Chapter 6 - The Night Dominic Lost Control
The voice on the phone belonged to a dead man.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
For five years.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Even the security guards standing around the room looked frozen.
Dominic held the phone against his ear.
His face had changed.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Recognition.
“Who is this?”
His voice was low.
The man on the other end laughed quietly.
A sound filled with years of secrets.
“You already know.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
I watched him.
And something inside me broke.
Because for the first time, I saw it clearly.
Dominic wasn’t shocked because someone was pretending to be alive.
He was shocked because he knew exactly who it was.
“Adrian.”
The name left his mouth.
Everyone heard.
Evelyn stepped back.
Her face lost color.
My heart stopped.
The man who disappeared.
The man who supposedly died.
The man connected to every secret surrounding my family.
Adrian Vale.
Alive.
“Hello, Dominic.”
The voice continued.
“You kept your promise.”
Dominic’s grip tightened around the phone.
“What promise?”
I looked at him.
Because I knew.
He knew.
“Don’t pretend you forgot.”
The voice became colder.
“The promise you made to Clara’s mother.”
My breath caught.
My mother.
Again.
Everything always came back to her.
Dominic looked at me.
And that look told me something.
He was deciding whether to tell me the truth.
Again.
But this time, I couldn’t wait.
I stepped closer.
“Put him on speaker.”
Dominic hesitated.
“Clara.”
“No.”
My voice was calm.
But there was something different inside me now.
I was done being the last person to know about my own life.
“Put him on speaker.”
For several seconds, Dominic stared at me.
Then he did it.
The entire room heard Adrian’s voice.
“I was wondering when she would finally demand answers.”
I felt anger rise.
“You know me?”
A pause.
Then:
“I knew you before Dominic did.”
The room became silent.
I looked at Dominic.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian continued.
“Your mother trusted me.”
Dominic immediately interrupted.
“Enough.”
Adrian laughed.
“You still think you can control this conversation.”
His voice hardened.
“You always did.”
I watched Dominic.
The way his shoulders tightened.
The way his eyes moved away from me.
There was history here.
A history I was never allowed to see.
Adrian continued.
“Clara, your mother left something for you.”
“What?”
“Something everyone has been searching for.”
My fingers curled.
“What is it?”
“A recording.”
I frowned.
“A recording of what?”
“The night she disappeared.”
The words hit the room.
Nobody spoke.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Dominic looked toward the floor.
I saw it.
The pain.
The guilt.
The memory.
“Where is it?” I asked.
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether Dominic finally tells you what happened that night.”
I looked at Dominic.
My heart sank.
Because I already knew.
There was something.
Something he had never told me.
“Dominic.”
He looked at me.
“Tell me.”
His expression was exhausted.
“I was there.”
The room went completely still.
I felt like the air disappeared.
“What?”
“The night your mother disappeared.”
I stared at him.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was trying to find the truth first.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
My voice cracked.
“You were trying to decide when I deserved the truth.”
“Clara—”
“No.”
I stepped back.
“You were there.”
I repeated the words.
Like saying them again would make them easier to understand.
“You knew.”
Dominic looked at me.
“I knew your mother was in danger.”
“Did you know she would disappear?”
“No.”
“Did you know my father was alive?”
“No.”
“Did you know Adrian was alive?”
His silence lasted too long.
That was enough.
I looked away.
The man I trusted most.
The man who had protected me.
The man who made me feel safe.
Had built a wall around me.
And called it protection.
Adrian’s voice came through the phone.
“Clara.”
I didn’t answer.
“You need to understand something.”
I looked at the phone.
“Your husband is not the villain.”
That surprised me.
Neither Dominic nor I expected that.
Adrian continued.
“But he is not innocent either.”
The words stayed in the room.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Like he knew this was coming.
“What happened that night?” I asked.
A long silence followed.
Then Adrian spoke.
“Your mother found out someone close to her was working with the people who wanted her silent.”
“Who?”
“That is the question Dominic never answered.”
My eyes moved toward Dominic.
“Who?”
He didn’t speak.
“Dominic.”
His jaw tightened.
“There was someone inside her circle.”
“Who?”
He looked at Evelyn.
Then at me.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian laughed.
“You still protect them.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“What are you talking about?”
The voice became colder.
“You know exactly who I mean.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then Adrian said the name.
A name that made Evelyn freeze.
A name Dominic clearly recognized.
“Victoria.”
The room changed.
Nobody expected it.
I stared.
“Victoria?”
Adrian continued.
“She wasn’t the woman who left because she was afraid.”
My stomach tightened.
“She left because she knew what your mother discovered.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“Then ask yourself why she returned the exact night Clara was attacked.”
Nobody answered.
Because suddenly, everything connected.
The ballroom.
The humiliation.
The wine.
The timing.
Victoria returning after five years.
Not for Dominic.
For something else.
My phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
One photo.
Victoria standing inside a room.
A room I recognized.
My old childhood home.
Below the picture was one sentence.
SHE WAS THERE THE NIGHT YOUR MOTHER DISAPPEARED.
I looked at Dominic.
He saw my face.
“What happened?”
I turned the phone toward him.
The moment he saw the image, all the color disappeared from his face.
Because in the background of the photo was another person.
Someone standing beside Victoria.
Someone Dominic recognized.
Someone he believed had died years ago.
Dominic whispered one name.
“Your father.”
Before anyone could speak, another message arrived.
This time from Victoria’s number.
Only four words.
COME ALONE, CLARA.
I looked at Dominic.
May you like
Then at the message.
And before anyone could stop me, the front door opened by itself.
