Chapter 7 - Dominic Moretti's Last Stand
Lily arrived the next morning.
She was six years old.
Brown hair.
Green eyes.
And Dominic's stubborn expression.
She stopped when she saw me.
“Are you Vivian?”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
“My uncle says you're the nicest person in Chicago.”
I looked at Dominic.
He had the decency to look embarrassed.
“Your uncle exaggerates.”
Lily smiled.
“Daddy said you make everything better.”
My heart broke.
Dominic knelt beside her.
“Lily.”
She threw her arms around him.
He held her tightly.
For the first time, I saw the man beneath the empire.
Not the king.
Not the businessman.
Not the criminal.
Just a father.
That changed something in me.
I didn't forgive him.
But I understood him.
And understanding was the first crack in the wall between us.
Then the lights went out.
Samuel shouted from the hallway.
“Down!”
Gunfire exploded outside.
Dominic covered Lily with his body.
I dropped beside them.
Security alarms screamed.
The attackers had found us.
Three minutes later, the shooting stopped.
One guard was injured.
No one else was hurt.
But a message had been left on the front door.
Give us the girl.
Dominic stared at it.
Then he looked at me.
“This ends tonight.”
“No.”
He frowned.
“We need evidence.”
“You've spent seven years making enemies.”
“Yes.”
“You can't shoot your way out of this.”
He looked furious.
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Expose them.”
I held up the files.
“Marco.”
“Richard.”
“Sienna.”
“Daniel Blake.”
“All of them.”
Dominic shook his head.
“People like them don't go down quietly.”
“Then we make sure they don't have anywhere to hide.”
We contacted federal investigators.
We gave them everything.
Financial records.
Photographs.
Voice recordings.
Bank transfers.
The clinic records.
The evidence of forged signatures.
The proof Sienna had worked as Lily's caregiver.
And the final piece came from Richard.
He had been caught trying to flee the country.
Under pressure, he confessed.
Marco had planned everything.
Sienna was supposed to marry Dominic.
Richard would gain control of Moretti Holdings through forged documents.
Daniel Blake would handle legal protection.
Then Marco would take control after Dominic was removed.
But there was one problem.
Vivian.
As long as Vivian remained beside Dominic, he didn't trust outsiders.
So they had spent years trying to make Dominic believe his wife was controlling him.
Then they introduced Sienna.
It had almost worked.
Almost.
The arrest happened at one of Dominic's private warehouses.
Marco tried to escape.
Dominic confronted him.
“Why?”
Marco laughed.
“Because your father promised me this company.”
“My father died.”
“And you took everything.”
“I built everything.”
“You had Vivian.”
Dominic froze.
Marco smiled.
“That woman made you human.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“And you thought removing her would make me weak.”
“No.”
Marco's smile faded.
“I thought removing her would make you mine.”
Federal agents entered.
Marco was arrested.
Richard gave a full confession.
Daniel Blake was arrested the next day.
Sienna disappeared.
For forty-eight hours, no one knew where she was.
Then Lily vanished.
The entire city seemed to stop.
Dominic became frantic.
He accused everyone.
Security officers.
Employees.
Police.
Even himself.
I grabbed his face.
“Look at me.”
His breathing was ragged.
“She's gone.”
“We're going to find her.”
“What if—”
“Don't finish that sentence.”
He looked at me.
“We find her.”
Samuel tracked a vehicle.
An abandoned warehouse.
Dominic wanted to go alone.
I refused.
For the first time, we entered danger side by side.
Inside the warehouse, we found Sienna.
She held Lily's hand.
“Let her go.”
Sienna laughed.
“You took everything from me.”
“You never had anything.”
“I was supposed to be Mrs. Moretti.”
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“You were supposed to be a wife.”
She stared at me.
“What do you mean?”
“A wife knows the man she's marrying.”
I looked at Dominic.
“Sienna didn't know you.”
She laughed bitterly.
“And you did?”
I answered quietly.
“For seven years.”
Sienna looked at me.
“Then why did you leave?”
I smiled.
“Because knowing someone doesn't mean accepting everything they do.”
Her face changed.
She had no answer.
Police entered.
Lily ran to Dominic.
Sienna was arrested.
The nightmare was over.
Almost.
May you like
Because the hardest part was still waiting.
What would Dominic and Vivian do after surviving the people who had tried to destroy them?
