Dominic stood at the head of the table, his silhouette blocking the light from the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The room was deathly quiet.
Every executive present looked at me with varying degrees of judgment, waiting for the axe to fall.
“Check the security feed from the freight elevator,” I said, my voice finally steadying.
I had realized something while Preston was listing the timestamps.
“If I used the main corridor, I would have been caught on three other cameras.
If I used the freight elevator, I would have had to bypass the manual override system—a system only Preston’s department controls.”
Preston laughed, a dry, dismissive sound.
“Desperation breeds creative excuses, Miss Reed.”
Dominic turned toward Preston.
The atmosphere in the room shifted; it wasn’t anger anymore, but the cold, focused intensity of a man deciding the fate of a rival.
“Victor,” Dominic said without looking away from Preston, “the server logs.”
Victor stepped forward and placed a tablet on the table.
“Sir, I didn’t just check the cameras.
I checked the internal server communication logs for the archive cabinet.”
Preston’s composure wavered.
He glanced at the door, then back at Dominic.
“This is a waste of time.
She’s trying to deflect.”
“The logs show,” Victor continued, his voice monotone and lethal, “that the cabinet wasn’t opened with a badge.
It was opened with a master bypass code.
A code that was used at 11:42 p.m.
last night—the exact time the ledger went missing.
The IP address associated with that bypass code is registered to a private terminal… in your home, Mr. Vale.”
The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating.
“It’s a glitch,” Preston spat, his face turning a blotchy red.
“Dominic, you’re listening to a girl who’s been manipulating you since the day she walked in here.
She’s playing you for a fool.”
Dominic walked toward Preston, his stride predatory.
He didn’t look old.
He looked timeless—a man who had survived a dozen wars and was currently deciding if this was a skirmish or a total destruction.
“She isn’t the one who is a fool, Preston,” Dominic said.
“You wanted me to believe she was a thief because you knew I would be forced to cast her out to maintain the integrity of the firm.
You thought I would choose the stability of my empire over the only thing that has made me feel alive in twenty years.”
Dominic reached into his own inner jacket pocket and pulled out the very ledger they were arguing over.
My breath hitched.
“I knew the ledger was gone the moment it moved,” Dominic said, his gaze fixed on Preston.
“I also knew who had the motive to frame the only person who hasn’t tried to take anything from me.
You didn’t steal it to sell it.
You stole it because it contained proof of your own embezzlement—proof that I’ve been sitting on for three months, waiting for you to trip.”
Preston collapsed into his chair, his hands shaking.
The game was over.
Dominic didn’t fire him.
He didn’t even yell.
He simply nodded to Victor, and two security guards stepped in to escort Preston out—not just from the building, but from his entire life.
Once the doors clicked shut, the room cleared as if by magic, leaving only Dominic and me.
He leaned against the table, his shoulders finally dropping from their rigid posture.
He looked tired.
Not old—just human.
“You’re still going to call me old, aren’t you?” he asked, a hint of his rare, genuine smile reappearing.
I walked toward him, the space between us finally free of secreTS. I reached out and took his hand, feeling the strength and the history in his grip.
“I might,” I said, leaning into him, “but only if you promise to keep being unbearable.”
Dominic pulled me close, his hand coming up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I think we can reach an agreement on that.”
He had chosen.
Between the cold, hollow pursuit of revenge and the terrifying, beautiful risk of love, he had finally stopped burying his heart and decided to let it breathe.
As the sun began to set over the Chicago skyline, I knew the road ahead wouldn’t be easy—a man like Dominic Bellaro would always have enemies—but for the first time, I wasn’t just working for him.
I was standing beside him.
