Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO STOOD BESIDE HIM
Three days later, Claire walked into the Castellano family office for the first time since leaving.
Every head turned.
She wore a simple cream coat, black trousers, and the expression of a woman who had finally stopped asking permission to exist.
Dominic walked beside her.
Not ahead.
Beside.
Marco followed several steps behind.
At the end of the hallway, Salvatore stood outside the boardroom.
He smiled.
"Claire."
She stopped.
"Mr. Castellano."
Dominic glanced at his father.
"She doesn't owe you a conversation."
Salvatore ignored him.
"I've arranged a settlement."
Claire almost laughed.
"A settlement?"
"An amount that would allow you to live comfortably."
"How generous."
"You could leave the city."
"I already left your house."
His smile faded.
"You've become difficult."
Claire looked directly at him.
"No. I've become clear."
Dominic felt something shift inside him.
Six months earlier, he might have told her to lower her voice.
Now he was proud.
Salvatore looked at Dominic.
"You let her speak for you?"
Dominic answered.
"She doesn't speak for me."
He looked at Claire.
"She speaks for herself."
Salvatore's expression hardened.
"Then perhaps you deserve what comes next."
The boardroom doors opened.
Inside waited lawyers, directors, and family representatives.
A vote had been scheduled.
Dominic had expected resistance.
He had not expected his father to bring a judge.
Not a criminal court judge.
A family court mediator.
The mediator placed a file on the table.
"Mr. Castellano, Mrs. Castellano, I've been asked to review a potential guardianship concern."
Claire's face went pale.
Dominic stood immediately.
"Who authorized this?"
Salvatore answered.
"The concern was submitted anonymously."
Claire looked at the medical file.
It contained her cardiology results.
Her pregnancy.
Her history.
Every private detail.
The mediator spoke carefully.
"I am not making any determination today."
Dominic interrupted.
"Then this meeting is over."
The mediator frowned.
"Mr. Castellano—"
"My wife has not been declared incapable of caring for herself or her child."
Claire touched Dominic's arm.
He looked at her.
"Let me."
He stopped.
Claire faced the mediator.
"I have a documented medical condition. I am being treated. My pregnancy is being monitored. My doctors have not said I am incapable of parenting."
She placed another folder on the table.
"My attorney has prepared independent medical evaluations."
The mediator opened them.
Salvatore's smile disappeared.
Claire continued.
"I also have evidence that someone obtained my medical records without authorization."
The mediator looked up.
"That's serious."
"It is."
Dominic watched his father.
For once, Salvatore had no immediate answer.
The meeting ended two hours later.
Outside, Claire exhaled.
"I thought I was going to faint."
Dominic looked at her.
"You were incredible."
"I was terrified."
"Both can be true."
She smiled.
"You're getting better at this."
"At what?"
"Listening."
He smiled.
"I've had a good teacher."
They walked toward the elevator.
Then Claire stopped.
"Dominic."
"What?"
"I want to ask you something."
"Anything."
"Do you still think I'm too fat?"
He went completely still.
The question hurt.
Not because of her.
Because of him.
"No."
She waited.
He continued.
"I think I was cruel."
"Why did you say it?"
He looked down.
"Because I was angry with myself."
"At yourself?"
"I'd spent months watching you struggle. I felt helpless. Your father kept telling me you were making excuses. I wanted to believe him because believing him meant I didn't have to face the fact that I wasn't protecting you."
Claire's eyes filled.
"So you blamed my body."
"Yes."
"That was unforgivable."
"I know."
She looked toward the elevator doors.
"Maybe not unforgivable."
He looked at her.
"But not forgettable."
"I understand."
The elevator arrived.
They stepped inside.
Neither touched the other.
But they stood close.
That evening, Claire returned to the lake house.
Dominic stayed in Chicago.
He had promised not to pressure her.
At 9:17 p.m., Claire received a video.
She opened it.
It showed Dominic sitting alone in the kitchen.
He was holding an old photograph.
His mother's photograph.
His voice came through the recording.
"I found this today."
He turned the photograph toward the camera.
It showed his mother pregnant with him.
"I never knew she had this picture."
Claire watched silently.
Dominic continued.
"My father made her feel ashamed of being tired. He told her she was weak. He told her she was difficult."
Claire's breath caught.
"She died believing she had failed me."
He looked down.
"I won't let that happen to you."
The video ended.
Claire stared at the screen for a long time.
Then she called him.
He answered immediately.
"Claire?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For telling me the truth."
"I should have told you sooner."
"Yes."
A pause.
"Dominic?"
"Yes?"
"I miss you."
He closed his eyes.
"I miss you too."
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Then Claire said, "But missing someone isn't the same as trusting them."
"I know."
"Good."
She smiled through tears.
"Good night."
"Good night."
The next morning, Dominic received a call from Marco.
"We found the man behind the forged documents."
"Who?"
Marco hesitated.
"Someone you know."
Dominic's face hardened.
"Name him."
"It's Nico."
Dominic's younger cousin.
His own family.
His father's favorite nephew.
The man Dominic had trusted enough to sign contracts in his absence.
Dominic stared at the city through the glass.
"Bring him in."
Marco's voice lowered.
"There's more."
"What?"
"Nico wasn't working for Salvatore."
Dominic's stomach tightened.
"Then who?"
"We traced the payments."
Marco paused.
"They came from someone outside the family."
Dominic looked toward the photograph of his mother on his desk.
A third player had entered the game.
And that player had been planning the destruction of the Castellanos for far longer than anyone realized.
Dominic ordered Nico brought to a private office.
His cousin arrived furious.
"You had me dragged here like a criminal."
Dominic closed the door.
"Sit."
Nico remained standing.
"What is this about?"
"The transfers."
Nico's face changed.
Dominic noticed.
"You know."
"I know nothing."
"Don't lie."
Nico looked toward the window.
"Your father told me it was temporary."
"What was temporary?"
"The money."
Dominic stepped closer.
"You helped him move it."
"I thought he was protecting the company."
"You forged my signature."
"I didn't."
Dominic stopped.
"Who did?"
Nico swallowed.
"I don't know."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because somebody threatened my sister."
Dominic's anger paused.
"Who?"
"I never saw his face."
"What did he want?"
"Access to the foundation."
Dominic stared.
"So you weren't working for my father."
"No."
"Who were you working for?"
Nico shook his head.
"I don't know."
Dominic believed him.
That frightened him more.
Because if Nico was telling the truth, then Salvatore had been manipulated too.
Someone had been using the family from the inside.
Later that afternoon, Dominic drove to the lake house.
Claire was sitting on the porch with a blanket around her shoulders.
"You came."
"I needed to tell you something."
"That sounds serious."
"It is."
He sat across from her.
"Nico wasn't behind everything."
"Who was?"
"We don't know."
Claire looked toward the lake.
"So we're back where we started."
"Not exactly."
Dominic handed her a folder.
"Your medical records were accessed by a private investigator."
She read the report.
"Who hired him?"
"Unknown."
Claire looked up.
"Could it be someone connected to your father?"
"Maybe."
"Could it be someone connected to you?"
Dominic hesitated.
"Yes."
Claire absorbed that.
Then she asked, "Are you afraid?"
"Very."
She nodded.
"Me too."
He looked at her.
"Claire, if you want to leave the country, I'll make it happen."
She shook her head.
"No."
"You could be safer."
"I don't want to spend my life running."
He nodded.
"Then we stay."
"Together?"
He looked at her.
"If you'll have me."
Claire didn't answer immediately.
She reached for his hand.
His fingers closed around hers.
"Not as your wife," she said.
He looked confused.
"Not yet."
She squeezed his hand.
"First, I want to know who you are when nobody is forcing you to be good."
Dominic smiled.
"That's fair."
"It may take time."
"I have time."
She looked toward the lake.
"Then sit."
He sat.
For the next hour, they talked about ordinary things.
Names they liked for the baby.
The color of the nursery.
Whether the child would inherit Dominic's stubbornness.
It was the most peaceful conversation they had shared in months.
Neither noticed the black vehicle parked beyond the trees.
Inside, a man watched them through binoculars.
He made a phone call.
"They're together again."
A voice answered.
"Then begin phase two."
The man lowered the binoculars.
"And the father?"
"He still thinks this is a family war."
"Isn't it?"
"No."
The caller laughed softly.
"It's a takeover."
The vehicle disappeared before sunset.
Inside the house, Claire rested her head against the chair.
Dominic watched her.
For the first time, he allowed himself to imagine a future that did not involve fear.
May you like
He didn't know someone else had already begun deciding what that future would cost him.
Everything. Including Claire. And their child.
