Chapter 8 - The Husband Who Lost His WifeDante was found in a private lodge in Connecticut.
Clarissa went alone.
Silas wanted to come.
She refused.
“This is between me and my husband.”
Silas nodded.
“But I'll be close.”
Dante was sitting beside a fireplace when she entered.
He looked exhausted.
“You came.”
“Yes.”
“You should have brought security.”
“I did.”
He smiled sadly.
“Silas.”
“Yes.”
“I always knew he would take you from me.”
Clarissa's expression hardened.
“No one took me.”
Dante stared.
“I lost you.”
“Yes.”
He looked down.
“I never meant for it to go this far.”
“Then why did it?”
“Because every time you succeeded, I felt smaller.”
She didn't speak.
He continued.
“You fixed problems I couldn't.”
“You negotiated better.”
“You understood numbers better.”
“You gained the loyalty of people I intimidated.”
“I was your wife.”
“You were becoming the real leader.”
Clarissa's eyes filled with tears.
“So you erased me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you just ask me to leave?”
He laughed bitterly.
“Because I was afraid you'd choose someone else.”
“You were right.”
He closed his eyes.
“Silas.”
“Yes.”
“You love him?”
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
Dante nodded.
“I knew.”
He handed her a folder.
“Everything.”
She opened it.
Bank accounts.
Shell companies.
Names.
Transactions.
And one document.
The original Hudson Compact.
Dante had kept it.
Her signature was there.
His was beneath it.
The real one.
He looked at her.
“I destroyed us trying to make sure I stayed powerful.”
She folded the document.
“You lost yourself before you lost me.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Police entered.
Dante did not resist.
Before they took him, he looked at her.
“Were you ever happy?”
Clarissa's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“When?”
She answered honestly.
“Before you became afraid of me.”
He nodded.
Then he left.
Outside, Silas waited.
Clarissa walked toward him.
“I did it.”
“You okay?”
“No.”
He opened his arms.
She stepped into them.
For several minutes, she simply cried.
Not because she wanted Dante back.
Because she finally understood that the man she had loved had been real.
He had simply chosen fear over love.
When she finally pulled away, Silas touched her face.
“You're free.”
She looked at him.
“No.”
He froze.
“I’m not free.”
“What?”
“I’m in love with you.”
His expression softened.
“That is a much better kind of problem.”
She laughed.
He kissed her.
Behind them, the Marone empire was entering its final transition.
But Clarissa was no longer afraid.
She had survived the man who thought he owned her.
May you like
She had survived the family who underestimated her.
And now she had someone beside her who never once asked her to become smaller so he could feel bigger.
