Chapter 102
Chapter 102
Through the Fire
Dominique’s POV
I sat in a dimly lit café tucked between the cracked sidewalks and rusting lamp posts of San Andreas. The scent of burnt espresso mingled with the metallic tang of rain, but I barely noticed,I couldn't.
My mind was too loud, my chest too tight. This wasn’t just any meeting. It was with him, Adam.
Aurora’s... brother.
I couldn't even process everything well, that why I needed to meet him alone, away from Aurora's eyes.
Just I and Addam discussing like men.
Every bone in my body told me I shouldn’t be here. That this could be a trap. But none of that mattered. If what Adam said was true, then everything had changed. And I had to know.
I kept my hand loose around the ceramic mug in front of me, the coffee cold and untouched. My heart thudded hard as the café door swung open. Adam stepped in, and for once, he didn’t look like the arrogant bastard I knew him to be. He looked... wrecked, broken, like he hadn't slept in days.
He spotted me immediately and made his way to the booth. “Dominique,” he said quietly, sliding into the seat across from me. “You came.”
“I want answers,” I said flatly. “No games. No half-truths. You said you’re her half brother. Prove it, and how is this possible!!”
Adam looked down at his hands. His nails were chewed raw. “We have different fathers,” he said, “but the same mother. Stella Valeryk.”
His words punched the breath from my lungs. I watched him, waiting for the twitch of a lie, the smirk of manipulation, but none came. He was saying the truth and that broke my heart the more.
“You just happened to find this out now?” I said.
“I didn’t plan it,” he replied. “It started when I was snooping into Victor’s stuff. I found a safety deposit box. A letter from Stella. It confirmed everything.”
I wanted to dismiss him. To call him a liar. But his voice was hoarse, cracking in parts. His guilt was raw, naked, pure.
“And you told her out of guilt?” I asked.
Adam met my eyes. “I told her because she deserved to know. Because no matter what, the truth matters, and she needed to know the truth because she matters to me.”
I stared at him for a long, heavy moment.
He wasn’t lying.
When I finally stood, I didn’t say another word. I walked out into the rainy twilight, boots splashing through puddles. But my mind was already made up.
I loved Aurora.
And I would burn with her through anything.
No matter the fire she runs into.
\---
Aurora’s POV
The Blackwood estate gleamed in the morning sun, but the chill inside the guest parlor froze the warmth out of the air.
I stood by the fireplace, arms folded. Across the room, Anastasia walked in like she owned the air itself, every step precise. I just found out that her and David are dating, which is werod but doesn't concerns me.
Her face was unreadable, too calm, like a blade sheathed in velvet.
“You wanted to talk?” I asked, already exhausted, from everything.
She nodded. “Yes. Just you and me.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Alright. Talk, I don't have patience.”
She paced once, stopped, and then faced me. “You need to leave Dominique alone.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Her voice was sharp now, clipped. “Whatever you think this is between you and him, it’s a mistake, the both of you are a mistake.”
I laughed bitterly. “This coming from the woman who is just been introduced to the mafia world””
“No matter what, I feel I was meant for it,” she hissed. “You don’t get it. This world eats people like you alive. Dominique won’t save you, Aurora. He’ll ruin you, just leave him alone. Don't you see the rift you're causing in this family.”
My fists clenched. “Don’t talk like you know me.”
“I know enough. Enough to see that you’re spiraling into something you don’t understand.”
I stepped forward. “I’ve lived through more hell than you ever will, I have dined with the devil, I've tasted the forbidden fruit, Ive fought with demons. I've died and conquered death. So Don’t assume you can speak for me, don't you do that!!!”
Anastasia’s eyes narrowed. “Then why him? Out of everyone, why Dominique?”
“Because he chose me. When no one else did.”
Her lips twisted. “He chose you because you were convenient. Don’t mistake obsession for love.”
“You have no idea what he’s been through.”
“And you think you do?” she snapped. “You think love is enough to undo the darkness in that man? It’s not. He’ll drag you down with him.”
I moved until we were face to face, breath to breath. “Try me, watch and see”
Anastasia shook her head. “I won’t let you destroy yourself. I’m warning you, I will do anything to pull you away from him. Even if it means turning you against me.”
My eyes burned with fury. “ I have never been with you, you and Vanessa has always been against me, so why is now different. But know this, be ready for the consequences, Anastasia. Because if you come at me, you better finish it. I won’t hold back.”
“This isn’t a threat, Aurora. It’s a promise. You’ll regret choosing him.”
“No,” I said, my voice low, deadly. “You’ll regret trying to take him from me.”
We stared at each other, two storms about to collide. No truce. No surrender.
Anastasia turned on her heel and walked away, but the tension lingered like a ghost in the room.
And I stood there, shaking, not from fear, but from the fire rising in me.
She would come for me.
And I’d be waiting.
\---
Let them come. Let them all try to tear us apart.
Because I wasn’t walking away from Dominique, never would I
They would have to rip my heart away from his lifeless body, because my heart has been given to him.
I was walking through the fire, through the depths of hell, dinning with the devil and for Dominique, for him. And I would keep burning until the end.
Till the very end.