Chapter 34: The Lessons He Learned

Dominic Sebastian had spent the better part of a month trying to ruin two men’s reputations.

Apparently, he’d have to pay for the privilege.

Andrei made a follow-up call.

As usual, his half-brother hadn’t raised his voice.

He confirmed whether Dominic had received the billing invoice for the unauthorized PR campaign.

"Yes, thanks for your concern."

Somehow, that made the conversation worse.

"Stop causing unnecessary problems, Dom. It’s not worth it."

The hell he knows what’s worth it and what’s not. He’d been interim CEO for a short time, and he’s giving me advice.

Dominic’s jaw tightened.

"And you’re enjoying this?"

"No."

The answer came so quickly that it irritated him even more.

"I’d enjoy not spending my first month as interim CEO explaining why our former CEO apparently thought Corporate Communications existed to settle arguments with his ex-fiancé."

"Be careful."

"That’s probably advice you should’ve taken several weeks ago."

Then Andrei hung up.

Dominic had gone quiet.

He thought of the faces of the Board members, most of them his own relatives. Ungrateful people whose shares had increased under his management, only for them to withdraw their support and vote for his suspension over a single error in judgment.

Two-faced jackals.

And now Dominic sat alone, staring at the press releases alongside the corresponding billing invoice.

A month.

That was how long he’d spent feeding stories into the public sphere, encouraging speculation about Alexander’s motives while quietly suggesting that Giovanni Mercer had simply been waiting for an opportunity to interfere.

At first, it worked.

People talked. Questions began circulating, helped along whenever another conveniently anonymous source offered something new to discuss.

The problem was that neither man responded.

Alexander carried on with Vance Holdings, and Giovanni did the same at Mercer Group.

Meanwhile, Dominic kept talking, only for the two men he’d targeted to behave as though he wasn’t important enough to warrant an answer.

Somehow, their silence had become far more damaging than any rebuttal.

Dominic leaned back and closed his eyes.

What now?

His first instinct was to call his mother.

He resisted for almost ten minutes.

Victoria answered on the fourth ring.

"Dominic."

"I received the billing invoice today for the PR campaign the Board insists I should pay for personally."

"I’ll send you the lawyer’s contact number. Discuss it with him."

Victoria went quiet for a moment as she searched for the number. Then, without ceremony, she added,

"You can handle that on your own, Dom. You’re a big boy now, with plenty of time and very little to do."

Dominic’s mouth tightened.

"So what do you suggest?"

"Stop."

Dominic straightened.

"Stop what?"

"You’ve already lost that fight. Continuing only makes you look desperate."

"I’m supposed to let Alexander walk away after humiliating me?"

"Wake up! Alexander didn’t humiliate you."

Her answer came sharper than he expected.

"You humiliated yourself when you left him standing outside that Bureau."

Dominic said nothing.

On the other end of the call, Victoria seemed to notice a few people at the resort looking in her direction. When she spoke again, her voice had lowered considerably.

"Your mistake afterward was thinking you could repair that humiliation by giving him some of his own."

"What would you have done?"

"Made him remember why leaving you was difficult."

Dominic’s fingers stilled against the desk.

"Meaning?"

"Alexander doesn’t respond to public pressure. You should know that by now."

A pause followed.

"So stop performing for the public."

"And do what?"

"Become personal again."

The words stayed with him long after the call ended.

Become personal again.

It sounded simple.

Strangely enough, it also sounded familiar.

Dominic didn’t understand why until later that evening.

He had started going through old family records, looking for anything connected to the original Vance-Sebastian arrangement. If the Board intended to scrutinize years of financial ties between the two families, he wanted to know exactly what remained.

Instead, he found a payment to a portrait artist.

The date made him stop.

Dominic opened the attached records.

Commission specifications, reference photographs, delivery instructions, and the recipient’s name.

Augustus Vance.

He stared at the screen. He remembered that portrait. Augustus had thanked him for it. Dominic had been seventeen and completely confused.

Victoria had laughed afterward and told him the older man must’ve mistaken him for someone else.

There were other records.

Purchases from stores near the Vance residence.

Fruit baskets, take-out meals, and a dozen men’s socks.

Nothing remarkable on its own.

Together, they formed a pattern Dominic suddenly understood far too well.

He called his mother again.

This time, he didn’t bother with a greeting.

"You sent those things."

Victoria was silent.

"The food. The fruit. The socks."

Still nothing.

"The portrait."

"Dominic—"

"You told Augustus they came from me."

"I helped him see you favorably."

"You lied."

"I positioned you."

Dominic actually laughed.

"Is that what we’re calling it?"

"What exactly are you upset about? You benefited from it."

"Did Alexander know?"

"No."

"Did Father?"

"No."

"Did I?"

Victoria sighed.

"You were young."

"I was old enough to know whether I’d painted a damned portrait."

That finally earned silence.

Dominic stood and walked toward the windows.

"Why?"

"You know why."

"No. I know the version you tell people. I want the real one."

Victoria’s voice cooled.

"The real one is that your father had another son."

Andrei.

Two years older.

A fact Victoria had discovered long before Dominic understood what an older half-brother could mean to inheritance, succession, and power.

"I wasn’t going to spend my life building your future only to have another woman’s son appear and take it from you."

"So you arranged a backup."

"I secured one."

"Alexander."

"Alexander Vance was your friend. His family knew ours. Augustus adored him. The match made sense."

"After you spent years making Augustus think I was courting his approval."

"I gave him reasons to see what was already possible."

Dominic looked down at the documents.

"And then he tied money to the marriage."

"That was Augustus’s decision."

"But you led him there."

Victoria didn’t answer.

That was answer enough.

Dominic’s voice dropped.

"Would you rather I hadn’t?"

He should’ve answered immediately.

Instead, he remembered everything that arrangement had eventually given him.

Security.

Influence.

A powerful alliance that had seemed permanent simply because adults had arranged it long before he was old enough to question where it came from.

"Did you do it because you loved me?"

Victoria took a fraction too long to respond.

"Everything I did was for you."

Dominic closed his eyes.

It wasn’t an answer.

Perhaps Victoria knew that too.

Because protecting Dominic had also protected her. His inheritance preserved her security. His position preserved her influence.

And marriage into the Vance family would’ve ensured that even if Andrei someday displaced him inside Sebastian Group, Victoria’s son would remain attached to something powerful enough that neither of them could truly lose.

Dominic ended the call.

For a long time, he stood there looking at the records.

Part of him was disgusted.

Another part kept returning to what Victoria had said earlier.

Stop performing for the public.

Become personal again.

His mother had spent years shaping Augustus Vance’s opinion without ever openly asking him for anything.

She hadn’t attacked.

She’d nudged.

Provided.

Remembered.

Then waited for Augustus to convince himself.

Dominic had spent a month trying to make Alexander hate Giovanni.

Perhaps that had been the wrong lesson.

His thumb hovered over Alexander’s contact.

He didn’t call.

Not yet.

Instead, Dominic opened the old photographs from their engagement.

There were dinners.

Family gatherings.

The gallery and the wristwatch Alexander had bought for him.

Moments he’d barely thought about while they were happening.

He stared at one photograph longer than the others.

Then another.

Slowly, a different idea began to form.

If Alexander wouldn’t respond to anger...

Then perhaps Dominic needed to remind him of everything he’d once been willing to give.

And this time, Dominic intended to make sure Alexander believed returning had been his own idea.