Chapter 5 - The Audio Tape and the Turning Tide
With a pocket knife, Dominic sliced open the old fabric of the toy.
A small, encrypted USB drive fell into his palm.
He walked over to the laptop sitting on the sideboard.
This was the computer normally used for corporate presentations.
He slammed the drive into the port.
The room held its breath as a single audio file appeared on the screen.
Dominic clicked play.
A woman’s voice filled the room—soft, frantic, and unmistakably Marissa’s.
“Dominic, if you’re listening to this, it means I didn't make it home.”
“Bianca Sterling found out I have the shipping manifests from Dock 4.”
“She’s threatening to expose the Vale family to the feds unless I destroy the files.”
“Your mother told me to stay quiet, to let the Sterlings use our routes for the sake of the merger.”
“I can’t do that, Dominic.”
“I love you too much to let them ruin what you built.”
“I'm taking Noah and going to the safe house—”
The audio cut off sharply with the horrific sound of screeching tires and a sudden, violent impact.
Dominic’s face turned completely white.
The silence that followed was absolute.
It was broken only by Bianca’s frantic, desperate breathing.
“It was an accident!” Bianca cried.
She fell to her knees in front of Dominic, grabbing the hem of his trousers.
“I swear, I only wanted to scare her!”
“I didn't know her car would lose control on the bridge!”
“Dominic, please, I love you!”
“Your mother knew everything!”
“She helped me cover it up!”
Eleanor Vale closed her eyes.
Her regal composure finally shattered into pieces.
“Bianca, you fool,” she muttered.
Dominic looked down at the woman he had intended to marry.
Disgust twisted his handsome features.
He looked at his mother.
This was the woman who had traded his wife's life for corporate security.
Then he looked at Evelyn.
She had spent three years working in secrecy, waiting for the perfect moment to slip back into the house just to save his son.
“Victor,” Dominic said, his voice cold enough to freeze the lake outside.
“Call the authorities.”
“Hand over the USB drive.”
“And make sure the Sterling family assets are frozen by midnight.”
“Dominic!” Eleanor snapped, standing up with her cane.
“You will ruin the family name!”
“The family name died with Marissa, Mother,” Dominic said.
He turned his back on her completely.
May you like
“Get out of my house.”
“Both of you.”
