Chapter 10
Nathan was not arrested.
No physical retaliation took place.
No full confession was shown.
No final resolution arrived.
The confrontation remained inside the grand foyer of the Hudson Valley estate, with warm daylight spilling across marble flooring, the curved staircase rising above them, and the open hidden hatch exposing the darkness beneath the mansion.
Mia Carter lay wrapped in Dominic’s black suit jacket while the medical team worked carefully beside her.
She was weak, bruised, dehydrated, and shaking.
But she was no longer beneath the floor.
Harper knelt beside her mother in the pale-pink lace dress, one small hand gripping Mia’s cardigan as if she could anchor her to the world by force.
Dominic Vale stood between them and Nathan Cross.
His black suit was missing the jacket now.
His jaw was tight.
His anger did not need volume.
Around the foyer, three guards held disciplined positions. One near the entrance. One near the staircase. One behind Nathan.
Nathan stood very still.
White shirt crisp.
Dark trousers neat.
Face controlled badly now.
Mia lifted one trembling hand again, pointing at him even as exhaustion pulled at her body.
“He locked me in.”
The words hung under the chandeliers.
Nathan’s mouth opened, but nothing useful came out.
Dominic looked at him with a coldness that had ended stronger men.
Then his gaze shifted briefly toward the dark hatch, toward the ladder, toward the hidden cellar that had existed beneath his own home while Harper cried above it.
No one moved.
No one needed to.
Dominic finally spoke.
“Seal the estate.”
The guards tightened formation.
Nathan’s confidence collapsed completely.
Mia pulled Harper closer.
Dominic kept his eyes on the man he had trusted like a brother.
May you like
The hatch stayed open behind him.
And the mansion, once built to hide secrets, had just exposed one too many.
