Chapter 4
Vivienne looked at her brother.
Something old passed between them.
Not affection.
Obligation.
Dominic recognized it.
He had built enough alliances to know the look of two people carrying the same secret for different reasons.
“What was in the envelope?”
Vivienne’s eyes stayed on Marcus.
He slowly shook his head.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Look at me.”
She did.
Tears had formed, but her expression remained hard.
“A letter.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“You kept a letter Elena wrote to me.”
Vivienne looked away.
“Yes.”
The admission landed quietly.
That made it worse.
“Where is it?”
“I destroyed it.”
Dominic’s fingers closed.
Marcus immediately moved.
Not toward Dominic.
Toward Vivienne.
“Enough.”
She turned.
His voice dropped.
“You don't owe him every private thing Elena said.”
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“Why are you deciding what my dead wife owed me?”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“Elena hated the way you handled conflict.”
Dominic went still.
Vivienne inhaled sharply.
Marcus had gone too far.
Dominic heard truth beneath the cruelty.
“What did she tell you?”
Marcus stared back.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Marcus said:
“She wanted to leave.”
The words struck harder than the punch Dominic had given him.
Dominic’s face stayed still.
Only his thumb moved against his signet ring.
Vivienne watched him.
“Marcus.”
He ignored her.
“She had been planning it for months.”
Dominic’s voice came quieter.
“Leave me?”
Marcus nodded.
Dominic looked toward the ring.
A strange detail returned to him.
Elena had stopped wearing it during the final week of her life.
He had noticed.
She said it was being repaired.
That had been true.
Just not the whole truth.
Marcus continued.
“She had an attorney.”
Dominic’s breath changed.
“Who?”
“No idea.”
“You expect me to believe you know about the plan but not the lawyer?”
Marcus shrugged.
“I knew what mattered.”
Vivienne closed her eyes.
Dominic looked at her.
“You knew too.”
“Yes.”
“Before she died.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Almost two months.”
Dominic turned away.
That movement frightened Vivienne more than shouting.
He stood beneath a hanging lantern, looking toward the house where Aria slept.
His late wife had planned to leave him.
His current fiancée knew.
Her brother knew.
Both remained close to him afterward.
The betrayal widened.
Then his attorney approached.
“There’s a problem.”
Dominic turned.
The lawyer had searched old court intake systems.
Elena had indeed consulted a family-law attorney.
But not about divorce.
At least not initially.
Her first appointment had been categorized:
CHILD SAFETY / BUSINESS COERCION.
Dominic looked slowly toward Marcus.
Marcus’s expression changed.
The attorney continued.
“The consultation notes cannot be released without proper authority.”
A pause.
“But the conflict check lists the adverse party.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
The attorney looked directly at Marcus.
“Cross Strategic Holdings.”
May you like
Elena had not first sought a lawyer to escape Dominic.
She had gone because of Marcus.
