Chapter 3 - Debt and Blood
The next morning, the rain had stopped, leaving the city washed in a cold, grey autumn smog.
Clara woke up early in her guest room. She hadn't slept well. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the blue nylon thread and the jagged scar on Dominic’s side.
When she walked down into the expansive kitchen, she found Dominic sitting at the marble island. He wasn't wearing his suit jacket today—only a soft white linen shirt, unbuttoned at the top to reveal the thick white bandage wrapped around his ribs.
Arthur was standing nearby, laying several thick paper files across the granite counter.
“Good morning, Clara,” Dominic said, setting his coffee cup down immediately.
Arthur stiffened slightly, lowering his eyes out of respect. “Mrs. Rossi.”
Clara paused in the entryway, feeling an awkward heat rise to her cheeks. For three months, everyone in the household had addressed her with distant formality, knowing she was a hostage bride. But this morning, the energy in the house had completely shifted.
“How is the wound?” Clara asked, walking over to inspect the dressing.
“It hurts,” Dominic admitted without hesitation. “Which means you did a good job.”
“Don't get used to my care,” she said softly, pulling a fresh roll of medical tape from her pocket. “You need to rest today. No dock visits. No meetings.”
Arthur cleared his throat nervously. “With respect, Mrs. Rossi, the hit on the docks yesterday wasn't random. The Moretti family is making a direct push for our northern shipping lanes. They know Ethan’s debt gave us leverage over the Hayes family assets.”
At the mention of her brother’s name, Clara’s posture went rigid.
Ethan. Her older brother. The golden boy who had inherited their father’s logistics firm and promptly gambled it away at underground Rossi tables. When he couldn't pay his fifteen-million-dollar marker, he had offered Clara’s hand in marriage as a bargaining chip to keep himself out of a shallow grave.
“Ethan called me this morning,” Clara said, looking at Dominic.
Dominic’s eyes turned instantly dark and cold. “What did he want?”
“Money,” she said bitterly. “He heard you were wounded yesterday. He wanted to know if the contract marriage was still valid if something... happened to you.”
Dominic let out a low, dangerous laugh. He reached across the counter, taking the file Arthur had brought and sliding it toward Clara.
“What is this?” she asked, looking at the blue folder.
“That is the original debt agreement your brother signed,” Dominic said calmly. “The fifteen-million-dollar marker. The ownership deeds to your family’s logistics company. And the marriage contract that legally bound you to me.”
Clara looked from the file to Dominic’s face. “Why are you showing me this?”
Dominic picked up a heavy gold lighter from the counter, clicked open the flame, and touched the blue flame directly to the corner of the documents.
Clara gasped. “Dominic!”
Arthur took a step forward in shock. “Boss! That’s fifteen million dollars in leverage!”
Dominic didn't flinch as the flames consumed the paper, dropping the burning documents into a heavy crystal glass bowl until they turned to black ash.
“Seven years ago, a student nurse saved my life with five cents worth of blue thread,” Dominic said, his dark eyes locked onto Clara’s terrified face. “My life is worth far more than fifteen million dollars. The debt is paid, Clara. You are free.”
Clara stared at the pile of grey ash, her breathing shallow and fast. “Free?”
“You are no longer my prisoner,” Dominic said softly, though the effort of speaking through the pain in his side made his brow sweat. “You can pack your bags today. My driver will take you anywhere you want to go. I will set up a trust fund in your name so you never have to worry about Ethan or money ever again.”
May you like
Clara stood frozen in the middle of the kitchen. For three months, she had dreamed of hearing those exact words. She had dreamed of escaping this golden cage, of returning to her nursing career, of getting away from the danger that surrounded Dominic Rossi.
So why did her chest suddenly feel as if it were collapsing from the inside out?
