Chapter 13 - Why Elena Stayed Away
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Dominic took the red box from Vivienne.
She did not resist.
Inside, most papers were damaged.
But one sealed plastic sleeve had survived.
A medical report.
Elena Hart.
Dominic read the diagnosis.
His face changed.
Aggressive lymphoma.
Diagnosed six months after Maisie was born.
Grace began crying before Dominic finished.
“You knew?”
Grace shook her head.
“Not until near the end.”
Vivienne spoke quietly.
“Elena stayed away because she was sick.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Don’t rewrite this.”
“I’m not.”
Elena had initially hidden because of Vivienne’s threats.
But later, illness changed everything.
She believed Dominic’s world was dangerous.
She believed she might die.
She believed Grace could give Maisie an ordinary childhood.
And—most painfully—she still wasn’t sure whether Dominic had rejected her.
Vivienne had spent months reinforcing that belief.
“She asked about you,” Grace whispered.
“When?”
“Before she died.”
Dominic could barely speak.
“What did she say?”
Grace wiped her face.
“She asked if you ever came looking.”
Dominic looked away.
“I did.”
“I know.”
“I tore Boston apart.”
“I know.”
“I hired investigators.”
Grace nodded.
“Elena didn’t.”
Dominic turned.
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
Grace’s expression broke.
“Because Vivienne found me.”
Silence.
Vivienne closed her eyes.
Grace continued.
“She came to my apartment.”
Vivienne threatened to challenge Grace’s ability to care for Maisie.
She had lawyers.
Money.
Influence.
Grace had none.
“She said if I told Elena you were searching, she’d make sure Maisie ended up in foster care while the courts fought.”
Dominic’s voice became deadly quiet.
“And you believed her.”
“Yes.”
Grace looked ashamed.
“I was twenty-nine. My sister was dying. I was terrified.”
Dominic wanted to be angry.
Then he looked at Maisie’s aunt.
The woman had spent eight years working, saving, raising a child who was not biologically hers.
Fear had controlled her.
But love had kept Maisie safe.
Dominic said nothing cruel.
Vivienne seemed surprised.
“You forgive everyone except me.”
Dominic turned.
“Grace protected a child.”
He stepped closer.
“You protected a position.”
Vivienne’s mask cracked.
“You think I did all this for money?”
“What else?”
She looked toward the portrait of Matteo hanging above the ballroom fireplace.
“My husband.”
Dominic followed her gaze.
Vivienne’s voice shook.
“Matteo spent his entire life second to you.”
“He never said that.”
“He didn’t have to.”
“He loved me.”
“That was the problem!”
The words echoed.
Vivienne’s eyes filled.
“If Maisie became the heir, Matteo’s branch disappeared from everything.”
Dominic stared at her.
“So you erased my daughter to protect a man who never asked you to.”
Vivienne looked away.
Then Dominic saw something inside the box.
Another envelope.
Addressed to MATTEO.
Still sealed.
Vivienne went white.
“You never opened that?”
She whispered—
“I couldn’t.”
Dominic picked it up.
Elena had written to his brother too.
And whatever was inside might reveal exactly what Matteo himself knew.
May you like
👉 Vivienne claimed she destroyed Maisie’s identity for her husband—but Elena had left Matteo a letter that Vivienne had been too afraid to open for eight years.
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