Chapter 4 - The Truth Elena Never Said
By sunrise, the house had become strangely quiet.
Luca was gone.
Dominic’s lawyers were working.
The financial records were secured.
And Elena was safe.
But Dominic knew safety wasn’t the same as healing.
He found her sitting beside the tall windows in the library.
“You should sleep.”
“You should stop telling me what to do.”
Dominic almost smiled.
Almost.
“That sounds more like my sister.”
Elena looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“Sorry.”
He sat across from her.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Finally, Elena asked:
“Why didn’t you look for me?”
Dominic had been expecting the question.
He still wasn’t ready.
“I thought you were happy.”
“You got six emails a year.”
“I know.”
“I never called.”
“I know.”
“You never wondered?”
Dominic looked down.
“I wondered.”
“Then why?”
He took a long breath.
“Because I was afraid.”
Elena frowned.
“Of what?”
“That you had finally built a life that didn’t need me.”
She stared at him.
Dominic continued.
“I sent you away when you were eleven because I thought distance would protect you. Every year after that, you became more independent. Then you started traveling. Studying. Building something normal.”
He gave a small, bitter laugh.
“I convinced myself staying away was another way of protecting you.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I know.”
“You abandoned me.”
“Yes.”
Elena hadn’t expected him to admit it.
Dominic looked directly at her.
“I can explain every decision. I can tell you I was young. I can tell you I was trying to survive. I can tell you I thought money and security were enough.”
He shook his head.
“But none of that changes what you experienced.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“You promised Mom.”
“I remember.”
“You promised me.”
“I remember that too.”
Her voice cracked.
“I waited for you.”
Dominic lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
She stood.
“For months, every time a car came down that road, I thought it was you.”
Dominic remained seated.
“Every time somebody opened the front door, I thought, Dominic figured it out.”
Her tears finally came.
“I kept thinking my big brother was going to walk through that door.”
Dominic couldn’t answer.
“Then one year passed.”
She wiped her cheek.
“Then two.”
“Elena—”
“Then three.”
Dominic stood slowly.
He didn’t approach her.
“I failed you.”
Elena looked at him.
“Yes.”
No excuses.
No defense.
Just truth.
Dominic nodded.
“I did.”
Something in Elena’s expression softened—not forgiveness, but perhaps the beginning of it.
Dominic reached into his pocket.
He placed something on the table.
An old photograph.
Their parents.
Dominic at nineteen.
Elena at eleven.
She stared at it.
“You kept this?”
“Every office I ever had.”
Elena picked it up.
“You looked ridiculous.”
Dominic glanced at his younger self.
“That suit cost forty dollars.”
“It looked like it cost twelve.”
He laughed.
A quiet, unexpected sound.
Elena almost smiled.
Then her expression became serious again.
“There’s something else.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Luca wasn’t working alone.”
The warmth disappeared from the room.
“Who?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“What do you know?”
Elena hesitated.
“He came to the house once a month.”
“Description?”
“Older. Gray hair. Expensive clothes.”
“That describes half my business associates.”
“He wore a ring.”
Dominic waited.
Elena touched her finger.
“A black stone. Gold crest.”
Dominic’s face changed.
She noticed immediately.
“You know it.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Dominic stared toward the window.
May you like
“Someone who knew our parents.”
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