Dominic hadn't slept.
He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of his penthouse, shirtless, the city lights casting golden streaks over his tensed muscles and furrowed brow. Behind him, Alicia lay curled under the sheets, her breaths shallow, restless.
He couldn't stop thinking about what her mother had said.
"The Weston name isn't just a name. It's power. And people will destroy her to keep their secrets buried."
Dominic's jaw clenched. He had secrets too. Secrets that, if revealed, could break Alicia in ways she hadn't yet imagined.
He thought he had time—time to protect her, time to make her fall for him completely. But time was running out.
And then there was the message that arrived on his encrypted phone an hour ago.
Anonymous: "You really think you can hide her forever? She's the key, Dominic. Just like her father. Just like you."
Dominic closed his eyes briefly, breathing through the anxiety that clawed up his throat. This wasn't just about a one-night stand gone wrong. This was bigger. And it was about to explode.
Meanwhile, Alicia sat at the breakfast bar the next morning, staring at a photo she found in one of her father's old journals. It was wrinkled, dated, and hidden in a sealed envelope.
Her father was in the picture. Beside him stood a young Dominic. Younger, thinner—but it was unmistakably him.
She stared at it for a long time. Had Dominic known her father before their night together? Before their paths "accidentally" crossed?
The knock at the door startled her.
She quickly shoved the photo into her purse and stood. When she opened the door, it wasn't Dominic.
It was Grace—her cousin. Or, more accurately, her traitorous cousin.
"Alicia," Grace said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I thought we should talk."
Alicia didn't move. "After what you did?"
"You think I wanted to expose your pregnancy to the media?" Grace's voice rose. "That wasn't me. It was Aunt Caroline. She used me to get to you. I swear, Alicia."
Alicia folded her arms, her heart already numb. "I don't trust you anymore, Grace. Not after you leaked confidential company files to my mother and ruined my launch."
"I was trying to protect the family!" Grace hissed. "You've been trying to tear it apart since the day you left."
Alicia's voice dropped. "No. I've been trying to survive this family since the day I was born."
She slammed the door in Grace's face and leaned against it, trembling. Her hands went to her purse, pulling out the photo again. Her heart pounded as she flipped it over.
In faint ink, her father's handwriting read:
"D.W. — promise me you'll keep her safe, even from yourself."
D.W. — Dominic Weston.
She sat down, the truth unraveling in her mind like a nightmare. Dominic had known her father. Maybe even worked with him.
And he never said a word.
Dominic returned home later that evening, the tension in the apartment so thick he noticed it the second he walked in.
"Alicia?" he called out.
She appeared in the hallway, arms crossed, holding the photo.
"You lied to me," she said quietly.
Dominic froze.
"You knew my father. You promised him you'd protect me. And then you slept with me that night as if we were strangers. Why?"
Dominic sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that."
"Oh, so there was a plan," she shot back, voice shaking. "Was I part of some secret project? A mission? What am I to you, Dominic?"
He stepped forward. "Alicia, please—"
"No," she cut him off. "Tell me the truth."
Dominic's eyes darkened. He looked torn, his posture rigid. "Your father saved me once. I was just a screwed-up teenager with too much money and too many enemies. He mentored me. Gave me purpose. And when he died… he made me promise to watch over you. That's why I moved back to New York. That's why I invested in your company from the shadows."
Her breath caught. "You were the silent investor?"
He nodded. "Yes. I wanted to protect you. But that night… when I met you at the bar, I didn't recognize you right away. And by the time I realized who you were, I was already—"
"Sleeping with me," she whispered.
He stepped closer, his voice low. "Falling for you."
Alicia wanted to believe him. She really wanted to. But everything felt like a lie.
"You should've told me from the beginning."
"I know," he said, voice breaking. "But your father didn't want you to know the truth unless it became dangerous."
"Well," she said bitterly, "it just did."
Later that night, Alicia couldn't sleep. The photo still burned her fingertips. The betrayal still sat heavy in her chest.
She walked into the study, pacing until she reached the safe Dominic always kept locked.
She hesitated. Then, on impulse, she typed in his mother's birthday—a detail she remembered from a quiet conversation weeks ago.
The safe clicked open.
Inside, she found files. Dozens of them. Documents, contracts, surveillance photos of her. And at the bottom—her father's personal journal.
She pulled it out and opened to the bookmarked page.
Entry: October 12, 20XX
Dominic is the only one I trust to protect her from the truth. She cannot know what happened to her real mother. Not yet. If she finds out, it will destroy her. But if the Board ever finds out who Alicia really is… they won't just come for her—they'll come for everyone she loves.
Alicia dropped the journal.
Her real mother?
The Board?
Her entire body trembled.
Dominic appeared in the doorway, eyes wide. "What are you doing?"
Her voice cracked. "Who am I, Dominic?"
He stepped forward, hands out. "It's not what you think—"
"Then tell me what it is!"
Silence.
His jaw clenched. "Your father adopted you. Your biological mother… she was part of something much darker. A group inside the Weston conglomerate that was trying to use your father's tech for military gain."
Alicia's knees nearly gave out.
"She died trying to stop them," he continued. "Your father kept you hidden to protect you. Changed your identity. Gave you a new life."
She could barely breathe. "And now?"
"They found out," he said darkly. "That's why the messages started. That's why your mother showed up again. They want something from you—something hidden in your DNA. A code your real mother developed. You're the only one left who carries it."
Alicia stared at him, tears threatening. "So I'm not just some scandal. I'm not just your one-night mistake. I'm a target."
Dominic cupped her face, gently but firmly. "You are not a mistake. You are the only woman who's ever made me believe in something again. And I will burn the world down before I let anyone touch you."
She let herself lean into his hands, but her voice was still weak. "Then tell me, Dominic. What happens now?"
He looked at her with fire in his eyes.
"Now?" he said. "We fight back."