Chapter 7 - The Secret He Hid Even From HimselfDominic survived.
Barely.
Selena refused to leave the hospital.
She slept in the chair beside his bed.
When he woke, she was holding his hand.
“You look terrible.”
He smiled.
“Good morning, wife.”
She laughed through tears.
“You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don't do it again.”
“I'll try.”
For the first time, Dominic let Selena see his fear.
Not fear of death.
Fear of losing her.
He admitted that after his father's death, he had spent years believing love was a weakness.
Then Selena changed everything.
She had challenged him.
Laughed at him.
Refused his money.
Refused his protection.
Then accepted his heart.
And now he knew there was no going back.
Mason contacted them.
He offered a trade.
The vault records for Eleanor.
Selena insisted on going.
Dominic refused.
“I won't risk you.”
“She’s my mother.”
“You're staying.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You're impossible.”
“I learned from you.”
He smiled.
They went together.
The meeting took place at an abandoned church outside Philadelphia.
Mason waited beneath the stained-glass windows.
Eleanor was tied to a chair.
Edward Vale stood beside him.
Dominic stopped.
His uncle smiled.
“You've become your father.”
“No.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
“I became better.”
Edward laughed.
“You still think morality matters.”
“It matters to me.”
Edward looked at Selena.
“She was supposed to marry Mason.”
Mason's jaw tightened.
“She chose me.”
Edward laughed.
“You were never supposed to be loved, boy.”
Mason looked wounded.
Selena understood.
Mason had been manipulated too.
But that did not erase what he had done.
Edward revealed the final truth.
Mason had been abandoned by his biological father.
Richard Caldwell raised him as a weapon.
Edward used him as a pawn.
Mason had spent his life desperate for approval.
Selena looked at Mason.
“You could have chosen differently.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
He looked at Edward.
“He promised me everything.”
“And?”
“I got nothing.”
Edward fired.
The bullet struck Mason.
Dominic shot Edward.
Silence.
Mason collapsed.
Selena ran toward him.
“Why?”
He smiled weakly.
“Because for once…”
He looked at her.
“…I wanted to choose for myself.”
He handed Selena a small device.
“The evidence.”
She stared.
“Why?”
“Because he was going to kill your mother.”
Mason died before the ambulance arrived.
Edward was arrested.
The network collapsed.
Eleanor was safe.
But Selena couldn't stop thinking about Mason.
Not because she loved him.
Because she finally understood that hurting people didn't heal wounded people.
Dominic held her that night.
“You don't have to forgive him.”
“I don't.”
“You can still grieve.”
She leaned against his chest.
“I loved him once.”
“I know.”
“But I love you now.”
May you like
He kissed her hair.
“That is enough.”
