You were on top of the world.

Child of one of the most respected CEO in the country, engaged to your childhood sweetheart, Liam, you had just graduated from the university of your dreams and were only a month away from your wedding.

Then, without warning, everything came crashing down.

You found your fiancé making out with your supposed best friend, Emma.

Emma had always been jealous of your relationship. On the outside, she was beautiful, always smiling, effortlessly flawless, laughing loudly, and offering a shoulder to cry on. But beneath that perfect façade was someone manipulative, someone who had used your kindness to get close to Liam.

"Liam," Emma giggled, kissing the corner of his mouth. "I still don't get how you've survived being with them for this long."

Liam smirked.

"Trust me, with their family's money? I'd be sorted for life. Which means..." He smirks slyly, "we'd be sorted for life. They still have no idea of us seeing each other for the past few months. Forever is easy."

His hand slid to her hip as he kissed her neck with the ease of someone who had done it countless times. Emma giggled, threading her fingers through his hair.

"God, they're pathetic," Emma scoffed with an eye roll. "Believing someone like you could ever love someone like them."

Liam chuckled.

"All in good time, baby. All in good time."

He pulled her into another kiss.

Hidden behind the doorway, your heart shattered.

The tears burned behind your eyes, but you refused to let them fall. Without saying a word, without confronting either of them, you turned around and walked away... never looking back.

─────

You walked for hours.

You had no destination, no plan, no idea where your feet were taking you.

Your thoughts were a blur, replaying every promise Liam had ever made, every memory you had cherished, every lie you had unknowingly believed.

Everything you had built... your future, your wedding, your relationship... had fallen apart in a matter of minutes.

Then you heard it.

A child crying.

The sound pulled you from your thoughts.

Your heart sank as you followed the cries until you found a little boy, no older than two years old, standing all by himself.

You immediately crouched in front of him and offered him a bottle of water.

The little boy stopped crying and eagerly drank it.

You glanced around, hoping to find a worried parent searching for him, but the streets were empty.

Biting your lip anxiously, you gently cupped his tear-stained cheeks.

"What's your name?" you asked softly.

The little boy sniffled, rubbing his watery eyes before suddenly wrapping his tiny arms around your neck.

He buried his face against your shoulder.

"Mama..."

Your breath caught.

Your eyes widened.

"No... sweetheart, I think you've got the wrong—"

"Leo."

A deep, commanding voice cut through the silence.

Every muscle in your body tensed.

Slowly, you turned.

Standing several feet away was Aiden Giovanni.

A man dressed in a perfectly tailored charcoal suit despite the late hour. His dark hair was slightly tousled, as though he'd been running his hands through it for hours, and his piercing blue eyes never left the child clinging to you.

The air around him seemed to change.

Power.

Authority.

Control.

This wasn't just any man.

This was Aiden Giovanni—the country's youngest billionaire, one of its most influential entrepreneurs, and the nation's most eligible bachelor.

His gaze shifted from Leo... to you.

For a brief moment, surprise flickered across his face.

Then it disappeared behind an unreadable expression.

Leo tightened his grip around your neck.

"Mama," he mumbled again, refusing to let go.

Silence stretched between you.

Aiden exhaled through his nose, his eyes still fixed on the little boy.

"...I need a babysitter."