Chapter 11 – Dominic Regrets
Chapter 11 – Dominic Regrets
The divorce papers were signed without a single argument.
No accusations.
No courtroom battles.
No bitter public statements.
Only two signatures placed on crisp white pages by two people who had once promised to spend forever together.
When the final document was filed, the judge looked at them with quiet sympathy.
"I wish both of you peace."
Neither answered.
Some wishes took longer than others.
The rain had stopped by the time Dominic stepped outside the courthouse.
Reporters immediately surrounded him.
"Mr. Kensington!"
"Do you have a statement regarding the divorce?"
"Did you know your wife was the Sinclair heiress?"
"Are the rumors about your family's financial troubles true?"
Microphones were pushed toward his face.
Camera shutters clicked endlessly.
Only a week earlier, Dominic would have avoided the questions.
Today, he stopped walking.
He looked directly into the cameras.
"I have only one statement."
The reporters fell silent.
"I failed my wife."
No excuses.
No carefully crafted public relations speech.
No attempt to blame anyone else.
"I wasn't unfaithful."
"I never stopped loving her."
"But love means very little when it isn't backed by courage."
His voice trembled.
"The greatest mistake of my life wasn't marrying Vivienne."
"It was expecting her to fight battles I should have fought beside her."
The crowd remained completely silent.
"I hope one day she forgives me."
He paused.
"But whether she does or not..."
"...I'll spend the rest of my life becoming someone our child can be proud of."
Without another word, he walked away.
For the first time in years...
He stopped running from the truth.
The interview spread across the internet within minutes.
Millions watched.
Some believed Dominic was finally being honest.
Others dismissed it as an attempt to repair his reputation.
Inside Sinclair International Headquarters, Vivienne watched the clip in silence.
Arthur entered her office carrying several documents.
"You don't have to watch it."
She looked up.
"I know."
She turned off the screen.
"I don't hate him anymore."
Arthur smiled gently.
"Hate is exhausting."
She nodded.
"So is disappointment."
Meanwhile, Dominic returned to the house that no longer felt like home.
The silence greeted him before he even unlocked the front door.
Every room reminded him of Vivienne.
The kitchen where she baked bread every Sunday morning.
The living room where she insisted they read together for an hour every evening instead of watching television.
The small balcony where she grew herbs in old ceramic pots because she said fresh basil made every meal taste happier.
He had laughed when she bought those pots.
"Wouldn't it be easier to order groceries?"
She smiled.
"Maybe."
"But not nearly as meaningful."
Now the basil plants had begun to wilt.
He watered them carefully.
For the first time.
His phone rang.
The caller ID surprised him.
Grandmother Evelyn.
His grandmother rarely called anyone.
She was ninety-one years old and lived quietly in a retirement community by the sea.
Dominic answered immediately.
"Grandma?"
"I watched the news."
Her voice was soft but steady.
"I'm sorry."
He closed his eyes.
"So am I."
There was a long silence.
Then she asked,
"Do you remember the story I used to tell you about your grandfather?"
Dominic nodded.
"He walked five miles every day to bring you flowers."
She laughed.
"No."
"The other story."
He frowned.
"The one about the broken fence?"
"Exactly."
Dominic smiled faintly.
As a child, he had heard it countless times.
When his grandfather accidentally damaged a neighbor's fence with his truck, the neighbor told him not to worry.
"It was an accident."
But Dominic's grandfather spent the next three weekends repairing the entire fence by hand.
When little Dominic asked why, his grandfather answered,
"Because forgiveness doesn't remove responsibility."
Grandmother Evelyn sighed.
"You've apologized."
"Now comes the harder part."
"Living differently."
After hanging up, Dominic walked into the nursery.
The unfinished room felt heavier than ever.
On the shelf sat a small wooden box.
Vivienne's handwriting covered the lid.
For Baby—Open Together
His hands trembled.
He knew he shouldn't.
But curiosity overcame him.
He lifted the lid.
Inside were dozens of handwritten letters.
Each sealed and labeled.
First Birthday
First Day of School
When You're Afraid
When You Fall in Love
If You Ever Doubt Yourself
His breath caught.
Vivienne had been writing to their child for months.
Each letter was filled with hope.
Dreams.
Encouragement.
At the bottom of every envelope appeared the same sentence.
"Mom and Dad love you more than you'll ever know."
Dominic covered his face with his hands.
Even while enduring his family's cruelty...
She had never stopped believing they could become good parents.
Across town, Vivienne attended her first executive board meeting as Acting Vice Chairwoman of Sinclair International.
The room contained some of the most influential business leaders in the country.
Many had known her since childhood.
None treated her differently because of her last name.
They respected her because she had earned it.
Arthur watched proudly as she presented a proposal for expanding scholarship programs into rural communities.
One board member smiled.
"You sound just like your mother."
Vivienne smiled back.
"I hope so."
During a break, Arthur's chief investigator entered quietly.
"Chairman."
Arthur looked up.
"What have you found?"
The investigator placed another confidential file on the table.
"It's about Dominic."
Vivienne's expression grew tense.
"I thought everything was already uncovered."
"So did we."
The investigator opened the folder.
"There is good news."
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Explain."
"We completed a forensic audit of Dominic's personal finances."
"He never accepted money from Eleanor or Chloe."
"He never participated in their fraud."
Vivienne let out a slow breath.
"And the bad news?"
The investigator hesitated.
"He knew something was wrong."
"He just never asked enough questions."
Arthur closed the folder.
"Willful blindness."
The investigator nodded.
"Yes."
That evening, Dominic drove to a quiet neighborhood on the edge of the city.
He parked outside a modest brick house.
An elderly man opened the door.
Professor Samuel Harris.
Dominic's university mentor.
The man who had taught him leadership years ago.
Samuel smiled warmly.
"It's been a long time."
Dominic nodded.
"I need advice."
Samuel poured two cups of coffee.
"I watched the news."
"I'm not surprised."
Dominic looked up sharply.
"You expected this?"
Samuel sighed.
"I expected something."
"When you were my student..."
"...you defended anyone being treated unfairly."
He looked directly into Dominic's eyes.
"But after you married..."
"You slowly stopped disagreeing with people."
Dominic frowned.
"I wanted peace."
Samuel shook his head.
"No."
"You wanted approval."
The words landed with painful precision.
Samuel continued,
"There's a difference."
"Peace protects everyone."
"Approval protects yourself."
Dominic stared into his untouched coffee.
He suddenly realized something.
His greatest weakness had never been fear.
It had been the desperate need for everyone to like him.
His mother.
His sister.
His colleagues.
His friends.
Even strangers.
In trying to please everyone...
He had abandoned the one person who needed him most.
As night fell, Dominic returned home.
He opened his laptop.
One by one, he began writing emails.
The first went to his company's employees.
He apologized for failing to lead with integrity.
The second went to the board of directors.
He voluntarily reduced his executive salary and requested an independent ethics review.
The third...
He stared at it for nearly an hour.
The recipient was Vivienne.
He typed.
Deleted.
Typed again.
Finally, he wrote only one sentence.
I won't ask you to come back. I only promise I'll never again be the man who let you stand alone.
He read it several times.
Then closed the laptop.
He didn't send it.
Some promises, he realized, had to be proven before they were spoken.
The following morning, Arthur entered Vivienne's office carrying unexpected news.
"Our investigators found the owner of those mysterious financial transfers."
Vivienne looked up immediately.
"The person everyone believed was dead?"
Arthur nodded.
"They're alive."
"And they've requested a private meeting."
"Who are they?"
Arthur's expression became unusually serious.
"They claim..."
"...they're the only person who knows why your mother really died."
The room fell into stunned silence.
For twelve years, everyone had believed Emily Sinclair's death was the result of a sudden illness.
May you like
Now...
Someone was claiming the truth had never been told.
