Chapter 4 - THE MAN BEHIND THE FIRE
By sunrise, Dominic had moved Sadi and her mother to a secure estate.
The city woke beneath them.
News channels reported a shooting at an unidentified private residence.
No names.
No suspects.
No explanation.
Sadi sat beside the window while her mother slept.
Dominic entered carrying two cups of coffee.
He handed one to her.
“I don't drink coffee.”
“You're drinking it now.”
She looked at him.
“You always this controlling?”
“Yes.”
“At least you're honest.”
He sat across from her.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Dominic placed a photograph on the table.
Sadi looked down.
Her father.
Caleb Mercer.
Standing beside Dominic's father.
And beside them was Vincent Moretti.
Sadi's stomach twisted.
“They knew each other.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Twenty-two years.”
“What did they want from my father?”
Dominic pointed to a handwritten note.
MERCER HAS THE KEY.
“What key?”
“I don't know.”
Sadi looked closer.
Behind her father stood a young woman.
Sadi recognized her immediately.
“My mother.”
Dominic nodded.
“This photograph was taken six months before the fire.”
Sadi stared.
Her mother looked happy.
Alive.
Unafraid.
Then Sadi noticed something in Caleb's hand.
A small black box.
“What is that?”
Dominic leaned closer.
“I've seen it before.”
“Where?”
“In my father's personal archive.”
They spent the next six hours searching old records.
At three in the afternoon, Dominic found the answer.
The box contained an encrypted drive.
Caleb had stolen it from Vincent.
It contained names.
Judges.
Police officers.
Politicians.
Bankers.
Business owners.
People who had spent decades pretending they were clean.
Vincent had built an empire through them.
And Caleb had threatened to expose everything.
Sadi looked at Dominic.
“If this gets out, your organization collapses.”
“Yes.”
“Then why help me?”
Dominic was quiet.
“Because I don't want my father's sins to become mine.”
She studied him.
“You could lose everything.”
“I know.”
“What if you do?”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“Then I build something better.”
For the first time, Sadi saw the man beneath the reputation.
Not the billionaire.
Not the feared crime boss.
Just a man carrying the weight of a dead father.
She looked away.
“Don't make me trust you.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know what I'll do if I do.”
Dominic's expression softened.
“Neither do I.”
That night, they decrypted the first file.
A list appeared.
At the top was Vincent Moretti.
At the bottom was one name that made Sadi freeze.
DOMINIC VALE.
She stared.
“What is this?”
May you like
Dominic's face became pale.
“My father planned to kill me.”
