Chapter 1

The moment I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't wait to share the news with my Special Forces husband, Ethan Walker.

But as soon as the call connected, he told me he'd received an urgent mission and had to leave immediately for preliminary reconnaissance.

And just like that, he vanished without a trace.

Two years later, Ethan's mother begged me through her tears to remarry.

But I firmly believed he was still alive. I raised our son Lucas alone, waiting for him to come home.

Ten years later, I was called to the school by my son's teacher, Miss Smith.

At the office door, I saw a familiar silhouette.

He was gently comforting a crying little girl in his arms.

"Don't cry, Zoe. Daddy already taught that bad boy Lucas a lesson."

But the girl pouted and pounded her little fists against his chest in protest.

"You're a bad daddy! You didn't even scold him, and you won't let me cry!"

So Ethan Walker was really alive after all!

He just had a new family now.

Miss Smith heard the commotion and walked over, intimately linking her arm through his as she smiled at me.

"Serena, this is my husband, Professor Walker."

I looked up and met Ethan Walker's shocked, stunned eyes.