Chapter 6 - The Secret Laya Took to Her Grave
Marin read the birth certificate until the letters blurred.
“No.”
Vivien said nothing.
“No.”
Marin looked at Dominic.
“This isn't real.”
“We'll verify it.”
“Laya would have told me.”
Vivien's voice was quiet.
“She was afraid.”
Marin turned on her.
“You don't get to tell me what my sister felt.”
Vivien lowered her eyes.
“No. I don't.”
Isabella began crying.
That frightened Marin more than the document.
“You knew?”
Isabella nodded.
Marin stepped backward.
“All of you knew something about my family except me.”
She left the room.
Dominic followed her outside.
“Marin.”
“Don't.”
She crossed the courtyard.
Rain had begun again.
Dominic caught up but did not touch her.
“Where are you going?”
“I don't know.”
“Eli is upstairs.”
That stopped her.
Everything always came back to Eli.
She covered her face.
“If Theodore is his father, why threaten him?”
“Control.”
“He's his child.”
“To people like Theodore, blood isn't love.”
Dominic's voice became quieter.
“Sometimes it's ownership.”
Marin looked at him.
“And you?”
The question struck deeper than she intended.
“Is that what family means to you?”
“No.”
“How do I know?”
Dominic looked toward the mansion.
“You don't.”
He didn't defend himself.
“You decide based on what I do next.”
They verified the document that afternoon.
It was genuine.
Laya had met Theodore while working events for the Morrow family. Their relationship had been brief.
When she became pregnant, Theodore wanted the child hidden.
Laya refused.
She kept Eli.
Months later, she died.
No evidence proved Theodore caused the crash.
But Dominic discovered that the mechanic who serviced Laya's car had received a large payment from a Morrow-controlled company two days afterward.
The mechanic had disappeared years ago.
Marin sat beside Eli's bed that evening.
He slept peacefully.
She brushed hair from his forehead.
She had spent nine years answering questions about his father with the only truth she knew.
Your mother loved you enough for two people.
Now the truth had become uglier.
Dominic appeared in the doorway.
“Can I come in?”
Marin nodded.
He sat across from her.
“Theodore's flight leaves from a private airfield at eleven.”
“You're going.”
“Yes.”
“What does Vivien want?”
“Her sister.”
“And what do you want?”
Dominic looked at Eli.
“For this to end.”
Marin studied him.
“That isn't what I asked.”
He met her eyes.
“I want my mother free.”
A pause.
“I want Eli to never look over his shoulder because of my family.”
Another pause.
“And I want you to have the choice to walk away from this house without being afraid.”
Marin's eyes burned.
“You want me to leave?”
“No.”
It came too quickly.
Dominic looked away.
“No.”
That single word changed the air.
Marin whispered, “Then what do you want from me?”
Dominic had negotiated with men who controlled cities.
He had stared down threats.
He had never found a question harder.
“You.”
Marin's breath caught.
“Not because my mother trusts you.”
He stepped closer.
“Not because Eli needs protection.”
Another step.
“Because when you aren't in this house, I notice.”
Marin's eyes filled.
“Dominic—”
“I know this isn't the time.”
“It really isn't.”
He almost smiled.
She did too.
Then his phone rang.
Marco.
Dominic answered.
His expression changed.
“Theodore moved early.”
“Where?”
“Airfield.”
Dominic left immediately.
This time Vivien went with him.
At the private airfield, Theodore stood beside a waiting jet.
Cecilia sat in a wheelchair nearby.
Dominic's men surrounded the perimeter.
Theodore smiled.
“My nephew finally arrives.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“You don't call him that.”
Theodore laughed.
“Eli belongs to my bloodline.”
“No child belongs to you.”
Vivien moved toward Cecilia.
Theodore blocked her.
“You disappoint me.”
Vivien stared at him.
“You taught me everything.”
“Yes.”
“Except when to stop being afraid.”
She walked past him.
Theodore reached for her.
Dominic stepped between them.
No dramatic fight followed.
No gunfire.
Dominic had learned enough.
Theodore wanted chaos.
Instead, police vehicles appeared beyond the hangar.
Federal investigators.
Financial crimes officers.
Dominic had turned over Theodore's records hours earlier.
Theodore stared at him.
“You went to law enforcement?”
Dominic smiled faintly.
“You expected a war.”
Agents approached.
“I gave you paperwork.”
For the first time, Theodore looked afraid.
He was arrested without the spectacle he had expected.
Vivien wheeled Cecilia toward an ambulance.
Before leaving, she stopped beside Dominic.
“I am sorry.”
Dominic looked at her.
“For Marin?”
“For all of it.”
“Tell her yourself someday.”
“If she'll listen.”
“That isn't your choice.”
Vivien nodded.
Then she left.
At sunrise, Dominic returned home.
He found Marin asleep in a chair beside Eli.
Isabella was awake nearby.
Dominic kissed his mother's forehead.
“It's over.”
Isabella touched his cheek.
Then pointed toward Marin.
Dominic shook his head.
“Don't.”
Isabella smiled.
She wrote:
Coward.
Dominic stared at her.
Then laughed.
A real laugh.
The sound woke Marin.
She blinked.
“What happened?”
“He's in custody.”
Her shoulders collapsed with relief.
“And Eli?”
“Free.”
Marin closed her eyes.
Dominic sat beside her.
There was no need for dramatic declarations.
Their hands rested inches apart.
Then Marin moved her fingers.
Dominic met them halfway.
But Isabella suddenly tapped urgently.
They turned.
She pointed toward the television.
Breaking news showed Theodore's arrest.
Then another image appeared.
A photograph recovered during the investigation.
Laya.
Standing beside Theodore.
Holding baby Eli.
But someone else stood behind them.
A younger Dominic Virelli.
Marin slowly turned toward him.
“You knew my sister?”
Dominic stared at the photograph.
“No.”
Yet as he looked closer, a forgotten memory returned.
A rainy night.
A frightened young woman.
A baby.
And a warning Dominic had ignored.
His face changed.
Marin saw it.
“You remember her.”
Dominic whispered:
May you like
“Yes.”
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