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“I did investigate them,” Nik said.

“You took her DNA without asking her.”

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

Nik rubbed a hand over his face. “Because I wasn’t going to walk into that girl’s life and tell her she might belong to a royal family unless I knew it was true. She has had enough lies fed to her for one lifetime.”

“She already knew who her mother was.”

“She knew what Eliana told her growing up. That didn’t prove Eliana was who she claimed to be. I wanted to know if they would recognize Isabella as family, or if she would become a complication they wanted buried.”

“That still didn’t give you the right to take her DNA and test it without her permission.”

“No.” Nik’s voice hardened, but not in denial. “It didn’t.”

“Then why the hell did you do it?”

Lachlan paced a few steps away from Nik before turning back.

“I found a Dravik DNA profile on an Eslovenyan hospital server and ran Isabella’s sample against it to see if the match confirmed her Dravik bloodline. And it did. After that, I started looking for a way to connect with the family that didn’t involve sending an anonymous message to a royal household and hoping someone would take it seriously.”

Lachlan said nothing, so Nik continued.

“While I was digging through the Dravik family connections, I came across a name I recognized. Turns out one of my second cousins married into the family years ago. It was a lucky break, but it gave me someone I could contact directly and trust to keep the whole thing quiet.”

Lachlan’s hands curled at his sides.

“And what did your cousin tell you?”

“The Draviks were desperate to find her and never stopped looking for her. They spent years using investigators, government resources, anyone they thought might find something. They offered rewards worth millions for credible information. They never believed Eliana chose to disappear, and they never stopped trying to find out what happened to her. As far as her family knows, Princess Eliana had disappeared without a trace.”

My vision blurred. Mamá had been right. They had loved her and wanted her back. All those years, Ciro had told Mamá no one was coming, that whatever family she remembered had gone on without her. But instead, they’d been looking for her the entire time.

Lachlan was quiet for several seconds. When he spoke again, the anger in his voice had turned raw.

“And you decided that gave you the right to tell them what happened to Eliana?”

“I decided they deserved to know she hadn’t abandoned them.”

“It wasn’t your story to tell.”

Lachlan stepped closer to Nik.

“She asked you to find out whether they were alive. She asked whether they were safe for her to reach out to. She didn’t ask you to tell them Eliana was dead.”

“I know.”

“And she sure as hell didn’t ask you to tell her mother’s family that Eliana had a daughter and that Isabella was that daughter.”

Nik’s mouth tightened. “Without proof, my cousin couldn’t walk into that royal family with a story this explosive and expect them to believe it.”

“Then you bring the proof to Isabella.” Lachlan’s voice echoed through the room. “You don’t bring Isabella to them.”

Neither man spoke for a long time.

I covered my mouth with one hand, but it did nothing to slow the tears already spilling down my face.

Lachlan turned away from Nik for a moment, and I caught a glimpse of his face as he dragged both hands through his hair.