Chapter 10 - The Night Dominic Chose Wrong
Dominic did not answer immediately.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“What does she mean?”
“I knew Father planned to send you away.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
“What?”
“Not everything. But enough.”
The farmhouse became silent.
Eight years earlier, Dominic had discovered their father was furious with Gabriel for trying to leave the family business.
He knew Gabriel was planning to flee with Sofia.
He also knew their father intended to stop him.
“You knew I was in danger?”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I thought Father wanted to scare you.”
Gabriel laughed once.
“You thought wrong.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?”
Dominic looked at his brother.
“Because that night Father offered me control of the organization.”
The confession landed heavily.
“I chose power.”
Gabriel stared.
Dominic continued.
“I told myself I would protect you afterward.”
“You thought you had time.”
“Yes.”
“And then my car exploded.”
Dominic’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked away.
Eliza understood the guilt Dominic carried now.
He had spent eight years believing his ambition killed his brother.
“Victoria knows because she was there,” Gabriel said.
“Yes.”
Dominic did not defend himself.
That mattered.
Gabriel eventually said:
“I hated you for years.”
Dominic nodded.
“I know.”
“But I didn’t disappear because of you.”
Dominic looked up.
“I disappeared because Victoria threatened Sofia and Matteo.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“You made one selfish decision. She turned it into your prison.”
Dominic looked at his brother.
“Can you forgive me?”
Gabriel’s eyes filled.
“Not tonight.”
Dominic nodded.
“But maybe someday.”
It was enough.
They focused on rescuing Sofia, Matteo, and Jenna.
Victoria demanded Eliza appear alone at noon at an abandoned private hospital in Westchester.
The same facility where Victoria once received cancer treatment.
Dominic rejected the plan.
Eliza ignored him.
“You don’t get to tell me.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“I noticed.”
“She will kill you.”
“Not before I sign.”
“You don’t know that.”
Eliza looked at him.
“Then give me another option.”
Nobody had one.
So they created one.
Eliza would go.
Dominic and Gabriel would enter separately.
Mark, still recovering, insisted on helping remotely.
Luca coordinated outside security.
At eleven fifty-eight, Eliza walked into the abandoned hospital alone.
Her hands shook.
But her steps did not.
Victoria waited inside the old chapel.
She looked nothing like the monster Eliza expected.
Sixties.
Elegant.
Thin from illness.
Silver hair.
A dark green suit.
She could have been someone’s grandmother.
Perhaps that was what made her terrifying.
“Eliza.”
“Victoria.”
“I am your great-aunt.”
“You drugged me.”
Victoria sighed.
“Such an ugly way to begin.”
“You had an embryo transferred into me without consent.”
“Yes.”
Eliza felt fury burn through fear.
“And you expect me to call you family?”
“Family has never been about kindness.”
“To you, maybe.”
Victoria smiled.
“You really do sound like Isabella.”
“Where are Jenna, Sofia, and Matteo?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
Victoria lifted a tablet.
Live video displayed them locked in a room.
Matteo was crying.
Eliza’s heart broke.
“Let them go.”
“Sign first.”
Victoria placed documents on a table.
Eliza approached.
The paperwork transferred controlling interest.
“You really think I’ll sign?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you are sentimental.”
Victoria looked toward Eliza’s stomach.
“You already chose to keep a child created through circumstances that should horrify you.”
Eliza’s hand tightened.
“That child is innocent.”
“Exactly.”
Victoria smiled.
“And so is Matteo.”
Eliza picked up the pen.
Elsewhere in the building, Dominic moved through a basement corridor.
Gabriel followed another route.
Then Mark’s voice came through Dominic’s earpiece.
“Stop.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“The building is wired.”
“With explosives?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Gas.”
Dominic looked toward the ventilation system.
“Victoria installed a medical oxygen displacement system.”
Gabriel heard through comms.
“She can suffocate entire wings.”
Dominic whispered:
“Eliza.”
In the chapel, Eliza touched the pen to paper.
Victoria’s phone buzzed.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Eliza smiled.
“You expected Dominic to come through the basement.”
Victoria stared.
“And Gabriel through the west wing.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
“Because Mark gave you those routes.”
For the first time, Victoria looked uncertain.
Mark had not betrayed them.
He had fed Victoria false information through a compromised channel.
The real rescue team entered through the roof.
Luca’s men reached Jenna, Sofia, and Matteo.
Victoria’s phone rang.
She answered.
Nothing.
Then Matteo’s voice:
“Mom?”
Sofia had been freed.
Victoria turned toward Eliza.
“You.”
Eliza dropped the pen.
“Yes.”
“You think you’ve won?”
“No.”
Eliza stepped backward.
“But I think you’ve lost.”
Victoria pulled a small remote from her pocket.
Dominic entered the chapel.
“Put it down.”
Victoria smiled at her son.
“Dominic.”
His face became stone.
“Mother.”
The word sounded like an accusation.
“You became handsome.”
“You became cruel.”
“I became necessary.”
“No.”
He moved between Victoria and Eliza.
“You became afraid.”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
Dominic continued.
“Afraid of Father. Afraid of losing money. Afraid of dying.”
He looked at the remote.
“And now you’re afraid of a woman carrying a baby.”
Victoria pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Mark had disabled the system remotely.
For one second Victoria looked shocked.
Then federal agents entered.
Not the corrupted unit.
A separate task force Gabriel had contacted months earlier.
Victoria was arrested.
Eliza thought it was over.
Then Victoria looked at her while agents handcuffed her.
“You still don’t understand.”
Eliza froze.
“What?”
Victoria smiled.
“I did not make Mark disappear.”
Everyone stopped.
Victoria continued.
“I found him after someone else had already taken him.”
Mark’s face appeared on Dominic’s phone through the remote link.
“What is she talking about?”
Victoria laughed.
“The person who began this long before I did.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Who?”
Victoria looked at Eliza.
“Ask Catherine Reynolds.”
Eliza’s heart stopped.
“My mother is dead.”
Victoria smiled.
“No, darling.”
“Stop.”
“She isn’t.”
Victoria leaned closer as agents led her away.
“And unlike me, Catherine never wanted your money.”
Eliza whispered:
“Then what did she want?”
Victoria’s answer followed her out the door.
May you like
“Revenge.”
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