Chapter 8 - The Wife Who Became My Unexpected Ally
Victoria did not disappear after the trial.
She stayed.
Not in Dominic's life.
But in mine.
We never became the friends anyone would have predicted.
But we became something stranger.
Allies.
She helped me establish a legal research foundation dedicated to protecting immigrant families from predatory contract schemes.
I completed my doctorate.
The dissertation was titled:
Translation, Intent, and the Law: How Linguistic Ambiguity Can Conceal Beneficial Ownership.
It became unexpectedly popular.
Universities invited me to speak.
Law schools asked me to teach seminars.
I still remembered the night Victoria called me illiterate.
She eventually laughed about it.
“Do you know how embarrassed I was?”
“Very.”
“I thought you were just a waitress.”
“I was.”
She shook her head.
“You were never just anything.”
I smiled.
My mother attended my graduation.
Dominic stood beside her.
He had grown quieter since the fall of the empire.
Less guarded.
More human.
One evening, after graduation, he took me to Maison Étoile.
The restaurant had changed ownership.
The new manager recognized me.
“You used to work here.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Now everyone knows your name.”
I looked around.
The same chandelier.
The same tables.
The same velvet booths.
But everything felt different.
Dominic sat where he had sat that night.
The memory returned.
The insult.
The fountain pen.
The circled word.
He looked at me.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I almost quit that night.”
“Why didn't you?”
“My mother.”
He reached across the table.
“I owe her.”
“She would probably say I owe myself.”
“That too.”
Dinner arrived.
I smiled.
“No water carafe.”
“No apron.”
“No Victoria.”
He laughed.
“Progress.”
Then he reached into his pocket.
My heart skipped.
He placed a small box on the table.
I stared.
“Dominic.”
“Open it.”
Inside was a fountain pen.
Beautiful.
Silver.
Simple.
Engraved with my initials.
CM.
And beneath them:
Words Matter.
My eyes filled with tears.
“You remembered.”
“I remember everything about that night.”
He took a breath.
“Casey.”
“Yes?”
“I don't have an empire anymore.”
“I know.”
“I have no interest in rebuilding one.”
I smiled.
“Good.”
“I have something else to ask.”
He opened his hand.
A ring.
“Will you build a life with me?”
I stared at him.
For years, I had believed survival meant standing alone.
Now I understood that sometimes survival meant allowing someone to stand beside you.
“Yes.”
His shoulders dropped.
For the first time in years, Dominic looked relieved.
I slipped the ring onto my finger.
Then I laughed.
“What?”
“You didn't get down on one knee.”
He looked horrified.
“I forgot.”
I laughed harder.
He stood.
Then kneeling beside the table, he said, “Will you marry me?”
Several people nearby smiled.
I nodded.
“Yes.”
He stood.
May you like
Kissed my forehead.
And whispered, “Then I'm the luckiest man in Manhattan.”
