Dr. Nicolais Harrington had never believed in love at first sight. Lust, perhaps. Intrigue, certainly. But love? That was a fantasy for poets and dreamers, not for a man like him—logical, disciplined, and far too familiar with the mechanics of the human heart to mistake a fleeting attraction for something deeper.

At twenty-five, he had everything: wealth, intelligence, and a reputation that made even senior doctors take notice. He was the kind of man people admired, envied, whispered about. The golden boy of St. Augustine’s Hospital. Nurses blushed when he spoke to them, patients gushed about his charm. He was used to the attention. It never meant anything.

Until her.

It was a late-night stop at a convenience store, the kind of place he rarely stepped into. He had no real reason to be there—just an impulse, a distraction after another exhausting shift. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, the air carried the faint scent of cheap coffee, and the shelves were lined with things he didn’t need.

And then she looked up.

His heart did something strange. Skipped. Stilled. Tightened.

She wasn’t striking in the way the women in his world usually were. No designer perfume, no calculated elegance. But there was something about her—something quiet, something steady. A softness in her eyes that made the chaos in his head go silent.

He didn’t know her. But in that moment, he felt something shift, something foreign and unsettling. He, who had always been in control, felt the ground tilt beneath him.

And then, as if the universe itself was mocking him, his gaze landed on the ring on her finger.

Married.

The realization was a cold slap, jolting him back to reality.

He should have looked away. Should have let the moment pass like a fleeting mistake.

But he didn’t.