Elara noticed it first in the quiet moments.
Not the grand gestures.
Not the way Dominic commanded rooms or silenced enemies with a glance.
But the way he stayed.
She woke up before dawn one morning to find him sitting beside the window, fully dressed, city lights still burning below.
"You didn't sleep," she murmured.
Dominic turned toward her immediately. "I didn't want to."
She frowned softly. "That doesn't sound healthy."
"It is," he said. "For me."
She sat up, pulling the sheet around herself. "Why?"
He hesitated—just a second too long.
"Because when I sleep," he said quietly, "I don't get to watch you exist."
Something warm and fragile settled in her chest.
"You're strange," she whispered.
His mouth curved faintly. "I know."
---
Later that day, they worked side by side for the first time—not as husband and wife, not as symbols, but as equals.
Elara challenged his strategies.
Dominic listened.
That alone shocked the room.
"No," she said calmly, pointing at the projected figures. "This acquisition looks clean, but the labor displacement will destroy three communities."
One of the executives shifted uncomfortably. "Mrs. Blackwood, with respect—"
"She has it," Dominic interrupted flatly. "Continue."
Elara blinked at him.
He met her gaze without hesitation.
The room fell silent.
After the meeting, she stopped him outside the boardroom. "You didn't have to back me like that."
"Yes," he replied, "I did."
She studied his face. "Why?"
"Because power means nothing if it doesn't protect what matters," he said. "And today, that was your voice."
Her throat tightened.
---
That night, they ate dinner on the balcony instead of the formal dining room.
No staff.
No schedules.
Just them.
"Do you ever regret marrying me?" Elara asked suddenly.
Dominic froze.
Then he set his glass down carefully.
"No," he said. "I regret every version of my life that didn't include you."
Her breath caught.
"That's a dangerous thing to say to your wife."
"I don't say safe things," he replied. "I say honest ones."
She reached for his hand—slow, deliberate.
He turned his palm upward immediately, like he'd been waiting.
"I trust you," Elara said softly.
The words hit him harder than any accusation ever could.
Dominic closed his eyes.
And for the first time in years—
He was afraid of the truth.