CHAPTER 5 — The Secret Behind Dominic's Marriage
CHAPTER 5 — The Secret Behind Dominic's Marriage
For several minutes after Eleanor left, nobody spoke.
Not my father.
Not James.
Not even me.
Because sometimes the most dangerous words aren't accusations.
They're questions.
And Eleanor had left me with one.
Why did Dominic really marry me?
I hated that the question existed.
Because deep inside, there was a part of me that already knew the answer might hurt.
The woman I had been three years ago would have defended Dominic immediately.
She would have said:
"He married me because he loved me."
She would have searched for every reason to protect him.
But the woman standing in that room now...
She had learned something important.
Love does not mean ignoring the truth.
"Dad."
My father's eyes moved toward me.
"Yes?"
"I need to know."
He understood immediately.
"The truth about Dominic."
I nodded.
"Everything."
My father remained silent for a moment.
Then he looked at James.
"Bring me the file."
My heart started beating faster.
I didn't know what was inside.
But I knew one thing.
Whatever it was...
it had the power to change how I saw the last three years of my life.
Twenty minutes later, James placed a thick folder on the table.
"Miss Carter."
I looked at it.
"What is this?"
"Information collected during the investigation."
My fingers touched the cover.
I hesitated.
Not because I was afraid.
Because once I opened it...
there was no going back.
I opened the folder.
The first page was simple.
A name.
Dominic Hayes.
The second page was a timeline.
And the dates made my stomach turn.
Three years ago.
Six months before our wedding.
Dominic's company was nearly bankrupt.
His investors were leaving.
His reputation was damaged.
Then...
something changed.
A new investor appeared.
A private investment group.
One that nobody knew much about.
My eyes moved down the page.
Then stopped.
"Wait."
I looked at my father.
"Who owns this company?"
He didn't answer.
I already knew.
Because the document revealed it.
A hidden holding company.
A company connected to...
Carter International.
My breath caught.
"What?"
My father leaned forward.
"That company was created years ago for private investments."
"I never personally managed it."
"So someone inside my organization used it."
I looked back at the documents.
"To help Dominic?"
James nodded.
"Yes."
I felt confused.
"If someone helped him..."
"Why?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then James said:
"Because someone wanted Dominic Hayes to become successful."
"And marrying you gave him the perfect connection."
The room went silent.
I whispered:
"No."
My father looked at me.
"Vivienne..."
I shook my head.
"Dominic didn't know."
The words came out automatically.
A habit.
A defense.
But this time...
nobody accepted them.
James spoke carefully.
"Miss Carter."
"There is more."
He placed another document down.
A bank record.
A transfer.
My eyes moved across the page.
Then froze.
The money came from a personal account.
Not a company.
A person.
And the name...
made my blood run cold.
Eleanor Hayes.
My mother-in-law.
I sat back.
Everything suddenly looked different.
The insults.
The humiliation.
The constant attempts to make me feel inferior.
Maybe it wasn't just arrogance.
Maybe it was fear.
They knew who I was.
They knew what I represented.
And instead of respecting me...
they tried to control me.
"Why?"
My voice was barely audible.
"Why would Eleanor help Dominic?"
My father answered.
"Because she wanted her son connected to power."
I looked at him.
"And she thought I was the way to do it."
He nodded.
"But there is something stranger."
"What?"
"The investment happened before Dominic proposed."
My heart stopped.
Before he proposed.
Before he told me he loved me.
Before he asked me to marry him.
A terrible thought entered my mind.
"Are you saying..."
My father didn't want to say it.
So I finished.
"Are you saying Dominic only approached me because of my family?"
Silence.
And silence was sometimes the loudest answer.
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I walked through the halls of my childhood home.
Every room carried memories.
My first piano.
My old books.
Photos of my mother.
A life I had abandoned because I wanted to build something on my own.
I sat in the living room holding a picture of Dominic and me.
Our wedding day.
I remembered his smile.
His promises.
"I don't care about money."
"I just want you."
Those words had felt real.
Were they?
A sound came from behind me.
"You should have known eventually."
I turned.
My father stood there.
"I thought you were asleep."
"I couldn't."
He sat beside me.
"You still love him."
It wasn't a question.
I looked down.
"I don't know."
My father nodded.
"That's okay."
"I hate that I don't know."
"Because if he used me..."
My voice cracked.
"Then I wasn't loved."
My father looked at me.
"No."
I frowned.
"What?"
"You were loved."
"But maybe not by the man you thought."
The words hurt.
Because they were possible.
The next morning, Dominic appeared again.
But this time...
he wasn't alone.
He brought documents.
And a confession.
"I know what my mother did."
I stood frozen.
"What?"
He looked exhausted.
"I found out last night."
My father stood nearby.
Watching.
Waiting.
Dominic handed me a folder.
"I didn't know before."
I opened it.
Inside were emails.
Messages.
Conversations between Eleanor and Dominic.
My hands trembled.
The first message was from Eleanor.
"You need to get closer to Vivienne."
Another:
"The Carter connection will change everything."
Another:
"Don't let her know why this marriage matters."
I looked up slowly.
Dominic was crying.
"I swear to God..."
"I never planned to use you."
I couldn't speak.
Because the evidence was there.
But so was his pain.
And that made everything harder.
"I thought I fell in love with you."
His voice broke.
"I thought it happened naturally."
"But now..."
He looked at the floor.
"Now I don't know what was real."
For the first time...
I saw something different.
Not guilt.
Not fear.
Regret.
Real regret.
"Why are you showing me this?"
He looked at me.
"Because you deserve the truth."
A pause.
"And because I need to know too."
I stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
He swallowed.
"My mother didn't just arrange my marriage."
He looked toward my father.
"She may have arranged something much bigger."
My father became serious.
"What?"
Dominic's face turned pale.
"The person who leaked Carter International information..."
"I think it was my mother."
The room went silent.
Because suddenly...
this was no longer about a stolen diamond ring.
It was about betrayal.
Money.
Power.
And a woman who had spent years pretending to hate me...
while secretly building her entire future around me.
That afternoon, my father received a call.
His expression changed.
"What happened?"
He ended the call slowly.
Then looked at me.
"Vivienne."
My heart tightened.
"What?"
He spoke quietly.
"Your mother-in-law just tried to leave the country."
I froze.
"Why?"
My father looked at the documents in my hand.
"Because she knows we're close to the truth."
A pause.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
"Your marriage was never the biggest secret."
"The biggest secret..."
May you like
"Is what Eleanor did before you ever met Dominic."
END OF CHAPTER 5
