Chapter 4 - The Husband Who Came Too Late
Dominic arrived at Paige's apartment twenty minutes after the message.
He didn't knock.
He stood in the hallway with Griffin behind him, his black coat soaked from the rain.
Paige opened the door.
"Absolutely not."
"Move."
"You're not coming inside."
Dominic looked past her.
"Where's Eliza?"
"Somewhere you don't get to reach anymore."
His jaw tightened.
"Paige."
"Don't use that voice with me. You lost the right to give orders to my family."
Behind her, Eliza appeared.
She wore a simple cream sweater and dark trousers. Her hair was tied back, and her face was pale.
Dominic's eyes immediately dropped to her stomach.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he whispered, "You're pregnant."
Eliza looked at him.
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Fourteen weeks."
He closed his eyes.
Fourteen weeks.
The number struck him harder than the divorce papers.
He had missed the first appointment, the first ultrasound, the first time she heard their child's heartbeat.
He had missed everything.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Eliza's expression barely changed.
"When?"
Dominic looked at her.
"Before tonight."
"I tried."
He said nothing.
"I tried to tell you when you came home at two in the morning. I tried when you canceled our anniversary dinner. I tried when you spent Christmas in New York with Celeste and told me the business needed you."
She took a breath.
"I even tried tonight."
Dominic looked down.
"The card?"
Eliza froze.
He had noticed it.
Or perhaps he was only guessing.
"Yes," she said. "There was a card."
"What did it say?"
"That we're having a girl."
Something in his expression broke.
He took one step toward her.
Eliza stepped back.
He stopped immediately.
"I didn't know."
"You weren't supposed to know from a stranger in a hallway."
"Eliza—"
"Don't."
She looked toward Griffin.
"Did you come here because he found out about the baby?"
Griffin glanced at Dominic.
"Partly."
Eliza laughed without humor.
"How comforting."
Dominic reached into his coat and removed the divorce petition.
"I haven't signed it."
"You will."
"Not until we talk."
"We've had seven years to talk."
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said something that changed the room.
"Celeste never had an affair with me."
Paige gave a sharp laugh.
"That's your defense?"
Dominic ignored her.
"She was supposed to help me uncover something my grandmother left behind. The marriage announcement was part of a business arrangement."
Eliza stared at him.
"You introduced her as your future wife in front of four hundred people."
"I needed certain people to believe I intended to marry her."
"Why?"
"Because someone has been moving money out of Blackridge. Celeste claimed she could identify the person."
"And you decided to humiliate your wife to make your business partners comfortable?"
His silence was answer enough.
Eliza shook her head.
"You could have told me."
"I couldn't."
"Or you didn't want to."
Dominic looked at her.
For once, he had no answer.
Griffin stepped forward.
"There's another problem. Margaret Bell has disappeared."
Eliza's face changed.
"She was with us."
"We lost contact with her twenty minutes ago."
"She said she had a second letter."
Dominic looked sharply at Griffin.
"What letter?"
Eliza hesitated.
Then she told him about the trust.
About the emerald necklace.
About Evelyn's hidden documents.
Dominic listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he looked genuinely stunned.
"My grandmother never told me about a trust."
"Maybe she knew you wouldn't protect it," Eliza replied.
He absorbed that.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID displayed Celeste Wynn.
He declined the call.
It rang again.
He answered on speaker.
"Where are you?" Celeste asked.
"Not with you."
Her voice softened.
"Dominic, I heard about Eliza. I'm sorry. I think we should postpone the wedding announcement."
"There won't be a wedding."
A pause.
Then a small, amused breath.
"You're making a mistake."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
"Your wife is pregnant. Congratulations. But you should ask yourself whether the child is actually yours before you destroy everything we've built."
Eliza went completely still.
Paige stepped toward the phone.
"Say that again."
Celeste continued.
"I have records, Dominic. Medical appointments. Dates. Messages. Perhaps your wife should explain where she was during the weeks you were away."
Dominic's voice dropped.
"Be very careful."
"Why? Because I know something you don't?"
A file appeared on Dominic's phone.
He opened it.
It contained a photograph of Eliza entering a hotel with a man.
Dominic stared at the image.
The man was young.
Tall.
His hand was resting on Eliza's back.
Eliza saw the photograph.
Then she looked at Dominic.
"That's my brother-in-law's attorney."
Celeste laughed softly.
"Is that what she told you?"
Eliza's expression hardened.
"His name is Daniel Cross. He helped me prepare the divorce petition."
Dominic looked from the photograph to his wife.
Then another message arrived.
This time it was a scanned document.
A medical report.
The heading read:
CONFIDENTIAL PATERNITY SCREENING REQUEST.
Dominic's face went white.
Because the signature authorizing the test wasn't Eliza's.
It was his.
May you like
And the date was six weeks earlier.
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