I didn’t sleep.
How could I?
Dominic Caldwell had played me, twisted my loyalty into a noose, and left me standing in the ruins of my own choices.
My father’s scandal was now public.
Dominic had betrayed me.
And worse, I was still his—trapped in a marriage I had no way of escaping.
By the time the sun rose, I had made a decision.
If Dominic wanted a war, I’d give him one.
****
The next morning, I didn’t wait for him to summon me.
I stormed into the dining room, where he sat at the long mahogany table, sipping his coffee like he hadn’t just burned my world to the ground.
He barely glanced up. “You’re up early.”
I slammed a newspaper onto the table—the same one detailing my father’s downfall. “You used me.”
Dominic sighed, setting his cup down. “We’ve already established that.”
I clenched my fists. “Then let’s establish something else. This marriage? It’s over.”
A slow, mocking smile spread across his lips. “You really think that’s up to you?”
“I won’t be your pawn.”
“You already are,” he murmured, leaning back in his chair. “And you signed a contract, remember?”
Anger coiled in my stomach. “Contracts can be broken.”
His gaze darkened. “Not mine.”
I hated him. Hated his power, his control, the way he made me feel powerless—no, helpless.
But I wasn’t weak.
And Dominic was about to learn that the hard way.
****
I spent the entire day plotting my next move.
By evening, I had an answer.
Liam.
It was risky—dangerous even—but I had no other choice.
I found him in his office, drowning in paperwork and frustration.
When he saw me, his eyes softened. “Elena.”
I didn’t have time for pleasantries. “I need your help.”
Liam frowned. “With what?”
I exhaled sharply. “Taking Dominic down.”
His entire body went still. “You’re serious.”
“Completely.”
Liam leaned back, studying me. “What changed?”
I hesitated. “He betrayed me. My father. Everything.”
His jaw tightened. “I told you to walk away from him.”
I flinched. “And I didn’t listen. But I’m listening now.”
Liam sighed, running a hand through his hair. “If you go against Dominic, it won’t just be business. It’ll be war.”
I met his gaze. “Then help me win it.”
A long silence stretched between us.
Then, finally, Liam nodded.
“Alright,” he said. “Let’s destroy him.”
****
I didn’t return to Dominic’s penthouse until late that night.
I expected him to be asleep.
I was wrong.
He was waiting for me.
The moment I stepped inside, he was there—leaning against the wall, his eyes dark and knowing.
“Where were you?”
I forced myself to remain calm. “Out.”
Dominic’s lips twitched. “Try again.”
I crossed my arms. “I don’t answer to you.”
His gaze darkened. “That’s where you’re wrong, Sinclair.”
I swallowed hard. “You don’t own me, Dominic.”
His smirk was slow, deliberate. “Then why are you lying to me?”
Panic surged through me, but I masked it with defiance. “I’m not lying.”
Dominic stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. “You think I don’t know where you went? Who you saw?”
I froze.
He knew.
Somehow, he knew.
“I warned you, Elena,” he murmured, his fingers brushing my jaw. “Liam can’t save you from me.”
My breath hitched. “And what happens when I save myself?”
Dominic’s smirk vanished.
For the first time, something unreadable flickered in his gaze.
And for the first time, I wondered if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.
The next morning, I received a message that turned my blood to ice.
Meet me at the docks. 11 PM. Come alone.
It was from Liam.
I should have questioned it.
I should have waited.
Instead, I went.
But when I arrived, Liam was nowhere to be found.
The docks were eerily silent, the water lapping against the wooden planks.
Something was wrong.
A shiver ran down my spine. “Liam?”
Silence.
Then—
A pair of hands grabbed me from behind.
I gasped, struggling, but a cloth was pressed to my mouth—something chemical, something strong.
My vision blurred.
The last thing I heard before darkness swallowed me whole—
Was Dominic’s voice.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t see this coming, Sinclair?”
Then everything went black.
The smoke curled in the air, dancing like a wicked omen.I stared at the man I had called “father” for twenty-eight years—Senator Richard Sinclair—now standing in the doorway of Charles Barron’s study, a smoking pistol in his gloved hand and blood on his conscience. The man I had defended through scandals. The man I had nearly destroyed myself trying to protect.He looked at me like a stranger.“Why?” I croaked, barely able to speak over the thundering pulse in my ears. “Why did you kill him?”Richard stepped forward calmly, as if he hadn’t just shot the only man who could’ve unraveled the twisted threads of my existence.“He was a liability,” he said simply. “And liabilities must be removed.”Dominic moved protectively in front of me, but my father didn’t even glance at him.“This doesn’t make sense,” I said, voice breaking. “You knew Victor was my real father. You knew—and you still arranged the marriage. You let me fall into this nightmare.”Richard’s eyes darkened. “You were never
The silence in the room was suffocating.I stared down at the DNA report, my hands trembling as the implications unraveled inside my mind like a bomb detonating in slow motion. The file said it plainly: a female child was born from Victor Caldwell and Olivia Sinclair. Identity redacted.Dominic stood frozen beside me, the file still open in his hands, but his entire body had gone rigid.I backed away, pulse racing.“This—this has to be a mistake,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “It’s probably someone else. I mean… it could’ve been another child. Someone who died. Maybe it’s not—”“Elena,” Dominic said, his voice tight, low, like it was strangling him. “You were born the year after my father vanished from public life. Right after Olivia disappeared.”“No.” I shook my head, stepping further away, the cold wall biting my back. “Don’t. Don’t say what I think you’re about to say.”He slammed the file shut. “We don’t know anything for sure. Not yet.”“But if it’s true,” I choked, “if I’m h
The moment the screen flashed SECURITY BREACH, my heart stuttered.“Dominic…” My voice trembled, barely above a whisper.He was already on his feet, pulling a drawer open to retrieve a concealed weapon, his movements quick, practiced. Liam stood by the window, peeking through the blinds as the wind howled outside, bringing with it the crackling of leaves—too calculated to be natural.“They’re here,” Liam confirmed grimly. “Two vehicles. No plates.”“Stay inside. Both of you,” Dominic growled, his eyes narrowing as he checked the chamber of his gun. “If they get past me, you run. Do you hear me, Elena?”“No.” I stood too, fury surging through my veins. “I’m not leaving you. Not again.”He turned sharply, grabbing my wrist. “This isn’t a debate—”“It never was!” I snapped. “I’ve been used, lied to, manipulated. If someone wants me dead, they’ll have to go through me this time. I’m done being collateral damage.”Liam raised a brow. “She’s got your fire,” he muttered to Dominic.“Worse,”
The vehicle sped through the night like a bullet slicing through the darkness. Rain pounded against the windshield, with the wipers working relentlessly back and forth, yet the constant swish did little to ease the anxiety building in my chest.I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the message on my phone:"You’re next. Just like your mother."Who on earth sent it? How did they know we were so close to the truth?Liam shot me a glance from the driver’s seat, his jaw clenched. He hadn’t said much since we departed from Dominic’s penthouse, but the tension radiating from him in waves spoke volumes. "We’re almost there," he said, his voice sharp. "It’s a Caldwell property. Off-grid, untraceable."I nodded, holding my phone tightly in my lap. My mind was racing—Dominic. The video. My mother. My father’s betrayal. The reality that someone had actually placed a target on my back.“I shouldn’t have left him,” I whispered.Liam’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “He told you to leave. You kn
The old security tape played on the massive screen in Dominic’s study, casting flickering shadows on the walls. The room was dead silent except for the soft whir of the projector and the pounding of my heart. Dominic stood behind me, arms crossed tightly over his chest, his gaze glued to the screen. I sat at the edge of the leather couch, fingers clenched together, trying not to blink.The footage was grainy, the timestamp barely legible—August 17th, 1999—the year before everything in my world fell apart.My mother appeared first. Olivia Sinclair. Younger, but unmistakably her. Dressed in a soft blue coat, her dark hair pulled back in an elegant twist. She looked nervous. Anxious. She kept glancing over her shoulder as if expecting to be followed.Then he appeared.Victor Caldwell.Tall, commanding, and heartbreakingly handsome, even in the pixelated footage. He walked toward her, and the second their hands touched, the air in the room changed.My breath hitched.There was no denying
The rain was a relentless drumbeat on the glass walls of Dominic’s penthouse. Thunder cracked in the distance, nature’s fury echoing the storm inside me. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, the woman looking back at me barely recognizable. I wasn’t the same Elena Sinclair who walked into Caldwell Enterprises to take down a dynasty. No. That woman had believed in lines—clear ones, bold ones. Right and wrong. Truth and lies. Love and hate.But now?Now, everything was a blur. A twisted mosaic of betrayal, secrets, and stolen moments.Behind me, the door creaked open, soft footfalls padding into the room. I didn’t need to turn to know it was him.“Elena,” Dominic’s voice was low, hesitant, but still laced with that commanding undertone that always made my chest tighten.I met his eyes in the mirror. He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in days. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top, his tie gone, his hair mussed from raking his fingers through it one too many times. But what stru