Chapter 4 - THE MAN IN THE REFLECTION
Dominic didn’t deny it.
That frightened me more than if he had.
He stepped into the office and closed the door.
“I met Evelyn once.”
Cassian stared at him.
“Yesterday you said never.”
“I said what I thought was necessary.”
Margaret laughed nervously.
“That is an extraordinary answer.”
Dominic ignored her.
His attention stayed on Cassian.
“Rebecca contacted Evelyn. I came to stop a situation from becoming worse.”
“What situation?”
“The same one Rebecca has been creating since she left you.”
Cassian’s expression gave nothing away.
Dominic continued.
“She wants you to believe everyone betrayed you except her.”
Rebecca’s bracelet lay between them.
Cassian tapped it once.
“Did you threaten her?”
“No.”
“Did you speak to her privately during our marriage?”
“Yes.”
The answer landed hard.
Cassian leaned back against the table.
“How many times?”
“Four.”
“You never told me.”
“She asked me not to.”
I couldn’t keep quiet.
“She was afraid of Cassian, but she trusted Cassian’s closest friend?”
Dominic looked at me for the first time.
His eyes were surprisingly kind.
That bothered me.
“You must be Lydia.”
“How do you know who I am?”
Margaret looked down.
Dominic’s face didn’t change.
“I know everyone connected to the Aldridge household.”
“I clean bathrooms.”
“You also care for your mother.”
My skin prickled.
Cassian noticed.
“Why do you know about Helen?”
“Because Margaret asked whether her employee benefits could be protected during the merger.”
Margaret looked up sharply.
“That isn’t true.”
Dominic’s eyes moved to her.
“You’re frightened. Be careful what you confuse.”
I saw Margaret shrink.
Cassian saw it too.
He stepped between them.
“No.”
One word.
Dominic stopped.
Cassian pointed toward a chair.
“Sit.”
For the first time, Dominic hesitated.
Then he obeyed.
Cassian picked up the photograph.
“Why were Rebecca and Evelyn at my estate three days ago?”
Dominic folded his hands.
“Rebecca contacted Evelyn after learning about the wedding. She convinced the girl that marrying you was dangerous.”
“Was it?”
Dominic’s expression softened.
“You know I have spent half my life making sure it wasn’t.”
It was almost affectionate.
That was what made the whole thing worse.
Cassian looked at Rebecca’s bracelet.
“Why did Rebecca run barefoot?”
“She panicked.”
“Because of me?”
Dominic took too long.
Cassian noticed.
“So you don’t know.”
“I know what she told me.”
“What was that?”
“That the house made her feel trapped.”
Cassian’s mouth tightened.
I looked at Dominic’s neck.
No medal.
There was only a pale line where the collar of his shirt met his skin.
I pointed.
“Where is your Saint Christopher medal?”
He touched his chest automatically.
A tiny movement.
But Cassian saw it.
“The chain broke.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
Cassian said nothing.
Dominic turned to me.
“Evelyn took that photograph because Rebecca wanted to create exactly this moment.”
“What moment?”
“One where Cassian doubts everyone who has stood beside him.”
“Including you?”
“Especially me.”
His answer was smooth.
Reasonable.
For several minutes, I almost believed him.
Then Cassian asked a different question.
“Where are the things my wives returned?”
Dominic looked at him.
“What things?”
“Jewelry.”
“They were catalogued.”
“I never catalogued Rebecca’s bracelet.”
“No. She sent it later.”
“To whom?”
Silence.
Cassian straightened.
“My office.”
Dominic didn’t move.
Cassian looked at the guards.
“Bring the car.”
Dominic finally stood.
“You’re going through my office because a frightened maid found a bracelet?”
I expected Cassian to explode.
He didn’t.
He simply said, “She found more truth in one coat pocket than I’ve gotten from you all morning.”
Dominic looked at me.
Something in his face changed.
Not hatred.
Assessment.
The same way Cassian had looked at me in the chapel.
Except this felt colder.
Forty minutes later, we were at the Vale estate.
I had only seen it from the road.
Stone walls.
Bare winter trees.
Black iron gates.
Inside, the house was quieter than the Aldridge mansion.
No glitter.
No gold.
Dark wood.
Old photographs.
A place built by people who expected to stay for generations.
Dominic’s office was near the library.
He unlocked it himself.
“You’ll find nothing.”
Cassian entered.
“Then this will be quick.”
The room was immaculate.
No personal photographs.
No clutter.
Cassian opened one cabinet after another.
Nothing.
Dominic watched calmly.
I stayed near the desk.
There was a shallow drawer on the left side.
Locked.
“Open this.”
Dominic didn’t move.
Cassian’s eyes lifted.
“Dominic.”
Slowly, he removed a small key.
The drawer opened.
Inside were ledgers, envelopes, and one black velvet pouch.
Cassian stared at it.
Dominic sighed.
“Don’t.”
Cassian picked up the pouch.
Inside was another silver bracelet.
Same crest.
Same heavy clasp.
Different initials.
M.V.
Cassian looked as though someone had struck him.
I whispered, “Another wife?”
“Marisol Vega.”
“Which number?”
“Three.”
Dominic rubbed a hand across his jaw.
“She returned it.”
Cassian looked at him.
“No.”
“She did.”
“She returned it to me.”
Dominic said nothing.
Cassian’s voice dropped.
“I opened the package myself.”
He held up the bracelet.
“This isn’t the one she returned.”
Dominic’s calm finally cracked.
Only slightly.
Cassian turned the bracelet over.
There was a deep scratch near the clasp.
A long, deliberate line.
His breathing changed.
“What is it?” I asked.
Cassian stared at the mark.
“Marisol made that scratch the night before she left.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw her do it.”
He raised his eyes to Dominic.
“The bracelet she mailed me had no scratch.”
The room became completely still.
I understood before Margaret did.
“There were two bracelets.”
Cassian nodded.
“One returned to me.”
He held up the scratched one.
“And one Dominic kept.”
Dominic’s voice was quiet.
“You are making this into something it isn’t.”
Cassian stepped closer.
“Then tell me why you had the bracelet Marisol was wearing on the last night of our marriage.”
Dominic said nothing.
Cassian’s face went cold.
May you like
“And tell me what you gave her in exchange.”
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