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Of all the cardiologists in the city, Winifred Nelson never imagined her daughter would be assigned to Humbert Pierce. 

The routine checkup should have been just another simple visit to Children’s Cardiac Center with her six–year–old daughter, whose congenital condition required constant monitoring. 

But the moment Winifred pushed open the exam room door, time seemed to stop. 

There, bathed in the blue glow of medical monitors, sat the man she’d spent years trying to forget. 

His tailored white coat and rimless glasses gave him an air of clinical detachment, but she knew better than anyone the fire that could burn beneath that icy exterior. 

All the color drained from Winifred’s face. 

They were supposed to see Dr. Werner Davis today, but the front desk nurse had redirected them when he got called into emergency surgery. 

“Dr. Pierce did his fellowship abroad,” the nurse had explained. “He’s Dr. Davis’s star pupil. Just down the hall in Cardiology Room 8.” 

Winifred’s grip tightened on the doorframe as she quickly pulled her mask up with the free hand, taking several seconds to compose herself before facing the ghost from her past. 

In that instant, all she wanted was to escape with her daughter. 

Seven peaceful years had passed, long enough for Winifred to believe she’d never see Humbert again. 

Her body went rigid, mind blank with shock. 

Her fingers instinctively closed around her daughter’s hand, palms sweating as a shiver ran down her spine. 

“Come in,” Humbert said, his deep voice calm. He looked up toward the door, his gaze cool and detached behind his glasses. 

When their eyes met, Winifred’s breath stopped short. 

The man before her was both the boy she remembered and someone entirely new–the once- untouchable campus prince who’d secretly dated her, back when she’d been the overweight girl no one noticed. 

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Winifred stared back at Humbert with forced calm, her back teeth clenched tight. She held her daughter’s hand, ready to go, but her legs refused to move, as if they’d frozen to the floor. 

Humbert’s deep–set eyes revealed nothing as his fingers absently tapped the desk. “Rosalind Nelson, right? Let’s see your medical file.” 

Winifred willed herself to appear composed despite her pale complexion. The rough texture of her surgical mask under her fingertips helped steady her racing thoughts. 

She clung to this fragile semblance of control and walked in with her daughter. 

There wasn’t a flicker of recognition in his eyes. The woman before him now–Winifred Nelson–bore no resemblance to the Claire Miller he’d known seven years earlier. 

The overweight girl had been replaced by a willowy woman standing at five–seven and barely breaking a hundred pounds. 

Her daughter obediently settled into the chair, waiting quietly as he prepared his stethoscope. 

When he leaned in, his familiar cologne triggered an unexpected tightness in her chest. Her protective grip on her daughter’s shoulder tightened as her gaze traced the sharp line of his jaw. 

The frameless glasses only enhanced his clinical, detached demeanor. 

Humbert wore a crisp white shirt beneath his lab coat. While examining the girl, he frowned slightly. “Monitor this closely,” he said. “We’ll need to operate in the next few years. I assume 

know the costs involved.” 

you 

Humbert took in Winifred’s appearance–the worn leather bag with peeling handles, the faded jeans, and the scuffed white sneakers. The surgery fees would clearly be a hardship. 

Cases like this were ordinary at the hospital. Yet something about Winifred made Humbert look twice. 

She was slender and pale, her hair tied back in a low ponytail that left the surgical mask completely unobstructed. A few rebellious strands had escaped to trace the curve of her neck, softening her silhouette. 

She looked barely out of college–an illusion shattered by the six–year–old girl at her side. 

She kept her eyes down, refusing to meet his gaze. Behind her daughter, she stood perfectly still, with only her downcast eyes visible above the oversized mask. Throughout the examination, she stayed unusually quiet. 

Humbert frowned at her silence, guessing she’d probably wanted to see the more experienced doctor instead. 

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“If you’d like another opinion,” he offered professionally, “I can arrange for you to see the best pediatrician here. He should still be available this afternoon.” 

Winifred gave a small nod, her bangs falling across her downcast eyes. “Thank you for your time,” she said quietly, gathering the medical forms before guiding her daughter out of the 

room. 

Humbert watched them leave, his frown deepening as the door closed behind them. Letting out a sigh, he adjusted his glasses before turning back to his computer. 

After finishing with two more patients, Humbert took a brief break to make some coffee. The kettle hissed on the counter when his phone buzzed with a call from Patrick Lowe, who had been the class president back in high school. 

“The Class Three reunion is set for the 20th,” Patrick said. “Everyone in town is coming. You’ve been away for years. No skipping it now that you’re back.” 

“I’ll check my schedule,” Humbert said. “The shift calendar isn’t finalized yet.” 

“Too busy for reunions, huh? You and Claire always bail,” Patrick continued, “Remember Claire? The overweight girl from our class? She disappeared completely after graduation.” 

When Humbert didn’t reply, Patrick’s voice came through the phone again. “Humbert? Are you still there?” After receiving no answer, he repeated, “Hello? Did we get disconnected?” 

The screaming kettle overflowed, sending boiling water across his paperwork. 

Humbert sat motionless, phone still at his ear. His handsome face remained calm, but his eyes behind the glasses told a different story. 

A nurse hurried into the exam room. “Dr. Pierce, your documents! Are you okay?” 

Humbert snapped to attention. He rose and moved to the window without acknowledging the nurse, his grip tightening on the phone. 

“She never comes to reunions?” He kept his tone casual as he asked, though his eyes grew more intense. 

“Who? You’re cutting out,” Patrick said, his voice crackling. After a moment, he continued, “Oh, you mean Claire? No, she fell off the grid years ago.” 

Though Patrick kept talking, Humbert had already tuned out. 

The 

young nurse blushed while straightening his desk, but when she saw his distant expression, she quietly slipped away without attempting conversation. 

Humbert sat completely lost in thought, oblivious to his surroundings. 

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He went through the motions with his last three morning patients before his shift was finally 

over. 

Opening his desk drawer, he took out a slender blue velvet case that held a black fountain pen. 

The pen bore the marks of six years‘ use, its black lacquer chipped in places. After its recent fall had caused significant leaking, he’d repaired it but chose to keep it safely stored rather than use it daily. 

Humbert rubbed his temples as a deep fatigue settled over him. 

As the bus carried Winifred and her daughter, her thoughts drifted back to that party seven years earlier. 

It had been Humbert’s birthday. Young Winifred had approached the private room with joyful anticipation, until the crude laughter and vulgar remarks from inside stopped her in 

her tracks. 

“Holy crap! Is that a hickey? Tell me you didn’t sleep with that fat chick.” 

“No way, man. You’re actually dating her?” 

“What does it matter? In the dark, they all feel the same.” 

“You’re seriously telling me those forum rumors are true? You’re dating her?” 

“She only got him by blackmailing him with Cheryl’s secret. Like he’d ever choose to be with 

that cow.” 

Then came Humbert’s voice–a sound the old Winifred would remember for the rest of her 

life. 

His rich baritone cut through the karaoke noise and snide remarks in the private room. “Just fooling around,” he’d said dismissively. “I’ll be going abroad next month.” 

Outside the VIP suite, she’d pressed a hand to her chest, blinking back tears as her heart constricted painfully. 

Humbert came from generational wealth, the kind that predetermined his future. Winifred had never allowed herself to imagine anything lasting between them. She’d known from the beginning he would eventually go abroad. 

She’d resolved to end things after his twenty–first birthday celebration. But his careless words reduced her fragile hopes to ashes before she even had the chance. 

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She’d given him the black fountain pen–worth $600–after saving for two months of late- night shifts. But to his friends, it might as well have been trash. 

“Who buys this knockoff crap?” One friend tossed the pen onto the table with a clatter. “Let me guess… That chubby girl who follows you around? You’d actually use this?” 

“Humbert would never use some cheap brand. It’s beneath him,” another had snorted. 

Mom…” Her daughter’s small fingers suddenly closed around hers, giving a gentle tug. 

Winifred snapped out of the painful memories and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. 

With every passing year, her daughter’s face–especially her eyes and brows–grew more like Humbert’s. 

“Mom,” her daughter whispered, “was that doctor who examined me today my dad?”