Chapter 3 - THE WIFE WHO NEVER EXISTED
Dominic did not sleep that night.
By dawn, his security team had searched the mansion, the grounds, and the surrounding roads. They found no sign of the courier. The security cameras had been disabled for precisely ninety-three seconds, long enough for someone to slip through the service entrance.
The second box had disappeared with him.
The note remained.
Dominic stood in his private study, studying Gabriel's handwriting beneath the cold light of a desk lamp.
Come to Room 214 alone.
It was an invitation.
It was also a threat.
He had survived ambushes, betrayals, and three separate attempts on his life. He knew better than to follow instructions from an unknown sender.
But Gabriel was different.
Gabriel had been the only person in the family who had challenged Dominic without wanting something from him. As children, they had hidden in the estate's old greenhouse whenever their father began shouting. Gabriel would make Dominic laugh, even when the rest of the house felt like a prison.
Then Gabriel disappeared.
And Dominic had inherited everything, including the suspicion that his brother's death was his fault.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
Rachel entered carrying a tray of untouched coffee.
“Sir?”
“Put it down.”
She placed the tray on his desk but didn't leave.
Dominic looked at her.
“You knew more than you told me yesterday.”
Rachel's face remained composed.
“I knew the cake was meant to frighten Mrs. Sterling. I didn't know why.”
“You knew about the hotel.”
“The courier mentioned it when he delivered the cake instructions.”
“And you didn't think to tell me before Vanessa smashed it?”
Rachel lowered her gaze.
“I thought the sender wanted her reaction recorded. If I told you beforehand, she might have behaved differently.”
Dominic studied her.
“Recorded by whom?”
“I don't know.”
He leaned back.
“Rachel, people don't send coded wedding cakes to my house unless they're trying to start a war.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Do you?”
For the first time, Rachel looked directly at him.
“My mother worked for your family before I did. She used to say that the Morettis buried their mistakes and expected everyone else to call them secrets.”
Dominic went still.
“What was your mother's name?”
“Evelyn Hayes.”
He recognized it.
Evelyn had been the head housekeeper during Gabriel's final year at the estate. She had left shortly after his disappearance, reportedly because of a family emergency.
Dominic remembered seeing her crying in the service corridor the night Gabriel vanished.
He had assumed she was grieving.
“Your mother worked here in 2022?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she made me promise never to discuss what happened to Mr. Gabriel.”
Dominic rose.
“Where is she now?”
Rachel's composure faltered.
“She died last winter.”
“Did she leave anything behind?”
Rachel hesitated.
Then she reached into her pocket and removed a small brass key.
“My mother gave me this before she died. She said that if anyone ever sent a wedding cake with a black ribbon, I should find you and make sure you saw what was inside.”
Dominic stared at the key.
“Why didn't you give it to me yesterday?”
“Because I didn't know whether you could be trusted.”
The answer struck harder than an insult.
Dominic had spent his life demanding loyalty, rarely considering whether he had earned it.
He held out his hand.
Rachel placed the key in his palm.
“What's it for?”
“My mother's old storage locker. She rented it under her maiden name. I haven't opened it.”
“Where?”
“Boston.”
Dominic looked at the hotel key from the previous night, which now rested inside a clear evidence bag on his desk.
“Room 214.”
Rachel nodded slowly.
“I think they're connected.”
Dominic called his head of security, Marcus Bell, and ordered a private jet prepared for Boston. He told no one else.
Not even Vanessa.
But before he could leave, he found his fiancée waiting in the corridor outside his bedroom.
She had changed into a pale blue dress. Her face was washed clean of makeup, and her eyes were swollen from crying.
“Are you leaving me?” she asked.
Dominic stopped.
“I haven't decided what I'm doing with you.”
She flinched.
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve the truth.”
Vanessa looked down.
“I loved Gabriel.”
The words came quietly.
Dominic felt the floor shift beneath him, but he forced himself to remain still.
“When?”
“Before you and I met.”
“How long?”
“Almost a year.”
“Were you married?”
She shook her head.
“Not legally. We planned to be. Gabriel wanted to marry me in Boston because he didn't want your father controlling every part of our lives.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I met you after Gabriel disappeared.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“You told me you had never met him.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe my brother was dead while wearing the ring he gave you.”
Vanessa's voice broke.
“I thought he was dead too.”
“Then why were you afraid of the cake?”
She closed her eyes.
“Because the last time I saw Gabriel, he was bleeding on the floor of Room 214.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“What happened?”
“I heard someone coming. Gabriel told me to run. He said if I stayed, your father would kill us both.”
“And you left him?”
“I was twenty-five. I was terrified. I thought I could get help, but when I came back, the room was empty. There was blood everywhere. The hotel manager told me a man had been taken away in a black car.”
“Who took him?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Did you call the police?”
“No. Your father called me first.”
The silence became absolute.
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“He said Gabriel had been involved in a criminal investigation. He showed me photographs of you standing beside a man who had been murdered. He told me that if I spoke, you would be blamed for Gabriel's crimes.”
Dominic remembered the photograph.
His father had shown him the same image years earlier, claiming Gabriel had been working with a rival organization.
He had believed him.
Vanessa continued.
“Anthony told me to disappear. He said Gabriel was dead, and that if I ever tried to contact you, you would be next.”
“So you came to me anyway.”
“I didn't know who you were when we met. Not at first. When I found out, I was already in love with you.”
Dominic laughed once, without humor.
“You built an engagement on a lie.”
“I know.”
“And you intended to marry me.”
She nodded, tears falling freely now.
“Because I thought if I stayed close to you, I could protect you from what your father had done.”
Dominic looked at her for a long moment.
Then he stepped aside.
“Get some rest. Don't leave the estate.”
“Dominic—”
“If Gabriel is alive, I will find him. If he is dead, I will find out who killed him. And when I have the truth, you will tell me everything you still haven't said.”
He walked away.
Vanessa remained in the corridor, trembling.
Only when Dominic had disappeared around the corner did she reach into the lining of her dress and remove a folded photograph.
It showed Gabriel standing beside her in a small Boston chapel.
Both wore simple gold rings.
On the back was a handwritten date.
June 14, 2022.
May you like
And beneath it, in Vanessa's handwriting, were the words she had never dared to say aloud:
We were married. The priest is still alive.
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