CHAPTER 15

The car roared beneath me like it shared my anger.

I wasn't aware I was moving that quickly until a blur of a car blasted its horn, yanking me back into my reality. I drew in a quick breath, the sound harsh and ragged. My knuckles were white against the wheel, my heart racing against the cage of my rib as if it desired to escape, as if it needed this almost as much as I did.

Dominic.

His name didn't come into my mind; it was akin to a knife seared in my chest, turning with every breath. I didn't possess proof, not of the sort that the world approved but I didn't need it. I knew it in my bones, in the intuition that had sustained me all these years.

He had been behind the stupid post.

He always struck where it would hurt the most. Always waited until I was finally gasping in the air before dragging me underwater. No one else would have schemed something this planned, this beautifully mess. I didn't have any other known enemies.

I felt a metallic taste in my mouth, that's was when I realized I had been chewing on the inside of my own cheek. My jaw hurt from clenching, but I couldn't let go. I didn't want to. I was going to need the tension to survive.

The city slept peacefully as I angrily drove through it, each light a blur, each thought condensing into one hard, explosive intention: Retribution. I wasn't thinking. Just the cut of betrayal and the unrelenting need to make him feel an ounce of what I did.

The streets narrowed as I drove into the area of town Dominic had claimed as home —the estate. The pretentious columns, the trimmed hedges. This was the home we used to share. This home held some of the best memories of my life but now? It housed my worst night mare. 

I crept, headlights turned off, heart yelling. Finally I pulled up to the gate like a ghost returning home.

I didn't ring the bell. I didn't need to.

I stormed up the stairs with the fury of a woman with nothing to lose, my shoes clattering on the concrete, my breath misting in the chill night air. My fist pounded against the door, its sound echoing through the sleeping street like gunfire.

"DOMINIC!" I yelled, voice tearing through the stillness. "Come out and face me, you goddamned coward!"

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Silence.

I had already raised my fist again, then the door swung open on a soft creak.

But it wasn't him. Not at all.

Instead, a woman blinked at the porch light. Her robe was tied loose and her hair was bed-mussed. She was the type of person who seemed to be supposed to be here, someone who knew his toothpaste company and where he keeps his wine glasses.

I knew her too.

She blinked at me, squinting, and whispered, "Liana?" Her voice was paper thin, groggy. Trapped between confusion and something she didn't want to show.

We both lingered there for a breath too long. We knew each other. Not very well, but well enough.

"Where is he?" I snapped. I wasn't here for small talk. "I want to see Dominic. Now."

Her brows furrowed, guarded, wary. "Dead in the night in a robe? Is everything okay?"

I stepped closer until our shoes were nearly touching. Her fingers closed on the fabric at her waist. "I didn't come all the way out here to make conversation with Dom’s new conquest," I stated, my tone cold enough to cut glass. "Call him, now!"

Something flashed in her face. Hurt? Embarrassment? Recognition? I couldn't let myself care.

"You always did think you were better than everyone," she whispered, as if it wasn't my place to unravel. But I did.

I glared at her. "Don't waste my time, Serena."

That was it. 

She shifted from one  foot to another like she was barely carrying herself.  She blinked slowley, her shoulders sagging of slowly. She hadn't expected me to be so rude. Well, I hadn't expected Dominic to be that nasty either.

“I’m not here for you. So do yourself a favor and step aside.”

Her mouth opened, maybe to argue, but a familiar voice cut through the tension like a blade. 

“What the hell is going on?” Dominic’s voice sounded from behind. 

Finally, there he goes.

I looked over Serena and there he was- barefoot, shirtless, haloed by the golden light of his hallway like the devil caught red-handed. His hair was mussed, his face inscrutable for a moment before it dropped into something harder. Harder.

"Liana?" he said slowly, voice low and incredulous. "What the actual hell are you doing here by this time of the night?"

Serena turned around on him, her brow furrowed. "You know what? I'll let you get on with it." She stormed off without looking to see if I'd answer her, the thud of the door closing after her underlining her departure.

I wrapped my arms across my chest, locking them. "You actually want to ask me that?" I spat.

He leaned himself up against the doorway as though we were just casually chatting, as though he was not in the middle of what he'd destroyed.

"This isn't exactly a scheduled visit," he complained. "But I guess it wouldn't be you if you didn't just appear out of nowhere and crazy."

My fists were clenched at my sides. "You think I came here for theatrics?"

He took a slow, nasal laugh. "It's your specialty, isn't it?"

I advanced until I could feel the heat radiating off him. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm referring to."

I don't," he responded, his brow furrowed. Then after a little bit of what looked like thinking, he continued. "Unless this is regarding the crap circulating online. In which case, I know nothing and I'd like to officially say I don't give a shit."

My voice dipped. "Don't lie to me, Dominic. I can see your handwriting on it.  I see your prints all over it."

His jaw tightened. "You think I'm a social media troll because you can't believe anyone else would have a motive to bring you down?"

"Anyone else wouldn't have made it personal," I said. "You knew where to strike and how to twist."

His eyes clouded. "You're giving me a lot of credit, Lee."

“Don't call me that.” I said, pain clouding my vision. He used to call me that before everything went down hill. "And I'm only giving you what you deserve."

He scowled at me. And he let out that laughter. Slowly and coldly. The one which made me question myself too many times. 

Did he seriously believe i was kidding around here? "You still think the world revolves around your tiny insignificant empire. Still so goddamn arrogant."

“I built that empire with blood, sweat and tears" I retorted, voice rising. "A lot of tears, in fact, which you'd contributed a great deal to.  And you, YOU, are trying to salt the fields I tilled."

"Oh, please." His lip twisted. "You built your reputation. Congratulations. But I hope this takes you down. Maybe this is the divine punishment you need to know that you have no business trying to dominate a world you know nothing about."

I stared at him, gasping. I just couldn't believe him. "You call destroying everything I worked my heart out for because you can't stand to see me succeed some kind of divine punishment?"

He grinned. "Actually, on a second thought, I will call it karma and you deserve every fucking bit of it."

The slap happened before I could even stop myself. 

Crack. His head snapped to the side.

We both stood there, frozen.

The porch light buzzed overhead. A dog growled in the distance somewhere. The city was unaware that I'd just assaulted the man I would once have burned down the world for.

He took a slow step back and turned. A red smear had grown on his cheek.

"I warned you," I whispered.

His eyes hardened. "Are you done?"

I moved away from him. My whole body trembled. "No. Not even close. You'll hear from me."

With that, I turned on my heel and descended the steps without a word, the cold biting into me like penance.

……….

The house was dark when I arrived home.

My mother was still in the living room. The yellow softness of the table lamp cut shadows into her weary face. She was wrapped in her robe, legs drawn up as if she'd been waiting. Maybe she had.

Her eyes met mine, and her face hardened. "How did it go?"

I couldn't talk. I dropped my bag and fell onto the couch next to her, chest rising and falling too fast. My hands were trembling. My mouth opened, and nothing emerged.

Then, I broke into tears. All the restraint I had tried to put up on my way down here crumbled. 

The sob slipped past as if I had been looking out for a permission to let it escape. My face crumpled, and I covered it with my hands as the tears flowed hot and angry down my cheeks.

She didn't speak. She just sat with me and folded me into her arms like that five year old girl who cried when the neighbor's dog yapped too harshly. That's one thing I had always loved about mum, she always knew when to speak, what to say and most importantly when to be quiet and just offer a shoulder. 

“He laughed at me," I cried, voice shaking. "He mocked me like I was insane. He said it was karma. But he said nothing about being the culprit, but I know he did it." I was so confused and shattered. “That news is still making waves mum, people are talking. God! You don't want to see the comments.”

She drew me closer. "Let them speak. Let them lie. We know the truth.".

"We do but they don't. I'm the only one who does," I breathed. "And now they're dragging me on the streets and spoiling my reputation before clients. No one will care if I don't prove it."

"Then we make them care."

I lifted my head, her words hardly making sense. She picked up my phone from the table and held it in her hand.

"This is where you start," she whispered. "Not with vengeance. Not with rage."

"With what?" I whispered, broken.

Her eyes locked with mine. Clear and fierce. "With a strategy. One move. One ally."

"Who?"

She flashed me a small, definite smile.

"Call your lawyer.”