Chapter 4 - The Price of BetrayalSerena had never looked more frightened.
Dominic had seen her cry over a ruined designer handbag, an embarrassing photograph, and a reservation canceled without notice.
This was different.
Her hands were shaking.
Her eyes kept moving toward the corridor.
"Who threatened you?" Dominic asked.
She swallowed.
"You need to close the door."
"It's closed."
"Lock it."
He did not move.
"Serena."
She leaned forward.
"I didn't know they were going to hurt her."
Dominic felt his anger rise.
"Who?"
"I thought they only wanted her frightened. That's what they told me."
"Who told you?"
She covered her mouth.
Dominic pulled a chair beside the bed.
He sat.
His voice became dangerously quiet.
"Clara is upstairs fighting for her life. She was carrying my child. You have one opportunity to tell me what happened."
Serena began crying.
"I didn't know about the baby."
"Names."
"Victor."
Dominic stared.
"Victor who?"
"Your brother."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Victor Valente was Dominic's younger half brother.
Thirty-four years old.
Charming.
Ambitious.
And permanently resentful that their father had chosen Dominic to lead the organization.
Victor managed legitimate investments, several transportation companies, and the family's political relationships.
Dominic had spent years keeping him away from the more dangerous parts of the business.
Apparently, that had not been enough.
"What does Victor have to do with Clara?"
Serena wiped her face.
"He said she was stealing from the family."
"Clara?"
"He showed me documents. Transfers. Accounts. He said she was preparing to leave you and take millions."
Dominic remembered the voice message.
Someone inside the family has been moving money.
Victor had reversed the accusation.
"He wanted her security removed?"
Serena nodded.
"Just for the afternoon. He said investigators needed to follow her without your men interfering."
"And you believed him?"
"I believed you would be furious if she stole from you."
Dominic studied her.
"How long have you been seeing Victor?"
Serena's face went white.
That was answer enough.
He leaned back.
The woman he had chosen over his wife had been sleeping with his brother.
And his brother had used her to reach Clara.
"How long?"
"Six months."
Dominic looked at the ceiling.
He wanted to laugh.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the humiliation was so complete that his mind struggled to contain it.
Serena reached for him.
"Dominic, I never meant—"
"Don't touch me."
She withdrew her hand.
"He promised me you would divorce Clara," she whispered. "He said you would marry me."
Dominic looked at her.
"And you believed that too?"
Serena's tears stopped.
"Why wouldn't I?"
The question landed harder than he expected.
Because he had taught her to believe it.
He had treated his marriage like a technical inconvenience.
He had let Serena believe Clara was disposable.
Now someone had tried to dispose of her.
A knock sounded.
Marco entered.
"Boss. The surgeon wants you."
Dominic rose immediately.
Serena grabbed his sleeve.
"Please. Victor said he has people inside the hospital."
Dominic stopped.
"What people?"
"I don't know."
"Did he say what they were supposed to do?"
She began crying again.
"He said if the accident didn't work, there would be another opportunity."
Dominic pulled away.
"Marco, secure the surgical floor. Nobody approaches Clara without clearance from the attending physician and hospital security."
Marco nodded.
Dominic turned back to Serena.
"You will tell the police everything."
Her eyes widened.
"Dominic, your family—"
"My family is lying on an operating table."
He left.
The surgeon was waiting near the elevators.
Dr. Rebecca Hart was a trauma specialist in her early fifties, with tired eyes and blood on the cuff of her scrubs.
"We've completed the first surgery," she said.
Dominic's chest tightened.
"Is she alive?"
"Yes."
He closed his eyes.
"But she's not stable enough for us to relax. She has significant chest injuries, a damaged spleen, and swelling around her brain."
"And the baby?"
Dr. Hart paused.
"The pregnancy is still viable at this moment."
Dominic covered his mouth.
A sound escaped him.
He did not recognize it.
Relief.
Fear.
Grief.
All of them together.
"Can I see her?"
"Briefly. She's unconscious and on a ventilator."
He followed her into the intensive care unit.
Clara lay beneath a white blanket.
Her face was swollen.
A breathing tube disappeared between her lips.
Machines surrounded the bed.
Dominic approached slowly.
For five years, he had lived beside a woman whose presence had been so steady that he had stopped noticing it.
Now every sound in the room depended on machines.
He took her hand.
"Clara."
Nothing.
He looked at the bruises on her fingers.
"I'm here."
The words sounded pathetic.
He had promised them to Serena only hours earlier.
And meant them.
Clara had needed him.
He had not come.
Dominic bent his head.
"I'm sorry."
The ventilator continued its steady rhythm.
He touched her wedding ring, which he had returned to his pocket.
"I don't deserve another chance," he whispered. "But please don't leave."
Behind him, Dr. Hart cleared her throat.
"Mr. Valente, there's something else."
He turned.
"We recovered a small electronic storage device from your wife's clothing."
Dominic frowned.
"A flash drive?"
"Yes. It was sewn into the lining of her dress."
She handed him a sealed evidence envelope, explaining that hospital staff had documented the discovery and would transfer it to police.
Dominic stared at the tiny black object through the plastic.
Clara had hidden evidence on her body.
She had known she was in danger.
And she had still gone to meet someone.
His phone vibrated.
A message from Victor.
Heard about Clara. Terrible accident. I'm on my way.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
Whatever you do, don't let the police open what she was carrying.
Related Stories
