Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE LOCKED DOOR
“Isabella!”
Dominic ran toward the voice.
Emergency lights flickered on along the corridor. His guards shouted instructions, and somewhere downstairs, glass shattered. He barely heard any of it.
At the end of the hall stood a woman in a dark coat.
Her face was thinner than he remembered. Her hair, once long and shining, had been cut to her shoulders. A pale scar crossed her left temple.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
For seven years, Dominic had dreamed of those eyes opening in a hospital room, looking at him with the same warmth that had once made him believe he could become a better man.
Now she was standing ten feet away.
“Dominic,” she whispered.
He stopped.
Neither of them moved.
Then she took one uncertain step toward him.
He crossed the distance in three strides and caught her in his arms.
For one moment, the years disappeared. He held her as if the world might steal her away again if he loosened his grip.
Then he felt her trembling.
“Where have you been?” he demanded, pulling back to look at her. “Why didn't you come home? Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
Isabella's eyes filled.
“I tried.”
“Seven years?”
“I tried to reach you.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because every time I got close, someone found me first.”
Dominic stared at the scar on her temple.
“Who?”
She looked past him toward the corridor.
“Not here.”
He took her to the study, where Antonio waited with a guard at the door. When Isabella saw the old man, she covered her mouth.
“Antonio.”
His face crumpled.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.
She shook her head.
“You didn't know.”
“I should have known.”
Dominic stepped between them.
“Enough. Tell me what happened.”
Isabella sat down carefully, as though even the act of resting required an effort. A doctor arrived moments later and checked her pulse, breathing, and blood pressure. She insisted she could speak, but the doctor warned that her heart condition made stress dangerous.
Dominic heard the warning and felt his anger turn into fear.
He had found her alive, only to discover that she might not have much time.
Isabella took a small breath.
“Seven years ago, I discovered that Victor had been using the family's charitable foundation to move money through shell companies. He was stealing from your father, from the employees' pension fund, and from people who trusted the Moretti name.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I did. I found the records and brought them to you.”
Dominic frowned.
“I don't remember.”
“You were supposed to meet me at the old estate that night. I waited in the North Wing. But you never came.”
“I was told you had been in an accident.”
“Because Victor made sure you would hear that before you heard anything else.”
She explained that Victor had discovered her investigation and arranged for her car to be forced off the road. She survived, but suffered serious injuries. When she woke in a private clinic, a woman identifying herself as a police liaison told her that Dominic had been killed in a retaliatory attack.
The woman showed her a photograph of a burned car and a report bearing Dominic's name.
Isabella had believed it.
“By the time I learned you were alive,” she continued, “I was pregnant. I tried to return, but Victor's people found me. They threatened to hurt you if I contacted you again.”
Dominic's hands curled into fists.
“And Vanessa?”
Isabella looked at him.
“She wasn't Victor's victim, Dominic. She was helping him.”
The door opened.
Marcus entered, his face tense.
“We secured the estate. One intruder is in custody. The others escaped.”
Dominic barely glanced at him.
“Where's Lily?”
“Safe in the protected wing.”
Isabella tried to stand.
“My daughter—”
“She's safe,” Dominic said quickly. “She's here.”
Tears spilled down Isabella's cheeks.
“I thought I'd never see her again.”
Dominic took her hand.
“Why did you send her to the ballroom?”
“I didn't.” Her expression changed. “Lily must have found the address in my things. I told her about you because I wanted her to know her father existed, not because I wanted her to risk her life finding you.”
Dominic felt the guilt settle deeper.
“She came looking for food.”
Isabella shut her eyes.
“I couldn't work. My medication ran out. I tried to hide how bad things had become, but she knew. She always knows.”
“She's not going back to that apartment.”
“I don't want her caught in your world.”
“She's already in it.”
“Then make it safer than the world I had to raise her in.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“I will.”
A knock interrupted them.
Marcus held up a clear evidence bag containing a phone recovered from the intruders.
“One of the men was carrying this. The last call he made came from a number registered to a company owned by Vanessa.”
Dominic took the bag.
“Can we trace it?”
“We already did.”
Marcus hesitated.
“The number isn't active anymore. But the phone contains one saved message.”
He pressed play.
A man's voice emerged, distorted but clear enough to understand.
“Bring Isabella in alive. The girl is leverage. Once Moretti opens Room Seventeen, we get the original file.”
Isabella went white.
Dominic turned toward her.
“What original file?”
She reached for the brass key.
“The one that proves Victor didn't act alone.”
“Who else was involved?”
May you like
She looked at him with a fear that seemed older than the scar on her face.
“Someone who is still inside your family.”
