Chapter 14 - THE MAN WHO CAME BACK

Nathan Cross returned to the Vale estate eleven months later.

Not as Dominic’s partner.

Not as his second-in-command.

Not as family.

He arrived in a government vehicle.

His cooperation had reduced his sentence significantly.

Part of his agreement allowed supervised meetings related to ongoing investigations.

Dominic almost refused.

Then Nathan sent one message.

I found the last Shepherd account.

Dominic agreed.

They met in the library.

The same room where Nathan had confessed.

Nathan looked thinner.

Older.

He carried no confidence now.

Only exhaustion.

Dominic sat across from him.

“What account?”

Nathan opened a folder.

“Switzerland.”

“Samuel created it twenty-two years ago.”

“How much?”

“Forty-three million.”

Dominic’s expression barely changed.

Nathan gave a faint smile.

“Still impossible to impress.”

“Where did the money come from?”

“Your father.”

Dominic became still.

Nathan slid a document across the table.

“Not stolen.”

“Hidden.”

Dominic read.

The account beneficiary was Isabella Vale.

Secondary beneficiary Dominic Vale.

Nathan continued.

“Your mother knew.”

“Why hide it?”

“She planned to use it to shut Shepherd down.”

Dominic looked up.

Nathan shrugged.

“She died before she could.”

Dominic stared at his mother’s signature.

Even after death, Isabella was still cleaning up the men’s mistakes.

“What happens to the money?”

“It’s legally yours.”

Dominic laughed softly.

Nathan looked surprised.

“What?”

“For once, something actually belongs to me.”

Nathan almost smiled.

Silence followed.

Then Nathan looked toward the window.

“How’s Harper?”

“Good.”

“Mia?”

“Good.”

Nathan nodded.

“I don’t expect her to forgive me.”

“She doesn’t.”

Nathan accepted it.

“What about you?”

Dominic looked at him.

“There are things I can understand without forgiving.”

Nathan swallowed.

“That sounds like a no.”

“It’s not a yes.”

They sat quietly.

Seventeen years could not be repaired in one conversation.

Perhaps they should not be.

Nathan stood.

“I should go.”

Dominic remained seated.

Nathan reached the door.

“Dom?”

Dominic looked up.

Nathan hesitated.

“I meant what I said that night.”

“Which part?”

“When I said you were my family.”

Dominic’s expression did not change.

Nathan continued.

“I just forgot family doesn’t mean ownership.”

Then he left.

Dominic remained in the library for a long time.

Mia found him there.

She noticed the folder.

“What now?”

“Forty-three million dollars.”

Her eyebrows rose.

“That usually improves your mood.”

“It was my mother’s.”

Mia sat opposite him.

“What will you do with it?”

Dominic looked toward the estate grounds.

“I don’t know.”

Mia smiled.

“Yes, you do.”

Three months later, the Isabella Vale Foundation opened.

Not the old kind of foundation designed for galas and tax advantages.

This one had a specific purpose.

Emergency housing.

Legal assistance.

Childcare support.

Aid for employees trapped in dangerous domestic or workplace situations.

People like Mia.

Mia hated that description.

She told Dominic so.

“This isn’t my charity.”

“No.”

He answered.

“It’s your fault.”

She stared.

He smiled.

“You gave me the idea.”

“Terrible wording.”

“I’m still learning.”

Harper attended the opening ceremony.

She wore a yellow dress.

Not because anyone asked her to.

Because she chose it.

Dominic noticed.

Mia noticed him noticing.

“She wanted yellow again.”

Dominic nodded.

“That’s good.”

The color no longer belonged to the worst night of Harper’s life.

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