Chapter 7 - The Man Who Walked Away
Mara read Dominic’s message twelve times.
Then she became angry.
Not frightened.
Angry.
Do not come looking for me.
After everything they had discussed about control, he had made a decision for her.
She called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
She contacted his assistant.
“Where is he?”
“I can’t say.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
A pause.
“Can’t.”
That frightened her.
By afternoon, Mara learned why.
Dominic’s father, Antonio Moretti, had suffered a major cardiac emergency while traveling in Italy.
Dominic had left immediately.
The secrecy had nothing to do with Salerno.
It was family.
Mara sat at her desk feeling foolish and relieved.
Then another message arrived.
I should have explained. I was afraid if I heard your voice, leaving would become harder. That wasn’t fair to you. I’m sorry.
Mara stared at the words.
Then typed:
Correct. It wasn’t fair. Call me when you land.
He did.
For the next three weeks, they spoke every night.
Sometimes for five minutes.
Sometimes for two hours.
Mara met Dominic’s mother, Sofia, over video.
Sofia looked at her son, then Mara, then back at Dominic.
“So this is the woman.”
Dominic sighed.
“Mother.”
Mara smiled.
“What woman?”
“The one who made my son voluntarily attend a community zoning meeting.”
“I was told there would be coffee.”
Sofia laughed.
“I like her.”
Antonio recovered.
Dominic returned.
He did not tell Mara when.
Instead, he walked into Harbor & Stone carrying coffee.
She stared.
“You’re back.”
“I am.”
“You could have warned me.”
“I considered it.”
“And?”
“I wanted to see your face.”
She tried to remain stern.
Failed.
Mara walked around the desk and hugged him.
Dominic held her tightly.
No cameras.
No grand entrance.
Just relief.
Six months passed.
Harbor & Stone acquired selected Bennett Development assets.
Mara refused to erase the company’s history.
Instead, she created an employee ownership program.
Grant left the city temporarily and entered consulting work on the West Coast.
Their divorce was finalized quietly.
When Mara walked out of the courthouse, she cried.
Dominic waited across the street.
He didn’t approach until she nodded.
Then he simply held her.
“I thought I’d feel free,” she whispered.
“You can be free and sad.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Stop saying emotionally intelligent things. It’s suspicious.”
“I’ll work on becoming worse.”
“Thank you.”
That evening they returned to the Moretti estate.
The same driveway.
The same golden entrance.
Mara stopped beside the place where Grant had left her.
Dominic noticed.
“You okay?”
She looked at the mansion.
“I think so.”
A gala was beginning inside.
This time Mara wasn’t someone’s hidden wife.
She was the keynote speaker.
Dominic extended his hand.
She looked at it.
Then smiled.
“I can open my own door.”
His mouth curved.
“I know.”
Mara opened the car door herself.
Then took his hand anyway.
Together they walked inside.
And this time, when the room turned toward Mara Bennett, she didn’t wonder what they saw.
She knew.
But her story was only beginning.
Because the following morning, Harbor & Stone received an envelope containing a proposal worth four hundred million dollars.
And accepting it would force Mara to face the one place she had spent her entire adult life avoiding.
May you like
Her hometown.
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