Chapter 14
Then Dominic’s federal case caught up with him.
The foundation records had exposed legitimate and illegitimate financial relationships federal investigators were already examining.
The case did not depend on Veronica’s misconduct.
It involved Dominic’s own conduct.
Racketeering.
Extortion.
Illegal gambling proceeds.
Financial crimes.
Violence committed by people under his authority.
His lawyers challenged evidence.
Some counts weakened.
Others remained strong.
Dominic ultimately entered a negotiated plea to offenses supported independently of Veronica’s case.
The sentence was substantial.
Sofia sat beside him the night before he surrendered.
Rose was asleep upstairs.
Dominic asked:
“Are you leaving me?”
Sofia looked at her wedding ring.
“I don’t know what that word means anymore.”
“Divorce.”
“I know what divorce means.”
He waited.
She continued.
“I mean leaving you.”
Dominic said nothing.
Sofia had already moved with Rose into a separate home.
Not hidden.
Not under Bellaforte control.
Court-approved security.
Independent finances.
Her own lawyer.
Dominic signed a parenting plan before sentencing.
Rose would live with Sofia.
Dominic could have approved calls and visits consistent with prison rules and child-development guidance.
No associates carrying messages.
No criminal business discussed around Rose.
No promises that Daddy would “fix everything.”
Sofia told him:
“She gets to love you without being recruited into your mythology.”
He almost argued.
Then stopped.
“What do I tell her when she asks why I’m gone?”
“The truth appropriate to her age.”
“That I’m a criminal?”
“That you committed crimes.”
He looked at her.
“Difference?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A person can change. Facts don’t.”
Dominic sat quietly.
The next morning he surrendered.
No convoy.
No dramatic farewell.
One car.
His lawyer.
Sofia did not go.
May you like
Rose was too young to understand anyway.
For the first time in Dominic Bellaforte’s adult life, the most important event in his day happened without an audience.
