Dominic's POV
I drove aimlessly after leaving Lena's house, the rain streaking across the windshield.
Every nerve in my body screamed to turn around, to force the words out of my chest and make her understand. But she was right—I'd failed her too many times for explanations to sound like anything other than lies and useless excuses.
Still, I couldn't shake the look in her eyes. Not the fury—that, I deserved—but the fear. Not of me hurting her, but of her letting me in again. Of me destroying everything she held dear.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter.
She thought I chose to walk away back then. That I left her holding everything while I ran.
The truth was, I'd been cornered. Manipulated. Threatened. And in the end, I'd made the worst choice a man could make—protecting one world by destroying another.
But how do you tell the woman you love that the biggest mistake of your life was thinking she'd be better off without you?
Yes, I still love Lena. I never stopped at all and I ruined it all by being a coward.
******
The next morning, I showed up at the bookstore before it opened. She was bent over the counter, sorting receipts, her hair falling loose over her face.
She didn't hear me at first. That gave me a moment I hadn't had in years—to just look. To remember.
When she finally noticed me, she stiffened. "You again."
"Yeah," I said, forcing a half-smile. "Persistent, remember?"
She crossed her arms, daring me to speak.
So I did.
"Lena, I owe you the truth. You think I walked out because I didn't care. But the truth is… I left because I cared too much. And because someone made sure I believed it was the only way to protect you."
Her brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"My family," I said grimly. "My father. He never wanted us together. He made sure I thought staying with you would ruin you. And I—" My voice faltered. "I was stupid enough to believe him."
The silence stretched, broken only by the creak of the shop's old ceiling fan.
Her lips parted, then pressed into a tight line. "So you're saying all those years, all that pain, was because you let your father dictate your life?"
"Yes," I admitted. "And it's the mistake I'll regret until I'm in the ground."
She shook her head, eyes glistening. "Do you even hear yourself? You don't just get to show up and rewrite history, Dominic. You don't get to make it noble."
"I'm not trying to make it noble." My voice roughened. "I'm trying to make it honest."
Her stare cut into me like glass.
"Honesty doesn't erase the damage," Lena said.
"No," I admitted, forcing myself to meet her eyes. "But maybe it's the only way to start fixing it."
She crossed her arms, chin tilting upward, daring me. "Then start. Stop circling. Stop being vague. Tell me exactly what happened. Tell me why you left me carrying everything alone."
I took a slow breath. I'd replayed this confession in my head for years, but saying it out loud… it was harder than boardrooms, harder than hostile takeovers, harder than anything.
"It was my father," I said.
She laughed bitterly. "Of course. The great Dominic Black—the golden son, the heir—hiding behind daddy's shadow. I should've guessed."
"It's not like that," I snapped, then forced my voice lower. "Lena, he hated us together. Hated what you represented. He thought you'd drag me down, distract me, ruin the future he mapped out for me."
Her eyes narrowed. "So he told you to leave, and you just… obeyed?"
"It wasn't that simple." My hands clenched. "He cornered me. Said if I didn't cut ties, he'd bury you. Not just your reputation, but your entire family's. He had the money, the reach. And back then, you didn't know how cruel he could be, but I did. I believed him."
Lena froze, her lips parting. "You let him threaten me?"
"I thought I was protecting you," I whispered. "He made me believe the only way to keep you safe was to walk away. To let you hate me instead of watching him destroy you."
Her voice trembled with fury. "So you decided for me. You chose to be the hero by being the villain instead."
I flinched. The words were sharper than a knife.
"Yes," I said finally. "And it was the worst decision of my life. I thought sacrificing us would protect you. But instead, it just left you bleeding. And I see it every single time that you look at me."
Her eyes glistened, and for a second I thought she'd cry. But she only shook her head slowly, like she was holding herself together with mere willpower.
"Do you know how many nights I begged for an answer?" she whispered. "How many times have I thought I wasn't good enough? That maybe I'd done something to drive you away?"
My chest constricted. "You were perfect. You were everything I could have ever asked for. The only mistake was mine."
She let out a shaky laugh, bitter and raw. "And now you show up, years later, expecting me to what? Thank you? Forgive you? Let it all go and start afresh?
"No," I said, voice hoarse. "I don't expect anything. Not forgiveness, not trust. But I need you to know the truth—that I left not because I stopped loving you, but because I was too weak to fight for us."
The silence between us was crushing. The sound of the ceiling fan, the rustle of paper receipts on the counter, the faint hum of the city outside—it all seemed too loud.
Finally, Lena turned away, her shoulders stiff. "You've said your piece. But don't you dare think words erase years, Dominic. You want me to believe you've changed? Prove it. Not to me. To her."
I swallowed hard. She didn't mean herself. She meant Eliana.
And maybe she was right.