Chapter Seven: The Girl Who Saved Me Twice
1115 Words
Dominic didn’t leave Elena’s apartment that night.
After the storm of emotions, confessions, and tears, they lay wrapped in each other’s arms—clinging not just to warmth, but to something real. Something they’d both been searching for in silence.
As the soft rays of dawn filtered through the window, Dominic traced his fingers along Elena’s bare shoulder.
“You saved me,” he murmured.
She turned, blinking sleep from her eyes. “You mean back then?”
He nodded. “Back then... and now.”
Her brows pulled together. “Dominic, I don’t understand. I almost ruined everything.”
“No,” he said, brushing her hair back. “You reminded me what actually matters. I’ve been chasing power and control for so long that I forgot what it feels like to care about something—someone—more than myself.”
She smiled sadly. “You’re still in danger. Vanessa has proof. She’s not bluffing.”
He sat up, jaw tense. “Then we beat her at her own game.”
---
Later That Morning – Kingstone Enterprises
Dominic stormed into his office, his executive assistant scrambling to keep up.
“Sir, your board meeting is in twenty minutes.”
“Cancel it,” he ordered. “Reschedule everything. I need a private call with my legal team. And tell security to run a full background check on Vanessa Carrington. I want to know who she’s been meeting, where she’s been, and what skeletons she’s hiding.”
His assistant blinked. “Yes, sir.”
As soon as the door shut behind him, Dominic pulled out his phone and made another call.
“Jude,” he said. “I need you to do something off the record.”
Jude, Dominic’s best friend—and the company’s internal security head—grunted. “I’m listening.”
“I need Vanessa taken off the board.”
“You’ll need cause.”
“She’s been working with Richard Lane behind my back. I need evidence. Emails. Messages. Hell, I’ll take smoke signals if it gets her gone.”
Jude sighed. “Got it. But be careful. If she senses we’re coming for her, she’ll strike first.”
Dominic’s voice darkened. “Let her try.”
---
Elsewhere – Vanessa’s Condo
Vanessa sat at her vanity, perfectly made-up, eyes locked on the mirror.
She was many things—ambitious, manipulative, ruthless—but one thing she’d never been was stupid.
And right now, her instincts were screaming.
Dominic hadn’t reacted.
He hadn’t begged.
He hadn’t even called her bluff.
That meant something. Either Elena caved... or Dominic had another play.
She picked up her phone and dialed Richard Lane.
“It’s time,” she said. “Let’s leak the story.”
There was a pause.
“Are you sure?” Richard asked. “Once this gets out, there’s no going back.”
Vanessa smiled coldly. “I’m done waiting. Dominic will burn, and that little slut with him.”
---
Back at Kingstone Enterprises – Elena’s Return
Elena hesitated at the front entrance of Kingstone.
She hadn’t planned to come back so soon. Maybe not ever. But after everything that happened the night before, staying away wasn’t an option anymore.
As she stepped through the lobby, heads turned. Whispers rose. Some surprised, some curious, some bitter.
She ignored them.
When the elevator doors opened to the executive floor, Dominic was already waiting.
He pulled her into his arms without a word.
“You came back,” he whispered.
“I told you I wouldn’t let you go,” she replied softly. “We’re in this together.”
He kissed her forehead and held her for a beat longer before guiding her into his office.
“Okay,” he said, all business now. “We need to be ten steps ahead of Vanessa. If she goes public, I need to control the narrative.”
Elena’s stomach twisted. “What does that mean?”
“It means we tell the story before she does.”
Her eyes widened. “You want to go public? About… us?”
He nodded. “Not every detail, obviously. But if we control what’s said, she loses the power to spin it. She wants to paint you as some desperate intern trying to trap me.”
“And what do you see me as?” she asked quietly.
Dominic cupped her face in his hands. “The girl who saved me twice. Once from the water. And once from myself.”
---
That Evening – The Public Statement
Dominic Kingstone wasn’t the kind of CEO who made public statements about his personal life.
So when news broke that he was addressing the media—live—the business world held its breath.
Elena watched nervously from behind the curtain as Dominic stepped onto the stage at a small press event in the company’s atrium.
He looked calm, controlled, powerful.
But when he spoke, his voice carried more than confidence. It carried truth.
“I’ve always prided myself on transparency,” he began. “So let me be clear: recent rumors regarding an inappropriate relationship between myself and an employee are based on distortion and malice.”
The reporters leaned in, pens scribbling, cameras rolling.
“Yes, I have developed a personal relationship with someone within the company. Her name is Elena Hart. She is intelligent, driven, and extraordinary. Our connection was never about position or power—it was about history, fate, and something I hadn’t felt in a long time: hope.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“I will not allow her character to be destroyed to serve someone else’s agenda. And I won’t apologize for caring about someone who reminded me what it means to be human.”
He stepped back. “Thank you.”
The room erupted into questions, but Dominic ignored them. He turned and walked off stage—straight into Elena’s arms.
She kissed him fiercely, uncaring who saw.
“That was brave,” she whispered.
“That was necessary,” he replied.
---
The Aftermath – Vanessa’s Rage
Vanessa stared at her screen, seething.
Dominic had done the unthinkable—he’d humanized the story.
He made it romantic. Real. Heroic.
Now, any attempt to leak photos or messages would look like a bitter attack, not a revelation.
She’d lost control.
But she wasn’t done yet.
“Oh no, darling,” she muttered to herself. “We’re just getting started.”
She opened a secure folder on her drive—one labeled PROJECT MERCY—and smiled.
“Let’s see what your little girlfriend says when she finds out the real reason you lost your memories that night.”
- Writer
