Two days after the board suspended Dominic's financial authority, Natalie contacted me again.
Her message was short.
She asked if we could meet somewhere private.
I didn't want another conversation with someone who had been part of Dominic's hidden life.
But I thought about the little boy.
I thought about Sophia.
And I agreed.
We met at a quiet café near a small park.
Natalie arrived before me.
She was wearing a gray sweater and had her hair tied back.
She looked less confident than she had at the gala.
There was no expensive dress, no bright smile, and no little boy beside her.
"Thank you for coming," she said.
I sat down.
"What do you need to tell me?"
She wrapped both hands around her cup.
"Dominic told me the board was investigating the company."
"That's true."
"He said your family was behind it."
"My family is involved in some of the financing relationships. The board is reviewing the company's records."
She nodded slowly.
"That's not how he explained it to me."
"How did he explain it?"
"He said your family had always wanted control. He said you were using the situation to punish him."
I looked at her.
"Did you believe him?"
"I did at first."
She lowered her eyes.
"But then I started thinking about the things he told me."
She took a breath.
"He said you knew about me."
I didn't interrupt.
"He said your marriage was over except for appearances. He said you were only staying together because of Sophia."
I looked at the window.
The last time I had heard those words, they had come from a man I trusted.
Now they sounded like something rehearsed.
"Did he tell you that we were separated?"
"Yes."
"Did you ever see proof?"
Natalie shook her head.
"No."
"Did he tell you he was still living at home?"
"Yes. He said it was temporary."
I looked at her.
"Did you know he was coming home every night?"
She hesitated.
"Not every night."
I let the silence remain.
Finally, she said, "I thought he was building a future with me."
I didn't know what to say.
There was no satisfaction in watching another woman realize she had been lied to.
There was only sadness.
"What about your son?" I asked.
Her face softened.
"He asks about Dominic."
"Does Dominic see him?"
"Sometimes. He has been part of his life for a while."
"Does your son know about Sophia?"
"Not really."
I looked down at the table.
"Then both children have been left to understand things they didn't choose."
Natalie nodded.
"I don't want him dragged into this."
"Neither do I."
She looked at me.
"Do you hate me?"
I considered the question.
I could have said yes.
It might have made the conversation easier.
But it wasn't true.
"I don't know you well enough to hate you. I know you were part of a situation that hurt me. I also know Dominic gave you a version of our marriage that wasn't true."
She began to cry quietly.
"I'm sorry."
I didn't reach across the table.
Not because I wanted to punish her.
Because I didn't know whether she wanted comfort from me or forgiveness.
And I couldn't give her either one honestly.
"Please don't let the children become messengers," I said.
"I won't."
"And don't let Dominic use your son to pressure Sophia or me."
Natalie nodded.
"I won't do that."
She wiped her eyes.
Then she said something that stayed with me.
"He told me the company was his. He said he had built it without anyone carrying him."
I looked at her.
"That's what he told me too."
She looked confused.
I explained that the Sterling family had supported the company through investment and financing arrangements.
I didn't give her private financial details.
I didn't need to.
She understood enough.
"He said the investors were impressed with him because he had done everything himself."
I folded my hands.
"Perhaps he wanted you to believe that."
Natalie stared into her coffee.
"I don't know who he is anymore."
I didn't either.
When we left, she thanked me.
I walked to my car alone.
There was a little paper heart stuck to the inside of my handbag.
Sophia had given it to me that morning.
I kept it.
That afternoon, Chloe called.
She had been asked to provide a formal statement about the gala.
She wanted to tell me that she had done so.
"I told them everything," she said.
"Everything?"
"That Dominic told me you were separated. That he said Natalie was his partner. That he asked me to keep you from reaching the event upstairs."
I closed my eyes.
"And what did you tell them about Sophia?"
"That I knew she existed."
I didn't speak.
Chloe continued.
"I told them I knew she was coming with you. I knew she had made something for her father."
"Why did you say his wife and son were waiting upstairs?"
"Because Dominic told me to."
"That doesn't answer why you chose those words."
She started crying.
"I wanted you to leave. I thought if I embarrassed you enough, you would go."
I felt my hand tighten around the phone.
"You knew there was a little girl beside me."
"Yes."
"And you still did it."
"Yes."
I didn't raise my voice.
"Then you understand why an apology can't make that moment disappear."
"I do."
She said she had been afraid of losing her job.
She said Dominic had promised her that the situation would eventually become public.
She said she believed that keeping him happy would protect her position.
I listened.
Then I told her to keep cooperating with the investigation.
"Don't change your statement because someone pressures you."
"I won't."
"And don't contact Sophia."
"I wouldn't."
After the call, I sat for a long time.
The gala had lasted only a few hours.
But its consequences had reached every corner of our lives.
That evening, Dominic came home carrying a small shopping bag.
He placed it on the kitchen counter.
"I bought something for Sophia."
She ran over.
"What is it?"
He took out a stuffed rabbit.
It was white with a pink ribbon.
Sophia hugged it.
"Thank you, Daddy!"
He smiled.
Then he looked at me.
"I wanted to do something nice."
"That's good."
He waited for me to say more.
I didn't.
Later, after Sophia went to bed, he asked me to sit with him.
"I met with Natalie," he said.
I looked at him.
"She told you?"
"She called me afterward."
"What did she say?"
"That you made her feel like she was foolish."
"I didn't."
"She said you told her I lied."
"I told her the truth about our marriage."
He rubbed his forehead.
"Why couldn't you leave her out of it?"
"She asked me questions."
"You could have refused."
"She has a child. I wasn't going to lie to her to protect you."
He stared at me.
"You don't understand how complicated this has become."
"I understand that you created two separate versions of your life and expected everyone else to keep them apart."
He stood.
"I was trying to make everyone happy."
"No. You were trying to avoid disappointing anyone until you were ready to choose."
He shook his head.
"That's not fair."
I didn't argue.
He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water.
Then he noticed the paper necklace.
It was still on the table.
The glitter had begun to come loose.
He picked it up.
"Sophia made this for me."
"Yes."
He turned it over.
"DADDY."
His voice broke slightly.
"I should have worn it."
I looked at him.
"Yes. You should have."
He placed it carefully beside the rabbit's shopping bag.
For a moment, I thought he might finally understand.
But then he said, "Can you tell Victor to stop?"
I felt the moment disappear.
"Dominic, the board is reviewing its own records. Victor cannot make those questions disappear."
"You can ask him."
"I won't."
"You're choosing them over me."
"No. I'm choosing not to interfere with a process that needs to be fair."
He looked down at the necklace.
Then he left the room.
The next morning, Victor told me that the board had received Natalie's statement only because Dominic had mentioned her as someone who could explain the relationship between his personal life and company travel.
The board had not asked her to take sides.
They had asked for clarification about expenses and representations made during certain business events.
Natalie had agreed to answer factual questions.
"Will that hurt him?" I asked.
"Only if the records support something that requires an answer."
I thanked him.
Then I called Sophia's school.
I wanted to make sure the office knew that only approved adults could pick her up.
It wasn't an accusation.
It was a precaution.
When I collected her that afternoon, she ran toward me holding a drawing.
It showed the white rabbit Dominic had bought her.
Beside it, she had drawn a little paper necklace.
"That's Daddy's," she said.
I smiled.
"Yes."
"Can I give him the picture?"
"Of course."
She folded it carefully.
Then she asked, "Is Daddy coming to dinner?"
I looked at her.
"I don't know, sweetheart."
She thought about it.
"Can we still eat together if he comes?"
"Yes."
She smiled.
That evening, Dominic arrived just before dinner.
He sat with us.
He listened to Sophia explain her drawing.
He asked about school.
He even helped her cut a piece of bread.
For half an hour, our kitchen almost looked like the kitchen I remembered.
But after Sophia went to bed, he returned to the same question.
"Will you ask Victor to help me?"
I shook my head.
"Then I don't know what else I can say."
"Maybe you should start by telling the truth."
He stared at me.
"What truth?"
"All of it."
He didn't answer.
And I finally understood that I could not make a person honest by giving him another chance to lie.
Click here to continue reading: PART 19: Dominic Was Given One Last Chance to Explain the Company He Said He Had Built Alone
The Little Girl With a Handmade Gift Was About to Discover That Her Father Had Built a Second Family
Part 18 of 20
