Chapter 14 - THE CHOICE
Mia screamed Harper’s name.
Dominic hit the ground.
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Then Harper cried.
“Dominic!”
He opened his eyes.
Pain burned through his left shoulder.
The bullet had hit him.
Not Harper.
Nathan still held the gun.
His hand shook.
Dominic looked up.
Nathan’s expression was horrified.
He had aimed at Dominic.
But Harper had nearly crossed the line of fire.
“Drop it,” Daniel said.
Nathan stared at Harper.
“Daddy?”
The word slipped from her mouth.
Not with love.
With confusion.
Nathan’s face collapsed.
His gun lowered.
Harper stood behind Mia.
“Why do you hurt everybody?”
Nathan said nothing.
“Mommy said dads keep you safe.”
Mia began crying.
Harper pointed at Dominic.
“He kept me safe.”
Nathan looked at Dominic bleeding in the grass.
“He’s not your father.”
Harper answered simply.
“I know.”
That hurt Nathan more than any bullet could.
Federal vehicles stormed the driveway.
Agents spread out.
“Weapon down!”
Nathan looked around.
No escape.
No secret tunnels.
No loyal soldiers.
No lies left.
Dominic expected him to fight.
Instead, Nathan dropped the gun.
He raised his hands.
Claire walked toward him.
“You used me.”
Nathan looked at his daughter.
“I raised you.”
“You trained me.”
Claire’s voice broke.
“You taught me to lie before you taught me to drive.”
Nathan looked toward Emily.
“And you.”
Emily shook her head.
“Don’t.”
Mia stepped forward last.
Nathan stared at her.
“I did care about you.”
Mia’s expression hardened.
“No.”
“You don’t get to rewrite this.”
She pointed toward Harper.
“You threatened our child before she was born.”
Nathan lowered his eyes.
Agents cuffed him.
Dominic remained on the ground.
Harper knelt beside him.
“Does it hurt?”
“A little.”
“You’re lying.”
Dominic laughed despite the pain.
“You’re very smart.”
“My mommy says that.”
Mia knelt on his other side.
“Paramedics are coming.”
Dominic looked toward the burning edges of his estate.
Seventeen years.
Nathan had lived inside his life for seventeen years.
But he had lost.
Not because Dominic was more ruthless.
Because a four-year-old girl refused to believe her mother would leave without kissing her goodbye.
Dominic looked at Harper.
“You saved your mom.”
She shook her head.
“We both did.”
The paramedics arrived.
As they lifted Dominic onto the stretcher, Daniel approached holding a phone.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“There’s one more message on Nathan’s satellite account.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Of course there is.”
Daniel handed him the screen.
A photograph had been sent thirty minutes earlier.
Dominic stared.
The image showed Nathan meeting a man outside a restaurant.
The date was one year earlier.
The man’s face was unmistakable.
Dominic’s attorney.
The lawyer who controlled every trust and every legal piece of the Vale fortune.
May you like
Beneath the photograph was one sentence.
CROSS FAILED. BEGIN SUCCESSION PLAN B.
