Chapter 4 - The Spineless Heir
A week after the scandal, Vanessa’s phone rang. It was an unlisted number. When she answered, Dominic’s shaky, desperate voice filled the line.
"Vanessa... please, don't hang up," he pleaded. He sounded completely broken, a stark contrast to the arrogant billionaire who had stood at the altar. "I'm at the apartment we were supposed to share. My mother has locked me out of the family accounts because I refused to sign an affidavit claiming I saw you take the diamond. I'm ruined, Vanessa. They’re going to take everything."
Vanessa felt a brief flicker of pity, but it was quickly replaced by disgust. "You're not ruined because of me, Dominic. You're ruined because you let your mother run your life. You knew about the offshore accounts, didn't you?"
Silence stretched over the line, confirming her suspicions.
"I didn't have a choice!" Dominic cried out. "If I didn't go along with it, she would have given my share of the company to Cassandra. I loved you, Vanessa! I wanted to use my inheritance to build a life with you away from them!"
"You wanted to use dirty money to buy a clean life," Vanessa corrected him coldly. "That’s not how the world works. If you truly want to save yourself from prison, Dominic, you need to walk into the federal building tomorrow morning and give my father every password to your mother’s private server. If you don't, you will be sitting next to her in a orange jumpsuit."
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Before he could answer, Vanessa ended the call. She didn't care if he did it out of love or out of fear. She knew Dominic was a coward, and a coward always turns on his controller when the ship begins to sink.
True to his nature, at nine o'clock the next morning, Dominic Sterling walked into the FBI field office with a black laptop and a signed confession. The betrayal within the Sterling family was complete.
