Chapter 7 - CORNERED IN THE STORM
Brooke stopped dead in her tracks, panting heavily as the gale whipped her hair across her face.
Emma stood under the veranda awning, holding an umbrella in one hand and Brooke’s leather designer overnight bag in the other.
"Get out of my way, you pathetic servant," Brooke snarled, lunging forward to grab the bag. "That's mine!"
Emma didn't flinch. She stepped aside gracefully and tossed the heavy bag onto the wet stone patio. The zipper split open, spilling stacks of banded hundred-dollar bills, fake passports, and Catherine Mercer’s stolen diamond necklace across the puddle-soaked flagstones.
"Looking for these?" Emma said, her voice steady and sharp.
Brooke dropped to her knees in the rain, frantically trying to scoop the soaking wet cash and diamonds back into the bag. "This is mine! Dominic gave me this!"
"Dominic gave you trust," a voice echoed through the rain.
Dominic walked out onto the veranda, flanked by Silas. He looked down at the woman who had spent months plotting to dismantle his family from the inside out.
"You broke my mother’s favorite porcelain cup this morning," Dominic said, his voice chillingly calm. "You told Emma it would come out of her wages."
Brooke looked up from the mud, tears of rage and humiliation streaming down her face. "You're a monster! A mafia thug playing dress-up in high society! Nobody will ever love you, Dominic! Natalie is a burden, Noah is weak, and you'll die alone in this cold mausoleum!"
Dominic knelt down until he was at eye level with her. His eyes were completely devoid of anger—only an absolute, freezing finality.
"My family survived a century in this city because we protect our own," Dominic whispered. "You came into my house, humiliated my sister, threatened my nephew, and tried to steal from the dead. You aren't leaving with money, Brooke. You aren't leaving with status. You're leaving in the back of a federal transport van."
Two state police cruisers, their red and blue lights reflecting off the wet marble walls, swept up the driveway with sirens blaring, followed by a dark federal sedan.
Julian was brought out in handcuffs through the front portico, cursing violently as agents shoved him into the back of an SUV.
Federal agents stepped onto the veranda. Special Agent Marcus Kane walked up to Dominic, flashing his gold badge. "Dominic Mercer?"
"Agent Kane," Dominic replied smoothly, standing up and shaking the agent’s hand. "Everything you requested from Harrington Logistics’ servers has been transferred to your encrypted field drive. Miss Harrington was just packing her personal belongings."
Kane looked down at the passports and stolen trust bonds scattered in the mud. "Looks like grand larceny, interstate fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion. Take her."
Two female officers pulled Brooke to her feet. She screamed, thrashing against their grip as her designer heels dragged through the mud. "Dominic! Dominic, wait! We can talk about this! Julian forced me! I loved you!"
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Dominic didn't even watch them drag her away. He turned his back on the driveway, took Emma’s umbrella, and walked back inside the warm, dry halls of Mercer Manor.
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