasey sobbed, leaning hard against the door of the waiting Rolls-Royce. “That woman deliberately hurt me. And the way she looked at me… like I was garbage.”

Gisele, guiding her children toward a waiting SUV, stopped. She turned, her expression hidden behind her sunglasses. “A small correction,” she said, her voice calm and clear enough to carry. “Not like you were. In my eyes, you are.”

She let her tone drop. “A third-rate actress who tries to trip a five-year-old in public.”

Kasey’s face went white, then flushed red. “You’re lying!” she shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at Gia. “It was your daughter! She tried to steal my diamond earring!”

Kasey claimed that in the confusion, one of her custom earrings had vanished, and she was certain the little girl had taken it.

Behind Gisele, Leo, hidden from view, gave his mother a tiny, almost invisible OK sign. In the split second his mother had confronted Kasey, his small, quick fingers had done their work. The diamond earring wasn’t stolen. It was tucked inside Kasey’s own designer handbag.

Gisele pulled Gia closer, her face all motherly concern. She spoke to Caden, voice steady. “Mr. Sterling, since Ms. Mack is making such a serious accusation, maybe we should call airport security. A simple search would clear this up.”

A small crowd had gathered, phones already out. Murmurs rippled through them.

Gisele kept her eyes on Kasey. “I’m sure Ms. Mack’s custom jewelry has her initials, KM, engraved on it. Once it’s found, there won’t be any question about the owner.” She let a small, knowing smile touch her lips. “After all, moving something that valuable from someone’s ear into their own purse takes a certain speed. Not everyone can manage it.”

The implication hung there. Kasey’s face drained. Her hand flew to her handbag—a dead giveaway.

The crowd’s murmurs grew louder. “Is she trying to scam a little kid?” someone whispered. “She hid it herself and tried to blame them?”

Gisele stood her ground, the picture of a wronged mother protecting her young. Kasey was trapped. A search would brand her a liar and a fraud, and that story would be everywhere in minutes.

She turned to Caden, crocodile tears filling her eyes. “Caden, you have to believe me! It wasn’t me!”

Caden’s patience had run dry. His face showed nothing but deep irritation. “Enough, Kasey,” he said, voice flat. “Stop embarrassing yourself.” He didn’t move to defend her.

Just then, Gia, overwhelmed by all the tension, fumbled her crystal ball again. It dropped to the pavement with a soft clink.

As if pulled by something unseen, Caden bent down. He picked up the ball, pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket, and carefully wiped the dust off. He held it out to Gia, and when he spoke, his voice was startlingly gentle. “Here. Hold on to it tightly this time.”

Gia, no longer afraid, looked up at the tall, imposing man. In a tiny voice, she said, “Thank you, handsome uncle.”

Something shifted in Caden’s chest—a faint tap on a locked door. He’d never once spoken to his own son, Rhys, with that kind of softness.

He placed the ball in Gia’s hand, then took Kasey by the arm and guided her firmly into the car. He didn’t look back.

As the Rolls-Royce pulled away, Caden glanced in the rearview mirror. He saw the woman, Thea, stroking her daughter’s hair. The look in her eyes, the two children… the cloud of suspicion in his mind thickened.

A discreet black SUV pulled up, and a woman named Martha opened the door for Gisele and the kids.

Once they were inside and moving through city traffic, Gia looked up at her mother. “Mommy, why did that lady want my ball?”

Gisele hugged her tight. “Because, sweetie, six years ago, she didn’t just want your ball. She stole everything that belonged to me, to you, and to your brothers.”

A cold light flickered in Gisele’s eyes. “But now, Mommy’s going to take it all back. Piece by piece.”

Leo, sitting beside them, spoke with a calm logic that didn’t match his age. “That man, Caden Sterling. He has to be our father. But he didn’t recognize us, and he helped that bad woman.”

He paused, his small face serious. “So until we get him away from her, he’s an enemy, too.”

Gisele stroked his hair. “You’re right, Leo. Which means we have to be very, very careful.”

Leo’s small hand clenched into a fist. “I’ll protect you and Gia.”