Dominic barely slept that night.
I knew because I heard him walking downstairs several times.
At around two in the morning, I found him sitting at the kitchen table.
His laptop was open.
Several printed documents were scattered beside his coffee cup.
He looked up when I entered.
"Couldn't sleep?"
I shook my head.
"I was getting some water."
He looked at the documents again.
I noticed the same agreement Victor had shown me.
Dominic had highlighted several paragraphs.
For once, he looked like a man trying to understand something rather than a man pretending to understand everything.
"Do you know what they're planning to do tomorrow?"
I opened the refrigerator.
"No."
He watched me pour a glass of water.
"Your brother hasn't told you?"
"Victor doesn't report every business conversation to me."
Dominic gave a bitter laugh.
"Of course not."
I closed the refrigerator.
"Dominic, what exactly do you want from me?"
He rubbed his eyes.
"I want you to understand that I built this company."
I looked at the papers.
"Then why are you afraid of explaining how it was financed?"
He didn't answer.
I returned upstairs.
The next morning, he left before Sophia woke up.
I watched his car disappear through the front gate.
Then I prepared breakfast.
Sophia asked for pancakes again.
I made them.
She placed three chocolate chips on hers and arranged them into a little smile.
I tried to smile back.
After dropping her at school, I called Victor.
"Is the meeting happening?"
"Yes. The board is gathering now."
"Will you be there?"
"Our representatives will participate where appropriate. The board must make its own decisions."
I appreciated that distinction.
"Has Dominic submitted the documents?"
"Some of them."
"And?"
"Several questions remain unanswered."
I sat in my car.
"What kind of questions?"
"Questions about the company's financial disclosures and the way certain financing commitments were described."
I looked through the windshield.
"Are the original agreements different from what the board was told?"
"That's one of the issues being examined."
I closed my eyes.
"Victor, please make sure everything is documented."
"It is."
A few hours later, my phone rang.
It was my second brother.
"Viv, the meeting is still going."
"What's happening?"
"Dominic is defending his decisions."
I waited.
"He says he believed the financing arrangements were stable and that the company had sufficient support."
"Did the board accept that?"
"They asked for evidence."
I could imagine Dominic sitting at the long conference table.
His expensive suit.
His polished watch.
His carefully prepared explanations.
I wondered how many times he had used that same confidence to convince people to trust him.
My brother continued.
"One of the directors has raised concerns about the company's dependence on a small number of financing relationships."
"Is that accurate?"
"Yes. The records will establish the full position."
I looked down at my hands.
"Are employees going to be affected?"
"Not immediately. The board is trying to understand the company's obligations before deciding on any operational changes."
That was good.
I didn't want innocent people paying for decisions made by executives.
Around lunchtime, Victor called.
"The meeting has been adjourned."
I sat straighter.
"What happened?"
"Dominic has been asked to provide additional records. The board has also restricted his authority over certain financial matters while the review continues."
I was quiet.
"Did he agree?"
"He objected."
I wasn't surprised.
"Anything else?"
Victor paused.
"Several directors have asked why the company was presented as having greater financial independence than the agreements appear to support."
I stared at the kitchen table.
That was the question Dominic had avoided answering for years.
He had built his public image around independence.
Now the documents were asking him to prove it.
Later that afternoon, I received a message from Chloe.
I have been asked to attend a meeting regarding the gala and certain communications.
I read it carefully.
Then I put the phone down.
I wasn't going to interfere.
She had made her own decisions.
Now she would have to explain them.
That evening, Dominic returned home.
He didn't remove his coat.
He stood in the living room and looked at me.
"Your family is enjoying this."
I was folding Sophia's school uniform.
"No."
"They've turned the board against me."
"The board asked questions."
He shook his head.
"You don't know what it's like to have everything you've worked for questioned."
I put the uniform down.
"Do you know what it's like to have your daughter ask whether her father wants her?"
He looked away.
I continued.
"You keep talking about the company. You haven't once asked how Sophia is doing."
He opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
I picked up the folded clothes.
"I have nothing else to say tonight."
As I walked upstairs, I heard him sit heavily on the sofa.
For the first time, the silence in our house felt different.
It wasn't the silence of a wife waiting for her husband.
It was the silence of a woman who had stopped expecting an explanation.
Click here to continue reading: PART 14: Chloe Finally Admitted What Dominic Had Told Her About His Marriage, and Her Story Was Not the One He Had Told Me
The Little Girl With a Handmade Gift Was About to Discover That Her Father Had Built a Second Family
Part 13 of 20
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