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Chapter 45 

Chapter 45 

“She said she couldn’t do it,” I continued, voice shaking with anger. “She said she was tired. She said you wanted her to do something that would destroy Dominic and me, but she didn’t understand why.” 

His eyes flashed. “She wrote that?” 

Dominic nodded. “Nico found it himself.” 

Dario went deadly silent. 

For a long moment, he just sat there, staring at nothing, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. 

The… 

He let out a cold laugh. 

“I should’ve known,” he muttered. 

Dominic lifted a brow. “Known what?” 

Dario chuckled again, but there was no humor in it. “She wasn’t supposed to die,” he murmured. “She was supposed to run.” 

My stomach dropped. 

“What?” I whispered. 

Dario exhaled sharply, his fists still clenched. “I told her to get close to you, to find out why Dominic was protecting you. I knew you weren’t just some fucking girl he picked up for fun.” His gaze flicked to Dominic. “You don’t do fun.” 

Dominic’s expression remained neutral. “And?” 

Dario’s lips curled. “And then I was going to pull her out. Tell her to run. But I guess she figured out she wasn’t getting out of this alive either way.” 

I inhaled sharply. 

She was supposed to run. 

And instead… 

She had given up. 

I felt sick. 

Dominic, however, remained calm. “Then who was supposed to kill her?” 

Dario let out a slow breath, his swollen eye barely opening as he gave Dominic a knowing look. 

“You already know.” 

Dominic’s jaw ticked. 

I frowned. “Who?” 

Silence. 

Then, finally, Dominic answered. 

“Petrov.” 

My blood ran cold. 

Dario chuckled darkly. “And he doesn’t fail, does he? She wanted quick money to leave me that she signed her life away so quickly. Betrayed the island and had so many people killed just because… of me.” 

Dominic didn’t reply. 

But he didn’t have to. 

Because I knew now- 

Amara’s death wasn’t an accident. It was out of guilt. 

She was meant to get close to me and I didn’t need to solve rocket science to know her goal was to kill me. 

I could still hear Dario’s dark chuckle echoing in my head. 

Mikael Petrov. 

That name sent a shiver through me. 

Successfully unlocked! 

I knew he was dangerous. I knew he had power. But this? 

This was something else. 

Dominic had been untouchable for years, feared by everyone in his world. But now? 

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Chapter:45 

Now, it felt like the game was shifting. 

And Mikael Petrov was playing for blood. 

I swallowed hard. “What does this mean?” 

Dominic exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand down his face. “It means we leave. Soon.” 

Nico’s face was cold. Serious. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, looking at Dario like he was already dead. “Petrov’s going off the rails.” 

I frowned. “But why now?” 

Dario chuckled again, but there was no humor in it. “Because he’s desperate. He’s been waiting for a moment like this.” 

Dominic’s jaw ticked. 

Nico looked at him. “We have to move fast.” 

Dominic nodded once, his face unreadable. 

Then, he turned back to Dario. 

For a long moment, they just stared at each other. 

Then- 

Dario sighed. “I never wanted her dead.” 

Dominic was silent. 

“I was trying to protect her.” Dario exhaled sharply. “But I fucked up. I was just too cold and…mayhe a bit abusive for my own pleasure not seeing I was killing her slowly.” 

A flicker of something passed over Dominic’s face. Something I’d never seen before. 

Regret? 

Understanding? 

I wasn’t sure. 

But then he spoke. 

Dario sighed. “It was wrong.” He looked up at Dominic, his bruised face hard. “All of this. You, me, Petrov. The things we do. It’s all wrong.” 

Dominic inhaled sharply, but his eyes darkened. 

Like he hated what Dario was saying. 

Like it was something he had already been thinking. 

I stepped closer. “So why do it?” 

Dario let out a bitter laugh. “Because there’s no way out.” 

Dominic’s fists clenched at his sides. 

Nico watched him carefully, something unreadable flickering in his expression. 

Dario shook his head, his voice lower now. Tired. “You hate it, don’t you?” He looked straight at Dominic. “You hate it.” 

Dominic’s expression stayed cold, but I saw it. 

That flicker of hesitation. 

Of truth.. 

He did hate it. 

Doing this job. Killing. Hurting people. 

The tension in the room seemed to crackle with the weight of unsaid confessions. 

Dario’s eyes, bloodshot and wild, darted between us. 

His voice, usually so mocking, had turned somber. “I… I can’t stand it anymore too, I hoped today we would leave, I had called her, I had sold everything, the buildings, I wanted to go straight, and now…now she is gone,” he muttered, and for a long moment, silence reigned. 

Dominic’s jaw tightened further, his fists clenching at his sides as if he wanted to strike, but he remained still. I could sense the battle raging behind his cool facade. It was written all over his face. 

And the Dominic I knew did not show emotions on his face. 

Then Dario did something unexpected. He swallowed hard, his hand coming up to cover his mouth. “I–I have to end this,” he stammered, eyes glazing over with despair. In that moment, the room’s oppressive silence was shattered by his sudden, 

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Chapter 45 

desperate decision. 

Before anyone could react, Dario reached for a concealed handgun tucked into his jacket. His hand trembled as he lifted the weapon, and his eyes flickered with a tortured determination. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, almost inaudibly. “I never wanted any of this.” 

I watched, horrified, as he aimed the gun at his own head. “No… Dario, don’t!” I cried out, my voice cracking with anguish. But his decision was made. A single shot rang out, echoing off the bare walls like a death knell. Dario’s body crumpled to the floor in an instant, blood pooling around him as his eyes went blank. 

For a heartbeat, the world seemed to stop. Dominic’s face hardened further, and I saw something akin to regret flash briefly in his eyes-a regret that I couldn’t quite decipher amid the chaos. 

“Dario…!” I managed to choke out, tears streaming down my face as I sank to my knees, my hands trembling as I reached toward his lifeless form. 

Dominic’s voice broke through the silence, cold and commanding. “Enough!” he barked. “This isn’t the time for sentimental bullshit…” 

He turned sharply toward me, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my heart pound painfully in my chest. “Aria,” he said, his tone low, almost tender despite the anger beneath it, “get up. I’m taking you out of here.” 

I didn’t need to be told twice. My vision swam with tears and horror as Dominic’s guards moved swiftly around us. 

Nico stepped forward. 

“Boss, we’ve secured the perimeter,” Nico reported in a clipped tone. “No one else will interfere.” 

Dominic didn’t reply. Instead, he took my arm gently but firmly. “Come on,” he ordered, his voice leaving no room for argument. “We’re leaving.” 

I stumbled after him, still numb from the shock, my mind racing with disbelief. I had seen Amara’s letter, heard her desperate whispers, and now this Dario’s final act had sealed the fate of everything I thought I knew. The room, the violence, the betrayal, it all swirled like a tornado inside me. 

Too much death. I had seen too much, I felt as if I was running mad right now. 

Once outside, we hurried through a narrow corridor. 

Dario had died here and from what I know, he took also have power. Dominic didn’t want trouble and now we are walking through this place. 

I don’t even know where we were going, I just clutched Dominic’s arm tightly as he guided me past the security checkpoints. 

The soft hum of distant sirens, the murmur of frightened voices, and the stark, clinical light of the emergency exit contrasted sharply with the brutality we’d just witnessed. 

In a small, private holding room, Dominic finally stopped and set me down. His eyes, still dark with fury and sorrow, searched mine as if trying to gauge my state of mind. “Aria, I know this…is insane, all at once but this may help. Speak it out. What you saw.” he demanded, his tone rough. 

I blinked, struggling to steady my voice. “I… I saw him…Dario–take his own life,” I said, my voice trembling. “He… he said he couldn’t do it anymore. That he was sorry. I… I don’t understand. He…seems to love amara. I…I don’t even know.” 

Dominic ran a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. “In this life, no matter how big or rich you are, there would always be someone richer and bigger than you,” he muttered. “Dario was only a pawn in a much bigger game, and now his end sends a signal to everyone.” He paused, his eyes narrowing. “This was meant to warn us. Or rather, to warn you to show you the cost of trust in this life. He was going to die anyways. Either in my arm or Petrov, because of their decisions, so many death have happened within one day. My security have been manhandled. Betrayal here and there. It’s crazy but it’s what happens. So you need to calm down and remember the number one rule. Trust is a blessing that you shouldn’t hand out like gift cards.” 

I looked away, the taste of bitterness filling my mouth. “Trust,” I repeated hollowly. “I thought I could trust someone, that I wasn’t alone.” 

Dominic’s eyes softened just for a moment. “You’re not alone, Aria,” he said quietly. “I won’t say I am here. I am not a sentimental person or deal with emotions. I don’t even know how to make you feel better right now.”