Isabella didn't sleep that night either.
The message burned itself into her thoughts like a brand.
You can't keep him from his legacy forever.
She lay awake, staring at the ceiling while Juan slept peacefully beside his stuffed whale, his small fingers curled just like Nolan's used to when he slept.
Legacy.
The word tasted bitter.
She had fought so hard to give Juan a life untouched by that world. No boardrooms. No headlines. No people who saw bloodlines as assets instead of children.
And yet… that world had found them anyway.
Her phone buzzed again at dawn.
This time, it wasn't an unknown number.
Nolan.
She stared at his name, heart hammering.
For a long moment, she considered ignoring it.
She didn't.
"What is it?" she said quietly when she answered.
"I need to see you," Nolan replied, voice low, tense. "Now."
Her chest tightened. "Why?"
"Because someone else knows," he said. "And they won't wait."
That did it.
"Where?" she asked.
They met at the edge of town, near the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The sky was overcast, waves crashing violently against the rocks below as if mirroring the storm building inside her chest.
Nolan stood near his car, phone pressed to his ear, his posture rigid. When he saw her approach, he ended the call immediately.
"You got it too," he said.
It wasn't a question.
Isabella crossed her arms. "Yes."
"Whoever sent it isn't bluffing," Nolan continued. "They already know about Juan."
Her breath hitched. "How?"
"My name opens doors," he said grimly. "And mouths."
Anger flared hot and sharp. "This is your fault."
"I know," he said without hesitation.
That stole the edge from her fury.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "The press hasn't picked it up yet. But once they do—"
"They'll tear him apart," Isabella finished bitterly. "Like they do everything you touch."
Nolan's jaw tightened. "Which is why I need you to listen to me."
She laughed humorlessly. "That's rich."
"I can stop this," he said firmly. "But not if we keep pretending I don't exist."
She stared at him. "You don't get to scare me into cooperation."
"I'm not trying to scare you," Nolan said. "I'm trying to protect him."
The words struck deeper than she wanted to admit.
"How?" she asked coldly.
Nolan took a breath. "We go public. On our terms."
Her blood ran cold. "Absolutely not."
"We announce that Juan is my son," he continued, steady but intense. "I claim him. Legally. Publicly."
"No," she repeated, sharper now. "You are not turning my child into a headline."
"He already is," Nolan said quietly. "Whether you want it or not."
She turned away, fighting the sudden sting in her eyes. "I won't let him grow up like you did."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Nolan spoke again—lower, rougher.
"Neither will I."
She looked back at him.
"I hated my childhood," he admitted. "I hated being used as leverage. I hated knowing that love came with conditions."
Her heart twisted.
"That's why I walked away from my brother when he disappeared," he continued. "That's why I didn't fight my mother hard enough. I thought distance was control."
His voice cracked, just barely.
"I was wrong."
Isabella searched his face, seeing something she hadn't seen before.
Fear.
Real fear.
"What are you proposing?" she asked quietly.
Nolan met her gaze. "A deal."
She laughed bitterly. "Of course you are."
"Six months," he said. "I stay here. I don't take Juan anywhere without you. No press. No announcements."
"And in return?" she asked.
"I get to be his father," Nolan said simply. "Not an hour. Not ten minutes. Real time."
Her heart pounded painfully.
"And you?" she asked softly. "What do you get?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then, "I get the chance to prove I'm not the man you left."
The wind whipped around them, carrying the roar of the ocean below.
She shook her head slowly. "You're asking for too much."
"I'm asking for the minimum," he said. "The rest—trust, forgiveness—I'll earn."
"And if I say no?" she asked.
Nolan's eyes darkened. "Then the people circling us won't wait. They'll force the issue in ways you can't control."
The threat wasn't his.
That was what terrified her.
She closed her eyes briefly.
Juan's laughter echoed in her mind.
His innocent trust.
His storm-gray eyes.
"You don't get to break him," she whispered.
"I won't," Nolan said fiercely. "I swear it on him."
That oath silenced her.
After a long moment, she spoke.
"You don't move him," she said. "You don't buy him. You don't make decisions without me."
"Agreed."
"You don't undermine me."
"Never."
"And the second I feel like this is hurting him," she added, voice trembling, "I walk. With him."
Nolan nodded once. "I understand."
She exhaled shakily.
"Six months," she said. "That's all."
Nolan's chest lifted with a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"Thank you," he said softly.
"This isn't forgiveness," she warned.
"I know," he replied. "But it's a beginning."
They stood there in charged silence.
Then Isabella's phone buzzed again.
She glanced down.
Breaking News Alert
Sinclair Enterprises CEO linked to secret child sources claim identity imminent.
Her blood drained from her face.
Nolan saw it instantly.
"They're moving," he said.
Isabella looked up at him, heart racing.
"This deal?" she whispered.
"Yes."
"It starts now," he finished.
And in that moment, Isabella realized something terrifying.
She hadn't just opened the door to Nolan Sinclair.
She had stepped straight back into his world.