Chương 3
It was what they protected.
And Dominic had protected many things before he protected me.
"I believe you think you do," I said.
His face changed.
Like I had struck him.
"I do love you."
I picked up Leo carefully.
"Then you need to figure out what that means."
I packed only a small bag.
Not because I was leaving forever.
Because some part of me still could not accept that I was.
A few clothes.
The baby's supplies.
My medication.
The small notebook where I had written feeding times and doctor's instructions.
At the bottom of the drawer, I found an old photograph.
Dominic and I at the beach two summers earlier.
Before the investors.
Before the family dinners where Victoria corrected everything I said.
Before Natalie started making comments about my father's "comfortable little business."
In the picture, Dominic was laughing.
Not performing.
Actually laughing.
I sat on the edge of the bed holding the photo.
For several minutes, I wondered when that person disappeared.
Then I realized something uncomfortable.
Maybe he had not disappeared.
Maybe I had only been seeing the version of him he showed when nothing challenged him.
My father drove us home.
He did not ask questions during the ride.
That was one of the things I loved about him.
He knew sometimes people needed silence more than advice.
The house where I grew up looked exactly the same.
The stone path.
The old oak tree.
The porch where my father still kept a broken wooden chair he refused to throw away.
"You know that chair is falling apart," I said when we reached the door.
He glanced at it.
"It held up for twenty years."
"Dad."
"That is almost the same thing as being expensive."
I laughed softly.
He smiled.
For a few seconds, I was not a wife whose marriage was collapsing.
I was just his daughter.
Inside, the guest room had already been prepared.
Fresh sheets.
Baby supplies.
A small lamp beside the bed.
My father had thought of everything.
That made me cry.
Not because I was sad.
Because someone had finally considered what I needed before I had to ask.
"I should have told you about Dominic sooner," I said.
My father looked confused.
"Why?"
"Because you would have seen it."
He sat beside me.
"No."
I looked at him.
"No?"
"I would have seen what I wanted to see."
The honesty surprised me.
"My daughter was happy.
You loved him.
I wanted to trust your judgment."
He looked toward Leo sleeping nearby.
"But I also should have noticed when you stopped laughing."
That sentence stayed with me.
Because I had not realized anyone noticed.
The next morning, my phone filled with messages.
Dominic.
Victoria.
Natalie.
I ignored them until one message from an unknown number appeared.
It was from someone at Dominic's company.
I almost deleted it.
Then I read the first line.
Audrey, I do not know if you are aware of what happened yesterday, but there is something you need to see about Dominic's investors.
I sat up slowly.
The room suddenly felt colder.
A second message arrived.
I have been trying to decide whether to send this for weeks.
Attached was a photograph of a document.
I opened it.
And my stomach dropped.
Because my name was on it.
Not my married name.
My maiden name.
Brooks.
And beneath it was a signature I recognized.
Dominic's.
The document on the screen remained open for several minutes before I could force myself to look at it again.
It was not a contract with Brooks Global Corporation.
It was not a random business file.
It was a proposal.
A funding proposal.
My eyes moved slowly across the page.
Brooks Ventures.
The name was written near the top.
I knew that division of my father's company.
It was created years ago to support promising entrepreneurs who did not have access to traditional investors.
I had helped my father review some of those applications when I was younger.
The entire point was anonymity.
Applicants were evaluated on their ideas, their plans, and their ability to build something.
Not their family connections.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
Dominic had always told me he built his company from nothing.
And maybe he believed that.
Maybe that was the part that bothered me most.
The document did not show that my father gave him a company.
It showed something more complicated.
Brooks Ventures had invested in Dominic's startup eighteen months before our wedding.
Before he proposed.
Before he knew my father was Charles Brooks.
At least, that was what I had believed.
I scrolled down.
The date was there.
The signature was there.
The approval notes were there.
Then I saw the line that made my chest feel heavy.
Relationship disclosure: Applicant confirms no personal relationship with members of Brooks family.
I read it twice.
Then again.
My phone slipped slightly in my hand.
Because Dominic had not simply accepted an investment.
He had signed a statement saying he had no relationship with my family.
At the time, that was true.
But he had known me.
He had met me three months earlier.
He knew my last name.
He knew my father's company.
He knew enough.
I opened the message thread again.
Who sent this?
A few seconds passed.
Then the person replied.
My name is Evan Miller.
I work in finance at Dominic's company.
I have been uncomfortable with some things for a while.
I stared at the words.
Some things.
That was the kind of phrase people used when they were afraid to say something bigger.
I typed.
What things?
The response did not come immediately.
When it did, it was longer.
Dominic told everyone he earned everything without help.
Nobody questioned it because the company did grow.
But there were documents showing he changed information about the original investment after the fact.
I looked toward Leo.
He was asleep.
Small.
May you like
Peaceful.
Completely unaware that the adults around him were making choices that would shape his future.
