Chapter 117 One Hundred & Seventeen
Dominic couldn’t breathe.
For a second, he thought he was hallucinating. Thought maybe his mind had finally broken after six years of searching airports, calling contacts, and digging through records that led nowhere.
But she was there.
Real. Alive.
Standing on that stage as she had never left.
“Izzy…” he whispered again, louder this time.
Her eyes found his.
For one long second, the world stopped.
Eyes… unreadable.
Then she looked away.
Like he was nothing.
Like he was just another face in the crowd.
“I would like to say a big thank you to everyone for being here today,” she said smoothly into the microphone. Her voice was steady. Confident. “It means so much to my family and me.”
Family.
The word hit him hard.
He stood there, unable to move, watching her smile.… a smile he used to know better than his own reflection.
“I would also like to thank my husband, Steve, for standing by me and helping make this all work. Honey, please join me up here.”
Dominic froze.
Husband.
Did she just say, husband?
His ears rang. The room blurred. His heart felt like it had dropped straight to the floor.
A tall man stepped onto the stage. Clean-cut. Polished. Confident. He walked to her side as he belonged there.
Like he belonged to her.
He placed a hand on the small of her back.
Familiar. Intimate.
Dominic’s jaw tightened so hard it hurt.
Six years.
Six years of searching.
Six years of believing she was alone somewhere.
Six years of not moving on because he couldn’t.
And there she was married.
Izzy continued speaking, graceful and composed, thanking donors and partners. Steve stood beside her like a proud husband.
Dominic felt sick.
Then…
A small figure ran onto the stage.
Boy… five years old. Dark hair. Bright eyes.
The crowd laughed softly.
Izzy’s face changed instantly... softer, warmer. She knelt slightly, pulling the child close.
“And of course,” she said into the mic, voice filled with something Dominic had never heard before, “none of this would matter without my greatest blessing.”
The boy looked up at her.
Dominic’s blood ran cold.
The child clung to her leg.
Dominic stared.
She was a mother.
A mother…. Six years and she shows up married and a mom?
The thought hit him harder than the word husband.
She had built an entire life.
Without him.
The child laughed as Steve picked him up easily, pressing a kiss to his head.
They looked like a family.
Happy.
Dominic felt like the air had been knocked out of him.
Of course, she moved on, he thought bitterly. Of course she did.
Why wouldn’t she?
She took the money. She left. She married someone stable.
Someone who wasn’t him.
He swallowed hard, forcing himself to look away, but he couldn’t.
Then he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Why are you standing there all lost? Go in,” Miranda said sharply.
Dominic didn’t respond.
Miranda followed his gaze toward the stage.
She saw Izzy.
Then she saw the man standing beside her.
Then the child.
Her face went completely white.
For the first time in years, Miranda looked shaken.
Dominic’s voice came out low.
“She got married…. Izzy is a married mom”
Miranda didn’t speak.
On stage, Izzy looked up again.
Her eyes found his across the crowded ballroom.
And this time…
She smiled at them..
Dominic stood there, rooted in place, staring at the life she had built without him.
And for the first time in six years…
He realized he might have truly lost her.
Dominic couldn’t tear his eyes away from where she was.
Izzy stood there as she had never broken, never run, never taken twenty-five million dollars and vanished from his life. She looked… whole. Untouched by him.
“Dominic.”
His mother’s voice cut low and sharp beside him.
He didn’t move.
“Dominic,” Miranda repeated, firmer this time. “Compose yourself.”
He finally blinked, jaw flexing. “She’s married.”
Miranda’s lips thinned. “I can see that.”
“She has a child.”
Miranda exhaled slowly, irritation replacing her initial shock. “And?”
He turned to look at her, disbelief flashing across his face. “And?”
Miranda leaned closer, her voice dropping to a controlled whisper. “We are not here for that bitch.”
His eyes darkened immediately. “Don’t call her that.”
Miranda ignored him. “We are here to meet Mr. Laurent. He is considering investing in the expansion project. Do you understand what that means? This night is important.”
Dominic’s hands curled into fists at his sides. Across the room, Izzy was stepping down from the stage with her husband beside her, guests surrounding them.
“She looks… fine,” he muttered, almost to himself.
Miranda followed his gaze again, her expression hardening. “She took her money and built herself a life. Good for her. That is not your concern anymore.”
Money.
The word burned.
“She said she loved me,” Dominic said quietly.
“And she still left,” Miranda snapped. “With my check.”
He inhaled sharply.
Miranda straightened his tie with precise fingers, the gesture almost motherly if not for the coldness in her eyes. “You are a married man. You have a company to run. You are not some heartbroken teenager staring at a ghost.”
His voice dropped. “My marriage is over.”
“Not on my watch,” she said flatly. “But for now do not embarrass yourself tonight.”
Across the ballroom, Izzy laughed at something her husband said. The sound didn’t reach Dominic, but he could see it. See the ease between them.
It twisted something ugly in his chest.
Miranda’s tone softened just slightly, but it was strategic. “Look at her carefully, Dominic. She has moved on. She has built a family. Whatever fantasy you’ve been holding onto for six years… let it go.”
He didn’t answer.
Because part of him wanted to walk straight across that room.
Part of him wanted to demand answers.
Why did she leave?
Why did she never come back?
How could she be married to someone else
But another part of him felt something darker.
Replaced.
Erased.
Miranda stepped back into her composed social smile. “Now,” she said calmly, scanning the room. “Our investor just arrived. Fix your face. Wipe that look off before someone notices.”
Dominic dragged a hand down his face, forcing his expression into something neutral.
The Dominic the world knew.
Not the man who had just seen the love of his life standing ten feet away with another man’s ring on her finger.
Miranda looped her arm through his. “Good,” she murmured. “Remember who you are.”
They took a step forward into the crowd.
And at that exact moment…
Izzy turned.
Her eyes locked onto his again.
Not soft.
Not nostalgic.
But deliberate.
Like she knew exactly what seeing her would do to him.
And she didn’t look away this time.
She stood there smiling coldly.