Chapter 9 - BROOKE ASKED FOR ONE LAST MEETINGBrooke requested to meet Dominic before accepting a plea deal.
He almost refused.
Then he went.
She sat behind glass in a county detention facility.
No makeup.
No designer dress.
No perfect control.
“You look tired,” Dominic said.
She laughed bitterly.
“You look pleased.”
“I’m not.”
“You destroyed me.”
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“You destroyed yourself.”
She looked down.
“Did you ever love me?”
Dominic was quiet.
“Yes.”
That hurt her more than hate.
“Then why wasn’t that enough?”
“For what?”
“To choose me.”
“I did choose you.”
She looked up.
“Until Natalie.”
“No.”
Dominic shook his head.
“I stopped choosing you when I learned who you were when you thought nobody powerful was watching.”
Brooke’s eyes filled.
“She had everything.”
“Who?”
“Natalie.”
Dominic stared.
“A brother who would do anything for her. A son who loved her. A home that could never be taken.”
“And you wanted to take it anyway?”
Brooke whispered:
“I wanted to matter more.”
There it was.
Not poverty.
Not desperation.
Competition.
She believed love was measured by who got removed.
Dominic said:
“You could have belonged without making someone else homeless.”
Brooke cried.
“I know that now.”
He stood.
“Then maybe prison will give you time to understand it.”
She looked at him.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
Dominic paused.
“Maybe.”
Hope appeared.
Then he added:
“But forgiveness will never mean access to my family.”
He left.
May you like
That boundary mattered.
Healing did not require reopening the door.
