Between the Pain of Truth and the Relief of Reunion

Between the Pain of Truth and the Relief of Reunion

Maggie’s Point Of View

I stood completely still.

Beckham's arms were still around me, holding me after my little stumble on the stairs, but I could barely feel his touch. Everything inside me seemed to have stopped the moment my eyes met Dominic's. I was looking at him over Beckham's shoulder.

Those eyes, the same blue eyes I had dreamed of seeing again on so many lonely nights that I had lost count, but I was never prepared to see them like that.

Never.

Because when Dominic looked at me now, there wasn't just surprise there, there was devastation. A pain so deep that it seemed to cross the entire room and pierce directly into my chest. My heart ached immediately.

"Dominic..." His name escaped my mouth in a weak, almost broken sigh, and in that instant I felt the full weight of my own heart.

He was already moving, walking toward me. Quickly, and decisively. Before Beckham could even react, Dominic was upon us, his hands grabbing my arms and pulling Beckham's away from me with force, and the shove he gave him was hard enough to make him take a step back, so Dominic's hands were on me.

On my arms... warm, strong, real.

"Dominic." Now it was Beckham's voice that sounded behind him.

Unlike mine, his didn't tremble. It was firm, controlled, almost like a warning, but Dominic didn't seem to hear it, or maybe he heard it and simply didn't care.

His eyes were fixed on my face. Haunted. As if he were looking at something impossible, he was so close now, so close that I could feel the heat of his body through the fabric of my dress. His hands gripped my arms tightly, as if he needed that contact to confirm that I was really there, as if he were trying to prove to himself that this wasn't an illusion. He had touched me thousands of times before, but at that moment his touch felt completely different.

More desperate, more urgent. I never thought it would happen again.

"Dominic..." My body moved slightly when I said his name again.

It was a small movement, but it was enough. My belly touched him, and in that instant his eyes slowly drifted down, resting on the round curve of my belly. I saw his throat move as he swallowed. The silence between us grew heavy, almost suffocating.

"I'm sorry." The words came out of my mouth in a trembling whisper.

My nose began to sting and I felt my chin tremble as tears threatened to fall, and Dominic's eyes abruptly returned to my face. Now they were dark, much darker, and for the first time since he appeared there, I saw exactly what I expected to find.

Anger.

"Are you really sorry?" His voice came out low and hard. His jaw was so tight it looked like it was about to crack. "Do you really feel it, Maggie? Or should I call you Alice?" He repeated in almost the same breath. Then his eyes became even more intense. "Where is my son? My son... he... he's..." His voice faltered in the middle of the sentence. I had never seen Dominic lose control of his words like that; he seemed to be fighting something enormous inside himself. "Tell me something that will really make this hole inside me smaller, Maggie." The words came out heavy with pain. "Is Jamie okay?"

Tell me something that will really make this hole inside me smaller. The phrase echoed inside my head. Of course it didn't make it smaller, knowing I was alive didn't make it smaller. Because I was the woman who had lied to him, the woman who had betrayed him in the worst possible way, the woman who had taken his own son away from him.

I always knew that if Dominic found out the truth one day... he would never forgive me. Maybe that was exactly why I fought so hard to keep everything hidden, it wasn't just because of the agreement with Irina, it was because the truth would destroy everything. It would turn all the love Dominic felt for me into pain... and hatred.

My eyes filled with tears and his face began to blur before me. I nodded frantically.

"He... he's fine." My voice came out broken. "He's at home..."

"Can you let her go now? You're going to leave marks on her arms." Beckham's voice came out harshly behind Dominic, and it seemed to break the moment between us.

Dominic's eyes dropped to his own hands holding my arms, and he immediately let go of me, as if he had touched something that burned. His jaw locked again, then, in one quick, violent motion, he turned his body. His clenched fist struck Beckham's jaw hard, the sharp sound of the impact echoing loudly in the hall, and Beckham staggered backward.

"Dominic, no!" I shouted, but he didn't hear me, or simply didn't want to hear me.

Dominic grabbed Beckham by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back, leaving the two of them face to face. His eyes were filled with rage.

"You knew I was after her." The words came out between clenched teeth. "You knew who she was when I went after her to find out who Alice was." The way he pronounced the false name sounded like an insult. "She's my wife." He practically growled the last word.

Beckham didn't back down.

"But she was under my protection." His voice was firm. "And she didn't want you to know the truth."

“You bastard!” Dominic landed another punch, and then another.

Beckham lost his balance and fell backward as several people around us watched the scene with wide eyes. The entire event was now looking at us, and I was finally able to move. I hurried down the steps, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.

"Dominic, for God's sake, stop!" I grabbed his arm with both hands. As soon as I touched him, I felt his body freeze, and his breathing became heavy and rapid, but he didn't look at me. "It's not his fault." My voice was broken by sobs. "He didn't do any of this." I took a deep breath, trying to speak. "It was me!"

Dominic finally turned his face, his blue eyes meeting mine.

"I know." His response was low and cold, but filled with something much deeper underneath. "But no matter how much I hate you..." His words hit me like a knife. "...I would never do anything to hurt you." His gaze remained locked on mine for a moment. "No matter how angry I am. I would never take it out on you."

Then he pulled away from my touch.

"Alice, what the hell is going on?" Sara's voice reverberated through the large gallery hall, cutting through the growing murmur of the people around us.

I looked up immediately and saw her crossing the space between the guests, dodging small groups who were still whispering and looking in our direction, her heels clicking firmly on the light-colored floor as she walked. Beckham, a few steps behind me, was already getting up after the punches Dominic had thrown at him, his face tense, his hand pressed against his jaw. Accompanying Sara were four security guards from the gallery, all in dark suits and with alert expressions, clearly ready to intervene if necessary. Sara stopped a few feet away from us. I was slightly behind, Dominic was slightly ahead. She looked first at him, then at me, clearly trying to understand what had just happened there.

"Mr. Volkov, I'm going to ask you to leave my event. My men will accompany you." Her voice was polite but firm.

Dominic stood still for a moment, his chest rising and falling with heavy breathing, then he brought his hands to his tuxedo, adjusting the dark fabric as if he were simply tidying his clothes after a casual conversation.

“I don’t need to be escorted.” His voice was low and controlled. “I’m already on my way out.” He took a step, then turned to me. I felt the movement of air as he approached, then Dominic stopped beside me. My heart tightened in my chest. “I’ll give you ten minutes to meet me outside and take me to my son.”

His words were direct.

"Dominic..." I tried to speak, but he cut me off immediately.

"You don't want to test me, Maggie." The way he said my name made my stomach churn. "As much as you hate that fact..." He paused briefly, his eyes hard. "...I am Jamie's father. If you want to get rid of me, next time don't fake your death." The bitterness in his voice was almost palpable. "Try to kill me." He tilted his head slightly. "It will be more effective."

I felt tears begin to fall before I could stop them, and Dominic turned to Sara.

"I didn't mean to ruin your event." His voice was controlled again, even polite, almost formal. "Any damages, I'll cover whatever it is." And then he just walked away.

The people around him automatically made way as he crossed the hall toward the exit, the murmur growing again in the room, low voices commenting on what they had just witnessed. I stood there, watching him walk away. Tears streamed down my face without stopping.

God, he thought I had faked Jamie's death and my own just to run away from him, he really believed that, and he hated me. I had seen it clearly in his eyes, in the bitter tone of his words, and even though a small part of me still wanted to believe that maybe things could get better... that maybe, if I had the chance to explain everything, if I could tell him the truth... if I could tell him that I too had died a thousand times during all those months away from him... even so, deep down I knew. The feeling of betrayal would not go away, Dominic would never be able to forgive me, and I couldn't blame anyone but myself for that.

"Maggie, are you okay?" I felt Beckham's gentle touch as he held my hand.

I looked up at him, his face tense, his jaw already beginning to swell slightly where Dominic had landed his punches.

"I'm sorry." The words came out of my mouth in a weak whisper, then I looked at Sara, who at some point had moved even closer to me. "I'm sorry, Sara. This is all my fault..." I let out a shaky sigh.

She shook her head slowly.

"It's okay... Alice... Maggie..." She seemed to choose carefully which name to use. "I know this was beyond your control and that there's a story behind it all." Her gaze was understanding. "But I think it's best if you go with him and sort this out before anything else." She gently held my wrist and gave it a light squeeze, and I nodded. "Don't blame yourself so much." She continued. "It was just an extra show at the event. Look..." She tilted her head slightly with a small, comforting smile on her face. "Everything is back to normal now."

I followed her gaze. People were slowly returning to circulate around the hall, the waiters continued to pass by with trays of champagne, some guests were still whispering, but most had resumed their conversations, looking again at the works on the white walls of the gallery. It was almost as if the chaos of a few minutes ago was already being swallowed up by the normality of the event.

I let out a deep sigh and brought my hand to my face, wiping away the tears that were still streaming down my cheeks.

"Thank you, Sara. And really, I'm so sorry." My voice sounded tired.

Sara squeezed my shoulder once more, comfortingly, her touch firm but gentle. When I looked up, she offered me a small, understanding smile, then walked away, striding back across the room with the elegant posture of a hostess, probably going to deal with any damage that mess had caused to the event.

I watched her for a second before turning my face to Beckham, who was standing beside me, his expression heavy. His hand slowly massaged the side of his face where Dominic had hit him, the skin already beginning to redden, and I knew that in a few hours it would probably turn purple.

"You're not thinking of going with him, are you?" Beckham asked, looking directly at me. "You're coming back with me."

I took a deep breath.

"He won't hurt me, Beckham."

He let out a small, bitter laugh, without any humor.

"Why?" he asked, clearly irritated. "Because he loves you? Because he's so excited and happy to see you alive?" The way he said it was laden with frustration.

I stared at him for a few seconds, then bit the inside of my cheek before answering.

"How would you react if you found out that the woman you loved had betrayed you, faked her own death and that of your son... and was living a seemingly happy life in another country?" The words came out harsher than I intended.

Beckham let out a dismissive snort.

"Are you really defending him?" he asked, disbelief clear in his tone. "He clearly said you never noticed anything, Maggie."

My heart clenched at that moment, the pain so intense it felt almost physical, as if something had closed tightly inside my chest, and for a second I really thought I might collapse right there.

"I heard him, Beckham." My voice came out hurt.

His eyes changed immediately, the anger giving way to something softer, more guilty.

"Maggie..."

I shook my head slowly.

"I need to go before he comes back." I took a deep breath, trying to control the tremor in my voice. "I can't deny him seeing his son. I've been cruel enough to him already." I pressed my lips together, trying to hold back the emotions that were still struggling to escape. "Thank you for trying to defend me, thank you for wanting to protect me... but now this is between Dominic and me." I looked up and stared at him. "Just the two of us."

I let out a long sigh, then turned and began to walk across the hall. Each step felt heavier than the last as I crossed the brightly lit gallery again, passing guests, and all I could think about was what awaited me outside.

Dominic, and all the consequences of what I had done.

When I finally left the gallery and found the car waiting, Dominic was already inside. The driver opened the door for me silently, and I got in.

The ride home was completely silent. From the moment I sat down in the car seat, Dominic didn't look at me once. He sat next to me, his body rigid, his clenched fist resting on the dark leather seat, the tension in his fingers visible, as if he were holding something inside himself with all his might. His eyes were fixed on the window, watching the city pass by outside.

He didn't move, didn't speak, didn't look at me.

I was the only one to break the silence inside the car when I leaned forward slightly and gave the driver the address. After that... nothing. The rest of the journey took place in a heavy, almost suffocating silence.