Chapter 5 - Why He Married Me
I didn't sleep.
At 5:00 a.m., I was still staring at my mother's letter.
Why had Dominic married me?
Love?
Maybe.
Ambition?
Definitely.
Fear?
Possibly.
I needed the answer.
So I asked him.
We met in a quiet café near Central Park.
No lawyers.
No cameras.
No Vanessa.
Just us.
For the first time in five years, Dominic looked like the man I had married.
Tired.
Human.
Lost.
“I married you because I loved you,” he said.
I said nothing.
He continued.
“But I also knew about your mother's trust.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did you marry me because of it?”
“No.”
I believed him.
That was the problem.
He genuinely had loved me.
Maybe he still did.
But love had not prevented him from destroying me.
He told me his father had discovered the trust before our wedding.
He wanted access.
Dominic resisted.
Then his father threatened to destroy the family business.
Dominic agreed to help him temporarily.
The plan was to encourage me to stop designing.
Once I abandoned fashion, the trust would remain dormant.
But four years later, Caruso discovered my old sketches.
Vanessa became interested.
She persuaded Dominic that they could use my designs without activating the trust properly.
That was the lie.
It would activate.
Dominic knew that.
He gambled that he could control the process.
Then Vanessa discovered the trust was worth far more than expected.
She began manipulating him.
“Did you ever love her?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you love her while sleeping with her?”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“That answer is cruel.”
“I know.”
“Did you ever love me enough to tell me the truth?”
He stared at me.
“No.”
That was the first honest answer that didn't hurt because it was unexpected.
It hurt because it was exactly what I needed to hear.
I stood.
“Then we're finished.”
“Nora.”
“This is not about one slap.”
He looked at me.
“It started long before that.”
I left.
The divorce process began.
Caruso's board panicked.
The collection was still scheduled for national release.
The company tried to settle privately.
Ethan refused.
“They want you quiet.”
“I don't want money.”
He looked at me.
“What do you want?”
“My name.”
The answer surprised even me.
I wanted the work returned.
I wanted public credit.
And I wanted the freedom to create without permission.
We filed.
Then the internet exploded.
Screenshots of my original sketches appeared online.
Someone had leaked them.
People compared the dates.
Fashion magazines began questioning Caruso.
Vanessa attacked me publicly.
“You're using your husband's name to create a scandal.”
I replied only once.
“I spent five years using my husband's name. I'm done.”
The post went viral.
But then Vanessa made one mistake.
She filed a sworn declaration claiming she had never seen my designs before 18 months ago.
Ethan smiled when he read it.
“She's lying.”
“How do you know?”
“Because of this.”
He placed a scanned email on the desk.
It was sent by Vanessa herself.
Three years earlier.
The subject line read:
Nora's Bridal Portfolio.
The attachment list included 11 of my designs.
Her signature was at the bottom.
Ethan leaned back.
“This case just changed.”
The next hearing was brutal.
Caruso's attorneys attacked my marriage.
They argued that because I had been married to Dominic and lived under the same roof, my designs were marital property.
Ethan produced tax records proving I had maintained separate creative accounts.
Then the trust documents.
Then the original sketches.
Then the emails.
Then the recorded tutorial.
The judge asked Caruso's counsel one simple question.
“Why does your company's timeline begin two years after the plaintiff's?”
The room went silent.
Vanessa looked at Dominic.
Dominic looked at the floor.
That night, something unexpected happened.
Dominic sent me a message.
I expected another plea.
Instead, it said:
I will testify.
I stared at the screen.
He continued:
I know what I did. I won't let you carry the blame for it.
I asked Ethan whether Dominic could be trusted.
He answered carefully.
“Not because he's your husband.”
“What then?”
“Because testimony exposes him too.”
Dominic testified the following week.
He admitted he had sent my designs.
Admitted Vanessa knew.
Admitted he had withheld the trust information.
Admitted he had altered company records.
And admitted he had lied about the ballroom incident.
When asked why he slapped me, he said:
“Because I reacted before I listened.”
The attorney asked:
“Do you regret it?”
Dominic looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because that moment showed me exactly what I had become.”
It was the first time he publicly took responsibility.
But responsibility didn't mean forgiveness.
It meant consequences.
After the hearing, Vanessa waited for him in the hallway.
“You're betraying me.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No.”
“You promised.”
“I promised Nora years ago.”
Vanessa laughed.
“She doesn't want you.”
“I know.”
“Then why do this?”
He looked at me from across the hallway.
“Because she deserves the truth even if she never forgives me.”
Vanessa stepped toward him.
“I can destroy you.”
May you like
Dominic answered quietly.
“You already did.”
