Something inside him collapsed quietly.
There was no shouting. No dramatic speech. Just the silent fall of a man who had survived too many years by refusing to look back.
He lowered himself to his knees beside the girl.
The expensive restaurant disappeared around him. The chandeliers, the polished floor, the staring guestsânone of it mattered anymore.
Only she did.
His hand trembled as he reached toward her cheek.
Not because she was weak.
Because she was real.
âWhatâs your name?â he asked softly.
The girl looked at him with cautious eyes.
âLila.â
The name struck him like a second chance he did not deserve.
His face changed.
It was not surprise.
It was recognition.
A deep, aching recognition that reached places in him he thought had died long ago.
