Chapter 8: The Enemy Inside the Family
Dominic read the sentence three times.
Not because he didn’t understand the words.
Because he did.
And that was the problem.
The person who destroyed your life was never my enemy.
They were yours.
The handwriting belonged to Richard Vale.
His father.
A man who had spent decades building an empire out of ambition, secrets, and fear.
A man Dominic had spent his entire adult life trying to understand.
And now, even from beyond the grave, Richard was still controlling the conversation.
Still leaving pieces.
Still forcing Dominic to chase answers.
Dominic lowered the page.
“No.””
Elena watched him carefully.
“You know who he means.””
Dominic looked at her.
“Do I?””
Her silence answered.
He hated that.
He hated how everyone seemed to know pieces of his life except him.
“Tell me.””
Elena didn’t move.
“Dominic…”
“Tell me.””
His voice wasn’t loud.
It didn’t need to be.
The entire room felt the weight behind it.
Vincent stepped closer.
“Sir.””
Dominic raised a hand.
“No.””
He kept his eyes on Elena.
“Seven years.””
A pause.
“Seven years, I thought I lost you.””
His voice tightened.
“Then I find out you were alive.””
Another pause.
“I find out I have nieces and nephews I never knew existed.””
He looked at Sophie.
Then Ellie.
“And now I find out someone inside my own family destroyed my life.””
Elena looked away.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“No.””
Dominic shook his head.
“You were trying to protect me from the truth.””
The words hurt because they were accurate.
Elena didn’t deny it.
That made him angrier.
“Who?””
She looked at him.
“Your mother.””
The room went completely silent.
Dominic stared.
“My mother died when I was eight.””
“Yes.””
“She couldn’t have done this.””
Elena’s expression softened.
“That’s what everyone believes.””
Dominic stepped back.
“No.””
Elena moved closer.
“Dominic.””
“No.””
The denial came faster this time.
Stronger.
Because his mother was the one memory from childhood that wasn’t poisoned.
Richard had been distant.
Cold.
Demanding.
But his mother had been different.
She was warmth.
She was the person who held him when he cried.
The person who told him money did not make someone important.
The person who told him kindness mattered more than power.
“You’re wrong.””
Elena’s eyes filled with sadness.
“I wish I was.””
Dominic looked at Mercer.
“Is this true?””
The doctor hesitated.
That was enough.
Dominic turned away.
“Everyone knew.””
“No,” Mercer said quietly.
“Not everyone.””
“Enough people.””
“Yes.””
Dominic laughed once.
A humorless sound.
“My entire life has been built on lies.””
Elena shook her head.
“No.””
He looked at her.
“Then what is it?””
She answered softly.
“Your entire life has been built on people trying to protect you.””
“By lying to me?””
“By keeping you alive.””
Dominic walked toward the fireplace.
The flames reflected in the glass.
He remembered his mother there.
A memory.
A real one.
Her sitting on the floor beside him when he was young.
Teaching him chess.
Not because she cared about winning.
Because she wanted him to understand patience.
Every move mattered.
Every decision had consequences.
He had forgotten that lesson.
He had spent years reacting.
Attacking.
Surviving.
Maybe that was exactly what someone wanted.
“What did she do?””
Elena took a breath.
“Your mother discovered Richard’s hidden network.””
Dominic looked back.
“Blackwater.””
“Yes.””
“And?””
“She wanted to expose it.””
“That sounds like her.””
Elena nodded.
“But Richard stopped her.””
Dominic frowned.
“My father?””
“No.””
The answer surprised him.
“Then who?””
Elena looked at the letter.
“Your mother.””
Silence.
Dominic stared.
“I don’t understand.””
“Because the woman you knew was not the woman everyone else knew.””
His expression hardened.
“Explain.””
Elena walked toward the table and opened the notebook.
“She found out Richard had built Blackwater with one purpose.””
“To control the company.””
“No.””
She turned a page.
“To control people.””
Dominic looked down.
Names filled the paper.
Politicians.
Executives.
Lawyers.
People who had worked beside his family for years.
“The Vale family wasn’t just rich.””
Elena’s voice was quiet.
“It was protected.””
Dominic understood.
Influence.
Connections.
Leverage.
A system designed so nobody could touch them.
“Your mother wanted out.””
Elena continued.
“She wanted to destroy everything Richard built.””
Dominic looked confused.
“Then why would she hurt me?””
“She didn’t.””
Elena pointed at the letter.
“Someone made you believe she did.””
A cold feeling moved through him.
“Who?””
Elena looked at Sophie.
Then at Ellie.
Then finally at Dominic.
“The person who raised you after your father died.””
Dominic froze.
Again.
That phrase.
“After my father died.””
“Yes.””
“Who are you talking about?””
Elena didn’t answer immediately.
Because the answer was something she had been afraid to say.
Finally:
“Your uncle.””
Dominic felt the room tilt.
“My uncle?””
“Marcus Vale.””
The name hit him.
A memory surfaced.
A man’s hand on his shoulder.
A voice telling him:
You’re a Vale. Vale men don’t cry.
Marcus.
His father’s younger brother.
The man who became his guardian after Richard’s death.
The man who taught him business.
The man who helped him rebuild the company.
The man everyone called his second father.
“No.””
Elena looked at him.
“Yes.””
“He protected me.””
“He controlled you.””
The difference hurt.
Dominic looked away.
Because suddenly every memory had two meanings.
Every lesson.
Every decision.
Every warning.
Marcus had always been there.
Too close.
“You’re saying Marcus caused the crash?””
Elena shook her head.
“Not directly.””
“Then what?””
“He created the circumstances.””
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Proof.””
Elena reached into her coat.
She pulled out a small flash drive.
“I kept this for seven years.””
Vincent immediately stepped forward.
“What is it?””
“Security footage.””
“From where?””
Elena looked at Dominic.
“Your father’s private office.””
Dominic frowned.
“My father’s office was destroyed.””
“Yes.””
“Then how?””
“Because your father knew.””
She placed the drive on the table.
“He knew someone would come after him.””
Nobody spoke.
Dominic stared at it.
“What does it show?””
Elena’s voice became quieter.
“The night before Richard died.””
She paused.
“Marcus meeting with someone.””
“Who?””
Elena looked at him.
“The person who was supposed to inherit everything if you failed.””
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?””
Elena didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
Because the sound of footsteps came from the hallway.
Slow.
Confident.
Familiar.
Everyone turned.
A man stood at the entrance.
Older now.
Gray hair.
Perfect suit.
A cane in his hand.
Dominic recognized him instantly.
Marcus Vale.
The man who raised him.
The man who taught him everything.
The man who had spent seven years comforting him after Elena’s death.
Marcus smiled sadly.
“Dominic.””
Nobody moved.
Marcus looked around the room.
At Elena.
At Sophie.
At Ellie.
Then at the flash drive.
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Dominic saw it.
Fear.
The same fear Dr. Mercer had shown.
The same fear Sophie had shown.
Marcus looked back at Dominic.
“I was hoping you’d never find that.””
Dominic felt his entire world narrow.
“You knew.””
Marcus sighed.
“Yes.””
“You knew Elena was alive.””
“Yes.””
“You knew about the children.””
“Yes.””
“You knew about my memory.””
A long pause.
Then Marcus answered:
“Yes.””
Dominic stepped forward.
“Why?””
Marcus looked at him.
Not with anger.
Not with hatred.
With something worse.
Regret.
“Because your father was right about one thing.””
“What?””
Marcus tightened his grip on the cane.
“You were always the only person who could destroy us.””
Dominic stared.
“Us?””
Marcus looked toward the dark windows.
Then back at him.
And said:
“Because I wasn’t working alone.””
The front door behind him opened.
Another figure entered.
Someone Dominic recognized.
Someone who should have been impossible.
Someone who had been dead longer than Elena.
Marcus looked at Dominic.
“Meet the person who started all of this.””
The stranger stepped into the light.
May you like
And Dominic forgot how to breathe.
Because it was his mother.