Chapter 201
Before I could answer, he was gone.
The corner where he’d been standing was empty, just shadows and peeling paint.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus on reality. The rope cutting into my wrists. The hunger gnawing at my stomach. The sound of water dripping somewhere in the walls. Concrete things that couldn’t be twisted or manipulated.
But when I opened my eyes again, Dominic was back.
This time he was sitting in Victoria’s chair, leaning forward with
“You’re stronger than she is,” he said conversationally.
“Am I? Because I feel pretty weak right now.”
“Victoria thinks she’s breaking you down, but she’s actually building you up. Every day you don’t give her what she wants is a victory.”
“Some victory. I’m tied to a chair in a basement, talking to a hallucination.”
“You’re surviving. That’s what matters.”
“For how long? She’s going to keep escalating until I break or die. Probably both.”
“Then don’t break.”
“Easy for an imaginary person to say.”
Dominic smiled, and it was so real, so perfectly him, that tears stung my eyes.
“I’m not imaginary. I’m the part of you that refuses to give up. The part that survived your mother’s illness, your father’s debts, your cancer diagnosis. The part that’s going to survive this too.”
The door opened again, and Victoria walked in. The hallucination of Dominic disappeared instantly, leaving me staring at empty air.
“Talking to yourself now?” Victoria looked amused. “That’s not a good sign.”
“Maybe I am losing my mind. Maybe that’s what you want.”
“What I want is for you to understand your situation. You’re not being rescued. Prince Charming isn’t riding to your rescue. You’re alone, and you’re going to die alone unless you start cooperating.”
She pulled out her phone and showed me another video. This one was recent, showing Dominic’s mansion from the outside. Police cars lined the driveway, and officers were carrying boxes of evidence out the front door.
“Raid happened this morning,” Victoria said casually. Looks like someone tipped off the authorities about Dominic’s business activities. He’s in federal custody now, facing enough charges to put him away for life.”
The video could be fake. Probably was fake. But it looked real enough to make my heart stutter.
“Even if that’s true, it doesn’t change anything. I still won’t help you.”
“No? Not even to save his life?” Victoria pocketed the phone and walked closer. “Because that’s what this is really about now. Help me, and I’ll make sure Dominic survives his time in prison. Refuse, and I’ll have him killed before he ever sees a courtroom.”
“You’re lying.”
08:06 Sat 28 Jun 27
Chapter 201
“Am 17 I have contacts everywhere, sweetheart. Guards who owe me favors, inmates who’ll do anything for the right price. One word from me and Dominic De Luca becomes just another statistic.”
I stared at her, trying to read the truth in her expression. She was good at hiding her real intentions, but there was something in her eyes that looked likes genuine anticipation.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything. Names, locations, account numbers. But let’s start with something simple.” Victoria sat down across from me, her posture relaxed but predatory. “Tell me about the safe in his office. The one behind the painting of his father.”
“I don’t know the combination.”
“But you’ve seen him open it.”
I had. Multiple times. Dominic wasn’t particularly secretive about it when we were alone.
“Maybe.”
“What did he keep in there? Documents? Money? Something else?”
I closed my eyes and tried to think. What would Dominic want me to do? Protect his secrets, even if it meant both of us dying? Or give Victoria enough to satisfy her while holding back anything truly damaging?
“Jewelry,” I said finally. “His mother’s jewelry. Some old photographs. Nothing important to anyone but him.”
Victoria’s expression darkened. “Don’t lie to me, little girl. I know there was more than sentimental trinkets in that safe.”
“Then why are you asking me?”
The slap came without warning, snapping my head to the side and making my ears ring. When I looked back at Victoria, her mask of civilized cruelty had slipped, showing the rage underneath.
“Because I want to hear you say it. I want you to admit that you know exactly what kind of monster you’ve been protecting.”
“He’s not a monster.”
“No? Tell that to the families of the people he’s killed. Tell that to the women he’s destroyed. Tell that to everyone whose lives he’s ruined in his climb to power.”
“Everyone in this world has blood on their hands. Including you.”
Victoria hit me again, harder this time. Blood filled my mouth, and stars danced across my vision.
“The difference is, I own what I am. I don’t pretend to be something better, something redeemable. But you…” She grabbed my chin and forced me to look at her. “You actually believe he can change. That love can transform a killer into a prince.”
“Maybe it can.”
“Then you’re more delusional than I thought.”
Victoria stood up and walked to the door, pausing with her hand on the handle.
“I’ll be back tomorrow. Maybe by then you’ll be ready to face reality.”
After she left, I sat in the flickering light and tried to process what had just happened. The video of the police raid could be fake, but it could also be real. Dominic could be in prison right now, or dead, and I would never know.
The hunger was getting worse, making it hard to think clearly. My head felt light, disconnected from my body. When I closed my eyes, I could see Dominic
Chapter 201
again, sitting in the corner like a guardian angel made of shadows and wishful thinking.
“Are you really in prison?” I asked the empty room.
“Does it matter?” came the reply, though I couldn’t tell if it was from the hallucination or from my own fractured mind.
“It matters to me.”
“Then believe what you need to believe. But don’t give up. Not yet.”
“I don’t know how much more I can take.”
“You can take whatever you have to. You’re stronger than you know.”
I opened my eyes, and he was gone again. Just me and the flickering light
the sound of my own breathing.
But somewhere in the darkness of my exhausted mind, I found a small flame of determination that Victoria hadn’t managed to extinguish yet.
“I’ll survive this,” I whispered to the empty room. “I have to.”
