Chapter 7 - Daniel Took Me From the Hospital—and Dominic Broke Every Rule to Find Me
Daniel kidnapped me two nights later.
It happened in a parking garage.
I should have seen it coming.
The first sign was the missing security guard.
The second was the car that had followed me from the hospital.
The third was the man who said:
“Dominic wants you inside.”
I believed him for three seconds.
Then he hit me.
I woke in a warehouse.
Daniel sat across from me.
“You look tired.”
“You look desperate.”
He smiled.
“You have your brother's arrogance.”
“You don't have a brother.”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“You happened.”
He showed me photographs.
Dominic.
My mother.
My grandmother.
Me.
Everything.
“You were supposed to stay invisible.”
“I wasn't planning to be invisible.”
He sighed.
“That's the problem.”
“What do you want?”
“Your signature.”
“On what?”
“Transfer papers.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You misunderstand.”
He placed a document in front of me.
“If you sign, your mother lives.”
I stared.
“She is already safe.”
He laughed.
“Are you sure?”
He pressed a button.
A video appeared.
My mother tied to a chair.
My heart broke.
“Mom!”
Daniel smiled.
“Sign.”
I looked at the document.
Then noticed something.
The signature line required a notary.
He hadn't brought one.
I smiled.
“You're bluffing.”
His expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because you need me alive.”
He said nothing.
“Which means you can't force me to sign.”
“You are difficult.”
“I've heard.”
Then the door opened.
Dominic.
He stood there alone.
Daniel laughed.
“You came.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Daniel raised a gun.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Dominic took one step.
“I was always going to.”
“You think you can stop me?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“She can.”
Daniel turned.
I slammed my hand into the light switch.
The room went dark.
Dominic moved.
Gunshots.
A crash.
A scream.
Then silence.
When the lights came back, Daniel was gone.
But the door was open.
He had escaped again.
Dominic came toward me.
He had blood on his shirt.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
He touched my face.
“I thought…”
He stopped.
“You thought what?”
“That I'd lost you.”
I looked at him.
“You didn't.”
He took my hand.
Then kissed my forehead.
I didn't know when it happened.
Somewhere between the hospital and the warehouse, fear had turned into something else.
Something deeper.
Something I could no longer pretend wasn't there.
We found Daniel's escape route.
It led to the harbor.
There was a boat waiting.
Thomas intercepted it.
Daniel was forced into the water.
He survived.
But now the evidence against him was overwhelming.
The police began searching every property connected to him.
Still, he vanished.
Three days later, he sent one final message.
TO DOMINIC:
I KNOW WHAT ANNA MEANS TO YOU.
TO ME:
I KNOW WHAT DOMINIC HIDES.
The final line terrified me.
HE IS THE REASON YOUR FATHER DIED.
I confronted Dominic.
“Is it true?”
He looked away.
“I don't know.”
“That isn't good enough.”
He finally admitted the truth.
He had been present when my biological father disappeared.
He had not killed him.
But he had made a decision.
He chose to protect his own family instead of warning mine.
That decision allowed Daniel to reach my father.
I cried.
“You could have saved him.”
“Yes.”
“You chose not to.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That if I challenged Daniel, you would die too.”
May you like
I walked away.
For the first time, I wasn't sure whether love was enough.
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