Chapter 300
Dominic and the children were having breakfast at Mooncrest Manor when he broke the news about Clara’s death.
The morning sunlight streamed through the windows, casting a golden glow over the table, but the warmth couldn’t penetrate the heavy silence that followed his words.
“I know this is painful,” Dominic said, his voice steady but strained. “I’m grieving too. But Grandma is gone, and we need to be strong for your mother. She’s devastated right now. If we fall apart, it’ll only hurt her more.”
He pulled Lily and Henry close, wrapping an arm around each of them, pressing a kiss to their heads.
Lily’s reaction was immediate. Her small frame trembled as sobs wracked her body, her lips quivering uncontrollably. “I want Grandma,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I need to see her…”
Henry’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, but he swallowed hard and pulled Lily into a tight embrace. “Don’t cry,” he murmured, though his own voice wavered. “I’m here. I won’t leave you.”
“But who’s going to take me to school now?” Lily choked out, her tiny hands clutching Henry’s shirt. “Who’s going to make us pancakes on Sundays? Grandma was everything!”
Dominic’s chest ached as he watched them. He crouched down to their level, cupping Lily’s tear-streaked face. “Listen to me, sweetheart. We’ll get through this together. When Mommy comes home, we have to be strong for her, okay? I promise, I’ll take you out for ice cream, and we’ll make new memories.”
Lily sniffled, her big, watery eyes searching his. “Where is Grandma now? Can we go find her?”
Dominic hesitated. He could soften the truth, but he knew delaying the pain wouldn’t help. “When someone dies, Lily, they don’t come back. Grandma is gone forever.”
Her wail shattered the quiet of the room as she buried her face in Henry’s shoulder. Dominic exhaled sharply, rubbing his temples before pulling out his phone to call Wesley.
The line connected, and before Dominic could speak, Wesley’s voice came through, tense with worry. “Dominic, how are the kids?”
“Not good,” Dominic admitted, glancing at Lily’s shaking form. “They were so close to Clara. How’s Evelyn?”
Wesley’s sigh was heavy. “We just buried Clara. Evelyn hasn’t slept all night. I’m worried she—”
A sharp gasp cut him off, followed by a thud.
“Evelyn!” Wesley’s shout echoed through the phone. The line went staticky as he dropped it, the sound of frantic movement filling the background.
An hour later, Dominic rushed into St. Elizabeth Medical Center with the children in tow.
Wesley stood outside Evelyn’s room, exhaustion lining his face. “She collapsed from exhaustion,” he explained quietly. “The grief, the lack of sleep—it was too much. The doctors say she just needs rest.”
Dominic nodded. “You should go home and get some sleep too. I’ll stay with her.”
Wesley shook his head. “I’m not leaving.”
Lily and Henry hovered by the bed, their small hands gripping the sheets as they stared at their unconscious mother. If Grandma was gone… what if Mommy never woke up?
Meanwhile, Dominic sat across from the police captain, his expression icy as the man laid out the details of the accident.
“Initial reports suggest it was a drunk driver,” the captain said, flipping through a file. “The man’s family has no money. Compensation won’t be possible.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened. “Compensation?” he repeated, his voice dangerously low. “That drunk driver was a gambler, deep in debt. His wife left him, and loan sharks took his parents hostage. They were only just released.”
The captain blinked. “You gathered all that in less than a day?”
Dominic’s gaze was razor-sharp. “The woman who died was my mother-in-law. I won’t let her death be brushed aside as an accident.”
“You think it was deliberate?” the captain asked slowly.
Dominic leaned forward, his voice a whisper of steel. “Someone paid that man to kill her.”
The captain’s expression darkened. “We’ll interrogate him as soon as he’s stable.”
A humorless smile curled Dominic’s lips. “Let’s hope he lives long enough to talk.”