Chapter 7
Dominic did not turn toward the wine racks.
Not yet.
He refused to give Nathan the satisfaction of seeing curiosity outrank Mia’s safety.
But the words settled into him.
The room behind the wine racks.
There were old sealed storage spaces beneath the mansion, built generations before Dominic inherited the estate. Some held wine. Some held records. Some held family history no one invited guests to tour.
Nathan knew all of them.
Dominic had trusted him with the keys.
That thought was a blade.
Mia’s harness tightened around her securely.
She grimaced.
Dominic steadied her.
“Almost.”
“I heard him down here,” she whispered.
Dominic’s face hardened.
“When?”
“At night. After he locked me in. He came to the other room. Not to me.”
The guards above listened.
Nathan stared down into the cellar, all rehearsed concern gone now.
“Mia,” he said carefully, “stop talking until a doctor checks you.”
Dominic looked up.
Nathan shut his mouth.
Mia kept going, voice thin but determined.
“He said your name.”
Dominic stilled.
“My name?”
She nodded.
“And Harper’s.”
The child whimpered from above.
Dominic’s control nearly cracked.
Nearly.
He looked at Vincent.
“Take Harper to the far side of the foyer. Keep her in sight.”
Harper resisted.
“No! Mommy!”
Mia’s broken voice rose.
“Baby, listen to Mr. Dominic. I’m coming up.”
Harper cried harder but let the guard guide her away from the hatch.
That obedience told Dominic how much she trusted Mia.
And how much Mia had been parenting from beneath the floor, through knocks and whispers, while adults above failed to listen.
Dominic placed one foot on the ladder.
“We lift on my count.”
The guards took the rope.
Nathan watched.
His eyes moved once toward the east hall.
Tiny movement.
Dominic caught it.
“Doors sealed,” he said.
A guard near the entrance repeated the order into a phone.
“All interior exits sealed.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
No confession.
No arrest.
No retaliation.
But his options narrowed visibly.
Dominic climbed first, one hand guiding the harness line, the other close enough to steady Mia as the guards lifted.
Mia rose slowly from the cellar floor.
Her face twisted with pain.
But when her head reached the warm daylight of the foyer, Harper screamed with relief.
“Mommy!”
Mia reached one shaking hand toward her daughter.
Nathan stepped back.
May you like
The guards stepped closer.
Read Chapter 8 👉 Because once Mia reached the light, Nathan could no longer control what the mansion had hidden in darkness.
