Chapter Four: His Secrets, Her Silence
1020 Words
Elena’s phone buzzed the moment she stepped into her apartment.
Unknown Number: Nice dress tonight. Bet it looks even better on the floor.
She stared at the message, her heart thudding. Her breath caught when a second message followed.
Unknown Number: Careful, Elena. Not everything you hide stays buried.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she blocked the number and tossed the phone on her couch.
Vanessa. It had to be her.
The gala. The balcony. The kiss.
Someone had seen it. Maybe even photographed it.
And now, someone was threatening her.
She curled into the edge of her couch and hugged her knees. The line between private and public had just gotten thinner… and someone wanted to tear right through it.
---
The Next Morning – Kingstone Enterprises
Elena walked into the office with her head high, but inside she felt like breaking.
Dominic hadn’t contacted her after the gala. No messages. No phone calls. No acknowledgment of what had happened between them.
Had it meant anything to him? Or was it just a mistake—another moment he’d rather forget?
“Elena,” Grace’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
“Yes?”
“There’s an emergency meeting on the 42nd floor. All senior assistants are to attend.”
“Emergency?”
Grace lowered her voice. “Someone leaked personal images of Mr. Kingstone last night to the press.”
Elena’s blood ran cold.
Images. As in them?
She rushed to the elevator and rode in silence, nausea twisting her stomach with every floor that passed. When the doors opened, Dominic’s office was already bustling.
Inside the conference room, he stood at the head of the table, stiff, jaw clenched, dark circles under his eyes.
Elena took her seat beside Mason, who leaned over and whispered, “He’s livid. Some gossip blog released a photo of him with a ‘mystery woman’ on the balcony last night.”
“Is the woman… visible?” she asked, barely able to speak.
“No,” Mason said, watching Dominic. “Her face isn’t shown. Just the dress, the hair… enough for speculation.”
Dominic’s voice cut into the room like a whip. “Whoever’s responsible will be dealt with. This company does not tolerate breaches of privacy.”
He glanced at Elena—just for a second. The look in his eyes said everything: He knew it was about her.
---
After the Meeting – Dominic’s Office
“Elena. Stay.”
The others filed out. She remained seated at the long table while he shut the door.
His shoulders were tense. He paced the room once before facing her.
“I need to know if someone’s contacted you.”
She hesitated. “Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. The number was private.”
“What did they say?”
She swallowed. “That the dress looked better on the floor… and that not everything I hide stays buried.”
Dominic’s jaw locked.
“Did you respond?”
“No. I blocked it.”
He moved closer, his voice lower. “It’s Vanessa.”
“I thought the same.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “She’s playing a dangerous game. And if she drags you down with her…”
“I can handle her.”
He paused, then looked her dead in the eyes. “This isn’t just about your reputation, Elena. You have no idea what Vanessa is capable of.”
“Then tell me,” she whispered.
His silence was deafening.
---
Flashback – 10 Years Ago
The fire was everywhere. Screams, smoke, heat—it all blurred together.
A young Dominic, twelve years old, ran barefoot through the woods, choking on the thick smoke in his lungs. His parents were gone. His home reduced to ash. His mind a blur of panic and grief.
And then… the water.
A lake. Cold. Safe.
He remembered stumbling in, trying to cool the burn on his arm, to breathe.
Then a girl appeared. She was young, soaked from the water, dragging him out of the lake and holding him as he sobbed. He never got her name.
And when he woke up in the hospital, his memories were fractured. Faces blurred. Names forgotten. Trauma had locked his past in a dark box.
He never saw her again.
Until now.
---
Back to Present – Dominic’s Office
“I remember the fire,” he said suddenly. “Bits and pieces. I was twelve. There was a girl… she saved me.”
Elena stared at him, the color draining from her face.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” he muttered. “Maybe because I feel like I’ve seen you before. Not just that night… but years ago.”
Elena’s voice shook. “Was it near Lake Evermere?”
His eyes snapped to hers.
“How did you know that?”
Her heart pounded. “Because I was there.”
The air stilled.
“You?” he whispered.
“I saw you. I pulled you out. You were bleeding and crying, and I… I held you.”
Dominic stared at her, disbelief and something else—hope?—flashing through his gaze.
“I never thought I’d find you again,” she said softly.
“I didn’t know you were real,” he murmured. “I thought maybe… I made it up.”
They stood in silence, the weight of a decade between them.
Then he stepped forward, close enough for her to feel his breath.
“You saved me once,” he said quietly. “I won’t let anyone hurt you now.”
And she believed him.
---
Elsewhere – Vanessa’s Apartment
Vanessa scrolled through her phone, tapping a bright red lipstick against her chin. The image she’d taken at the gala—Elena and Dominic on the balcony, lips locked—was still sitting in her drafts.
She hadn’t posted it.
Not yet.
She wanted to wait for the perfect moment. The moment that would ruin them both.
“I warned you, Elena,” she whispered. “And you didn’t listen.”
- Writer
