Chapter 12
679words
Finally, he grabbed my hand and broke down.
He pressed his face against my hand, "sorry" tumbling from his lips over and over.
His tears soaked my skin. I fought back my revulsion, keeping my voice gentle.
"It's all in the past, Dom."
He sobbed for what felt like forever before finally telling his story.
After Leo Parker bailed him out, he'd taken Dominic to Atlanta.
By then, Dominic had nothing left.
Leo kept him around only to settle a debt, but the respect was long gone.
Though bitter, he had no choice but to rely on Leo's charity.
He'd married Stella Parker planning to take over Leo's business.
He thought Stella would be as blindly loyal as I had been.
Hearing this, I couldn't suppress a sneer. He didn't notice.
He continued his pathetic tale.
He'd sabotaged Leo's business from within, certain he had everything under control.
Until Leo asked him to wine and dine an important client.
After drinks, he was getting some air when someone shoved him hard from behind, straight into the street.
A delivery truck barreled toward him.
"That truck was aiming to kill… I thought I was dead for sure."
He'd been critically injured, never expecting to open his eyes again.
The bigger shock came when he woke up—he couldn't move anything except his left arm and head.
Two months in the hospital. Not one visitor.
Stella just paid the bills and hired a nurse. Never showed her face.
On discharge day, he finally saw her and Leo—but only because they'd come to ship him off.
He'd never forget Stella's ice-cold, contemptuous stare.
"She said she wouldn't waste her life on a cripple. Told me not to be a burden."
"And Leo orchestrated the whole thing… he knew what I was doing behind his back all along. Just waited for the right moment."
The guy who pushed him and the driver were both Leo's men.
Leo had told him straight up, not bothering to hide it.
For someone as heartless as Dominic to expect genuine love from others was fucking hilarious.
The siblings had planned to repay him properly, but his greed knew no bounds.
Letting him live was their final act of mercy.
I had to admire Leo's style.
Sending Dominic back here was part of the revenge.
Killing him would've been easy. Humiliation was far more painful for a man like Dominic.
Leo knew exactly how much Dominic prized his dignity.
Bored with his story, I crossed my arms and leaned back, watching his face contort with rage.
He looked up, eyes swimming with guilt and gratitude. "In the end… only you would take me in."
I smiled brightly. "Why do you think I took you in?"
He froze.
"I took you in to enjoy watching you suffer. Every. Single. Day."
His eyes widened in shock.
"Did it sting when Stella threw you away? You can't forget her disgust, so why would you think I could forget yours?"
"You hate her for abandoning you. Why wouldn't I hate you for doing the same to me?"
"You played with people like toys. Did you never think someone might play with you too?"
"Seeing you broken like this gives me so much pleasure. Stella must have felt the same."
Dominic trembled, rage twisting his features.
He tried to stand but crashed face-first onto the floor.
He writhed like a worm, unable to rise no matter how hard he struggled.
"What are you doing?! Olivia! What the fuck are you doing?!"
He screamed, spit flying from his mouth.
I looked down at him with undisguised disgust.
"I just want all your old crew to come welcome you home, Dom."
"Don't worry. With me here, they won't kill you. Just a little humiliation. You'll survive."
His eyes bloodshot, veins bulging in his neck, head scraping uselessly against the floor.
The sight suddenly flashed me back to the day he found me.
I had once knelt helplessly at his feet just like this, begging like a dog.
