Chapter 4
"It says the baby isn't yours."
Five words. The room detonated.
Dominic jerked backward as if he'd been shot. His chair crashed to the floor. Elena lunged for him, grabbing his arm with both hands.
"That's a lie! She's lying! Dom, look at me—LOOK AT ME—"
But Dominic was reading the screen now, his eyes scanning the genetic markers, the paternal exclusion probability—99.97%.
"Whose?" The word came out of him like broken glass.
Elena sobbed, her mascara running in dark streaks. "Baby, please, let me explain—it was a mistake—I was lonely—you were always working—"
"WHOSE?" Dominic roared, and the sound shook the walls.
Victoria collapsed back in her chair, hand pressed over her heart. Natalie had stopped recording entirely, her phone forgotten on the table.
I stood perfectly still in the center of the chaos, watching the life Dominic had chosen over me disintegrate in real time.
"The paternal match," James Wheeler's voice came through the speaker with clinical detachment, "corresponds to a Mr. Richard Chen."
The CFO. The one who'd embezzled forty-seven million and fled the country.
The man who'd nearly destroyed Harrison Group was also the father of Elena's child.
Dominic turned to look at Elena with an expression I'd never seen on his face before—not the cold disdain he'd reserved for me, but something far worse. Complete devastation.
"You were with him," Dominic said, his voice hollow. "While he was stealing from my family. While I was—while we—"
"It wasn't like that!" Elena was fully hysterical now, clinging to his sleeve as he backed away. "He seduced me! I didn't know what he was doing to the company! Please, Dominic, I love YOU—"
"Don't touch me." He shoved her hands away. "Don't ever touch me again."
Elena crumpled to the floor, her designer dress pooling around her like a broken parachute. Her sobs echoed off the marble walls.
I watched all of it with a strange, hollow calm.
Three years. Three years I'd spent trying to earn this family's respect. Three years of being called a gold-digger, a schemer, an interloper. Three years of sleeping in a cold bed while my husband visited the woman who was sleeping with the man robbing his family blind.
And now they all knew.
Victoria spoke first, her voice shaking. "Serena... I didn't..."
"Didn't what?" I asked. "Didn't know? Or didn't care?"
She had no answer.
Dominic's father stood with both hands pressed flat on the conference table, staring at the documents still displayed on screen. His expression cycled through emotions like a slot machine—shock, shame, fury, regret.
"The criminal complaint," he said hoarsely. "The embezzlement charges against you—"
"Should be withdrawn immediately," James Wheeler finished from the phone. "Unless your family wants to explain to a judge how you attempted to prosecute the woman who single-handedly prevented your company's collapse. Twice."
The lawyer who'd prepared those documents was already gathering his papers with trembling hands, desperate to disassociate from the disaster.
"Serena." Dominic's voice cut through the noise. He stood apart from everyone, his expression raw, stripped bare. "I didn't know. About any of it. The company, the merger, the... everything."
"I know you didn't," I said. "That's the problem."
"I should have listened. I should have—" He took a step toward me.
I held up my hand, and he froze.
"You chose her," I said simply. "Every single day for three years, you chose her. Not because you were tricked—because you wanted to. Because loving her was easy and loving me required you to actually see me."
His jaw worked, but no words came.
"I'm not angry anymore, Dominic." My voice was quieter now. "I'm just done."
I picked up the divorce papers from the table, the ones they'd prepared to humiliate me with.
"I'll sign these." I uncapped the pen. "Not because you're forcing me. Because I'm finally choosing myself."
My signature slashed across the paper like a blade cutting a chain.
The weight that lifted from my chest was indescribable.
Five words. The room detonated.
Dominic jerked backward as if he'd been shot. His chair crashed to the floor. Elena lunged for him, grabbing his arm with both hands.
"That's a lie! She's lying! Dom, look at me—LOOK AT ME—"
But Dominic was reading the screen now, his eyes scanning the genetic markers, the paternal exclusion probability—99.97%.
"Whose?" The word came out of him like broken glass.
Elena sobbed, her mascara running in dark streaks. "Baby, please, let me explain—it was a mistake—I was lonely—you were always working—"
"WHOSE?" Dominic roared, and the sound shook the walls.
Victoria collapsed back in her chair, hand pressed over her heart. Natalie had stopped recording entirely, her phone forgotten on the table.
I stood perfectly still in the center of the chaos, watching the life Dominic had chosen over me disintegrate in real time.
"The paternal match," James Wheeler's voice came through the speaker with clinical detachment, "corresponds to a Mr. Richard Chen."
The CFO. The one who'd embezzled forty-seven million and fled the country.
The man who'd nearly destroyed Harrison Group was also the father of Elena's child.
Dominic turned to look at Elena with an expression I'd never seen on his face before—not the cold disdain he'd reserved for me, but something far worse. Complete devastation.
"You were with him," Dominic said, his voice hollow. "While he was stealing from my family. While I was—while we—"
"It wasn't like that!" Elena was fully hysterical now, clinging to his sleeve as he backed away. "He seduced me! I didn't know what he was doing to the company! Please, Dominic, I love YOU—"
"Don't touch me." He shoved her hands away. "Don't ever touch me again."
Elena crumpled to the floor, her designer dress pooling around her like a broken parachute. Her sobs echoed off the marble walls.
I watched all of it with a strange, hollow calm.
Three years. Three years I'd spent trying to earn this family's respect. Three years of being called a gold-digger, a schemer, an interloper. Three years of sleeping in a cold bed while my husband visited the woman who was sleeping with the man robbing his family blind.
And now they all knew.
Victoria spoke first, her voice shaking. "Serena... I didn't..."
"Didn't what?" I asked. "Didn't know? Or didn't care?"
She had no answer.
Dominic's father stood with both hands pressed flat on the conference table, staring at the documents still displayed on screen. His expression cycled through emotions like a slot machine—shock, shame, fury, regret.
"The criminal complaint," he said hoarsely. "The embezzlement charges against you—"
"Should be withdrawn immediately," James Wheeler finished from the phone. "Unless your family wants to explain to a judge how you attempted to prosecute the woman who single-handedly prevented your company's collapse. Twice."
The lawyer who'd prepared those documents was already gathering his papers with trembling hands, desperate to disassociate from the disaster.
"Serena." Dominic's voice cut through the noise. He stood apart from everyone, his expression raw, stripped bare. "I didn't know. About any of it. The company, the merger, the... everything."
"I know you didn't," I said. "That's the problem."
"I should have listened. I should have—" He took a step toward me.
I held up my hand, and he froze.
"You chose her," I said simply. "Every single day for three years, you chose her. Not because you were tricked—because you wanted to. Because loving her was easy and loving me required you to actually see me."
His jaw worked, but no words came.
"I'm not angry anymore, Dominic." My voice was quieter now. "I'm just done."
I picked up the divorce papers from the table, the ones they'd prepared to humiliate me with.
"I'll sign these." I uncapped the pen. "Not because you're forcing me. Because I'm finally choosing myself."
My signature slashed across the paper like a blade cutting a chain.
The weight that lifted from my chest was indescribable.