The second time she saved his grandmother, Victor Blackwood didn't let her walk away.
Not immediately.
The moment the woman's vitals stabilized again—this time from the brink of cardiac arrest caused by an unapproved substance—Victor's eyes locked onto Isabella like a wolf tracking prey.
"Wait."
Isabella paused in the doorway, her gloves already removed, neatly folded in her palm. Her expression didn't change, but her body went still.
"You didn't tell me your full name earlier," Victor said. His tone was calm, but sharp enough to cut glass.
Isabella turned halfway, only the edge of her profile visible. "Is that important?"
Victor took a step closer, every inch of his frame towering, dominant—but not threatening. "You just saved the most important person in my life. Twice. Forgive me if I'm curious."
She met his gaze again, steady and cool. "Curiosity is dangerous."
"So am I."
The words hung between them—challenge and warning in equal measure.
For the briefest second, something flickered in Isabella's expression—amusement, maybe. Or recognition. Then it vanished like mist.
She tilted her head slightly. "My name is Isabella. That's all you need for now."
Victor didn't push. Not yet. But his eyes sharpened further. "Are you a doctor?"
"No."
"Then how did you know what to do?"
Isabella's smile was faint. "Let's just say I read a lot."
And then, with that infuriating calm, she turned and left again.
Victor stood rooted in place, hands in his pockets, brows furrowed. His assistant, Markus, stepped beside him a moment later, tablet in hand.
"She just vanished from the hospital logs again," Markus said, baffled. "No official ID. No medical certification. No visitor badge. It's like she wasn't even here."
Victor stared at the door she'd exited through.
"Find her."
Markus blinked. "Sir?"
Victor's voice dropped lower. "I want her name. Her background. Where she lives. Who trained her. Everything."
Markus hesitated, then nodded quickly. "Understood."
Victor turned back toward the room. His grandmother was resting now, breathing easy.
Twice, the same girl had walked into chaos and walked out with life in her hands.
Victor wasn't a man who believed in coincidences.
And something about her—those eyes, that voice—it nagged at the edge of his memory.
He'd heard it before.
But where?
On the other side of the city, in a different car, Isabella leaned back in her seat, letting the tension melt from her limbs. Amelia was still pouting beside her, red-faced from embarrassment and scolding.
"You made me look like an idiot in front of everyone," she snapped. "Couldn't you have let the doctors handle it?"
"They weren't handling anything," Isabella said flatly.
"You just like showing off."
Isabella didn't answer.
Her phone buzzed. A new message.
[AshenWolf]: "Rough day?"
She stared at the name on her screen.
Victor.
Though neither of them knew yet.
She typed slowly.
[SkyeEcho]: "Just cleaned up a mess. You?"
[AshenWolf]: "Same. Some girl barged into my life twice today and left me with more questions than answers."
Isabella stared at the screen for a moment too long.
Then she smiled.
Just slightly.
Next Chapter Teaser: Victor begins his search for the mysterious girl, but the truth is more tangled than he ever expected. Meanwhile, Isabella reaches her biological family—and walks into a palace of strangers.