Chapter 43: The Shifting Tides

The weight of the night seemed to drag on, suffocating me with each passing minute. I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was unraveling, the threads of my life fraying in ways I couldn’t control. Dominic’s touch lingered on my skin, a reminder of the dark entanglement I’d found myself in. The tension between us had become palpable, thick with something deeper than just animosity. But it wasn’t enough to blind me. Not anymore.

The hallway, once a place of quiet solitude, now felt like the edge of a precipice. I turned to Dominic, trying to steady my racing heart. He was watching me with that piercing gaze, his jaw tight as if holding back a storm.

“What’s going on with Liam?” I asked, my voice a little more clipped than I intended.

Dominic’s eyes darkened. He took a step toward me, closing the gap between us, but the air between us remained cold, distant. “Liam has his own demons, Elena. He’s not someone you should trust.”

I frowned, instinctively stepping back. “And you think I trust you?” The words slipped out before I could stop them, but once they were out, they hung in the air like a challenge.

Dominic didn’t flinch. Instead, he gave me a half-smirk, as if the exchange had been nothing more than a momentary annoyance. “Fair point,” he said, his voice softening ever so slightly. “But you need to understand, Liam has his own agenda. He doesn’t have your best interests at heart. Neither do I, but at least I’m honest about it.”

His words stung, and I hated the way they hit home. The raw honesty in them was almost a slap, but beneath it, I knew there was truth. I wasn’t some naive pawn in his game—I had my own reasons for sticking around, for uncovering the secrets buried in the dark corners of our families. But it wasn’t enough to let my guard down. Not when everything was shifting beneath my feet.

“I don’t need your honesty, Dominic,” I said sharply, meeting his gaze with as much defiance as I could muster. “I need you to stop playing games. I need the truth. All of it.”

For a long moment, he said nothing. His eyes bored into mine, and I wondered if he was weighing the decision to finally tell me what I wanted to know. But then, as if deciding that the time wasn’t right, he stepped back, distancing himself once more.

“You’ll get the truth,” he said quietly, “when you’re ready for it.”

I hated how those words lingered in my mind. It was too vague, too guarded. But I had no choice but to accept it—for now. The gala was winding down, the guests slowly filtering out into the night, leaving behind only the faint hum of conversation and the soft shuffle of footsteps across the marble floors. I knew that whatever happened next would change everything.

The following days blurred into each other. Dominic’s coldness became even more pronounced, and despite the tension between us, I couldn’t deny the way my thoughts kept drifting back to him. Every encounter felt like an intricate dance of fire and ice, passion and hatred.

It was during one of these encounters that I found myself alone with Liam again, this time in a secluded garden outside the mansion. The scent of roses and freshly cut grass hung in the air, but there was no romance in the space. Only questions.

Liam stood by the fountain, staring down into the rippling water, his hands shoved into the pockets of his suit. His back was stiff, and for a moment, I thought he hadn’t noticed me approach.

“Liam,” I said, my voice breaking the silence. “We need to talk.”

He glanced up, his expression unreadable, before slowly turning to face me. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.”

“Someone has to be,” I shot back. “What’s going on with Dominic? And why the hell do you keep looking at me like you know something I don’t?”

Liam didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he took a deep breath, his gaze shifting to the horizon as if searching for the right words. “It’s not just Dominic you need to worry about,” he said finally. “It’s your father. And mine. They’ve been playing this game for years, Elena. And you—” He paused, his eyes narrowing as he focused on me. “You’re caught in the middle of it now. And they won’t stop until they’ve won.”

A chill ran through me at his words. “What do you mean?” I demanded, my heart pounding.

Liam took a step closer, lowering his voice as though the very walls might have ears. “Your father’s corruption goes deeper than you think. The things he’s done—he’s not the man you think he is. And Dominic… he’s not just seeking revenge. He’s seeking justice. And right now, it’s only a matter of time before everything collapses.”

I felt the ground shift beneath me, the weight of his words threatening to pull me under. “You’re saying I’m just a pawn? That my father used me as leverage against Dominic?” My voice trembled with disbelief, even as the pieces started falling into place.

Liam’s eyes were cold as ice. “It’s always been about control. And now that you’re entangled with Dominic, you’ve become part of the equation.”

I didn’t know whether to feel furious or betrayed, or a mix of both. Everything I’d believed about my family, about myself, was slipping away like sand through my fingers. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could speak, a voice cut through the tension between us.

“Is there something I should know?”

I turned sharply. Dominic stood in the doorway, his eyes locked on Liam with an intensity that could have burned through steel. My heart skipped a beat. I hadn’t heard him approach, but there was no mistaking the icy edge to his voice.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” Liam replied smoothly, stepping back, his posture defensive.

But Dominic wasn’t having it. His gaze never wavered as he stepped forward, his jaw clenched tightly. “I said, is there something I should know?” His voice was low, dangerous.

For a moment, there was only silence. Then Liam sighed, his eyes flicking between Dominic and me. “Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With that, he turned and walked away, leaving us standing there, the air thick with unspoken tension.

I could feel Dominic’s gaze on me, but I didn’t dare look up. Not yet. My mind was spinning too quickly, the walls around me closing in.

“What did he mean by that?” I finally asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Dominic’s hand shot out, grabbing my wrist in a vice-like grip. “You don’t need to know everything right now, Elena.” His voice was harsh, but there was something in his eyes—a flicker of fear, or maybe regret. I wasn’t sure. “Not yet.”

“Tell me the truth,” I demanded, the frustration and anger bubbling to the surface. “All of it.”

But Dominic didn’t answer. Instead, he let go of my wrist, his expression unreadable. “In time,” he said, his words as cold as steel.

And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving me standing alone in the garden, with nothing but the sound of my racing heart and the scent of roses to fill the silence.