Chapter 3 An Innocent Question from a Child.

For the first time in his life, Dominic stones was not focusing on the city that had always been his kingdom, even if the skyline of New York stretched on forever behind him. All he could think about was the lady in front of him.

Elena Silver.

She had no business being here.

Not in his workplace. In his life, no. Not after all these years.

However, she was.

She was different, too.

The lady who had once laughed in his arms and murmured promises of eternity, and who had once gazed at him with unwavering affection, was no longer there. With each breath, the Elena in front of him now radiated strength and defiance, growing colder and sharper.

When her emerald-green eyes met his, they remained unflappable. The hint of a grin, one that was tinged with challenge rather than love, was all that was left of her full lips, which had previously been so fast to curl into a loving smile.

She was back.

And she wanted war.

With his storm-gray eyes scouring her face for something, anything that looked like the woman he had once called his wife, Dominic's hold tightened at his sides.

But he couldn't find anything.

He had never seen her like this before.

But when he did speak, his tone was solid. "You genuinely believe that this will work?"

Elena's head dipped ever so slightly as her grin grew. "Dominic, I don't believe it. I know."

He tightened his jaw. He had battled corporate sharks, vicious rivals, and opponents who would sell their souls to see him fail. However, none of them had ever given him the icy amusement Elena was giving him now, as if she had already won.

"You left." The words were abrasive, tinged with an unidentified substance.

Elena didn't even flinch. Rather, she moved slightly closer and said in a velvet whisper that was as cold as ice. "You threw me away."

The charge struck him more forcefully than it ought to have.

"And now, I'm here to return the favor."

The tension between them crackled like a live wire as Dominic took a deep breath. She wasn't playing a bluff. Every action and every phrase was planned to demonstrate to him that she wasn't there to plead. She came to take.

"You think you can destroy me?" He spoke in a calm, quiet voice.

She moved closer and closer till he could practically smell the subtle scent of jasmine clinging to her skin. It was so familiar, but so unachievable.

"I don't think," she said, her green eyes shining with a last, dark glint. "I know."

A lengthy, oppressive stillness spread between them.

Then,

"Mom?"

Everything was broken by one word.

Dominic stopped.

Something heavier and more hazardous took the place of the tension in the air.

He turned slowly, almost mechanically, toward the entrance.

And his air left his lungs at what he witnessed.

A little boy.

Hair that is dark and wavy.

The stormy dark eyes that had been staring back at him from every mirror for thirty-four years were striking.

Everything in Dominic's world turned on its axis.

The boy stood in the doorway, blinking up at them curiously, his little hand gripping the frame.

"Lucas, sweetheart, I thought you were with Olivia."

In sharp contrast to the coldness she had used minutes before, Elena's voice had softened.

The boy Lucas shifted slightly, peering between them. His gaze hovered over Dominic, examining him with naive interest.

"Who's he, Mom?"

In his ears, Dominic's pulse roared.

The air seemed unnaturally thin, and the room seemed smaller.

He was immobile.

He was unable to breathe.

Elena gently held Lucas's hand as he was still having trouble processing what he was seeing and understanding what it meant.

"Come on, my love. Olivia is waiting.

And suddenly,

She looked aside.

Lucas followed without hesitation, his tiny fingers curled trustingly around hers.

Dominic stared , still transfixed, still reeling, as they proceeded toward the door.

He was urged to say something by his intellect.

To stop her. To demand a response. to take action.

However, before he could even process what had just transpired, before he could find his voice,

They had vanished.

Dominic Stones reality abruptly and irrevocably shifted, leaving him standing in the quiet.

Dominic stones has mastered control throughout the years. amid the realm of business, amid the tangled jumble of power and fortune, he lived on accuracy. The regulations were set by him. The choices were his. He never lost.

But everything he thought was definite, all he knew, fell apart in a matter of seconds.

A little boy.

A child.

Calling Elena Mom.

And those eyes...

His look.

As Dominic saw Elena leave with the child's little hand in hers, his whole body tightened. His mind was racing with ideas, but none of them made sense. Not one of them fits.

How?

How could this have happened?

The ramifications were difficult for his intellect to process, but the tempest that raged within him was too strong for reason or logic.

She was gone.

She had just disappeared from his life.

And now she was back, but this time she was a mother as well as a vicious business opponent.

To his kid? However, she...

The prospect hit him like a kick to the stomach.

His heart thumping, he stepped forward unsteadily. No. He needs clarification. Right now.

"Boss?"

The quiet was broken by a voice.

His right-hand guy, Nathan Pierce, waited at the entrance, his hazel eyes flitting in bewilderment. Dominic hardly noticed him. His thoughts continued to focus on the picture of that little boy the striking, unmistakable likeness.

"Who was that child?" Nathan's tone was deliberately neutral as he inquired.

Dominic's mouth tightened. He didn't respond.

because he didn't know.

However, one person did.

Elena.

She had just left his office after receiving his responses.

The only sound in the hallway was Elena's shoes clicking softly on the marble floor. She maintained a steady, controlled gait, not letting the chaos inside her show.

Take a breath.

She was grounded by the warmth of Lucas's little hand in hers and was prevented from turning around. She was aware that Dominic was still there, obviously in shock at what had transpired.

Excellent.

Let him think. Allow him to struggle.

The expression on his face pure, unguarded shock had been more pleasurable than she had anticipated, even though she had expected this encounter to disturb him.

The pain in her breast, however, did not go away with contentment.

To make sure that nothing from her past could affect the life she had battled to reconstruct, she had spent years erecting walls and fortifying them with steel.

Nevertheless, the walls almost shook as one gazed into those storm-gray eyes.

Nearly.

"Mom?" As they arrived at the elevator, Lucas said softly.

Elena squatted to his level and forced a grin as she let out a slow sigh. "Yes, dear?"

Lucas's head cocked. "Who was that man?"

Elena paused, running her fingers over his black hair's gentle waves. "Just a coworker, sweetheart."

Lucas scowled. "He gave me a funny look."

Elena felt her heart tighten. He had, of course.

Because Dominic stones had just seen that he was looking back at his own reflection.

Dominic was fixed to the place, unsure of how long he had been there.

His mind was a battleground, with fragments of his past forcefully crashing into the present.

Elena.

disappeared for years.

Back now.

with a child .

A kid that resembled him perfectly.

The boy's voice was still resonating in his brain.

Mom?

Behind her, the elevator doors closed.

Dominic jolted out of his reverie. He walked ahead without a second's hesitation.

"Nathan." He spoke in a clipped, chilly tone. "Discover every detail of Elena silver 's life over the previous five years."

The abrupt demand took Nathan by surprise, and he blinked. "Sir-"

Dominic's patience vanished as his jaw tensed. "I want to know everything about her, including where she lived and what she did. and learn more about the child.

Nathan paused. "You believe..."

Dominic's angry eyes became gloomy. "I doubt it. I need to know.

After giving a single nod, Nathan slipped away, immediately taking out his phone.

With his fists gripped at his sides and the city stretching out in front of him, Dominic turned toward the window.

He had thought Elena had left for years. She had deceived him.

However, now,

Was there anything more she was concealing?

And if he had that tiny boy,

Why in the world had she concealed him?

He was consumed by the inquiries like a wildfire.

And in one way or another

His replies were on the way.