Chapter 2 - The Appointment He Almost Missed
Dominic arrived at the clinic twenty minutes early.
For once, he had no meeting scheduled afterward, no phone pressed to his ear, and no assistant waiting to pull him away.
He carried a bottle of water because Catherine had mentioned Emily sometimes felt sick in the mornings.
When Emily entered with his mother, she noticed the bottle.
She didn’t take it.
He set it on the chair between them.
“Thank you for letting me come.”
“This is about the babies,” she said.
“I know.”
He had slept badly, which felt like a ridiculous thing to resent after learning how long she had been sleeping alone.
At three in the morning, he had called his attorney, Martin Vale.
Martin had sounded surprised when Dominic asked who knew about the divorce.
“My staff prepared the documents.”
“Did you discuss them with Vivian?”
A pause.
“She asked whether you were putting appropriate arrangements in place.”
“And you answered?”
“I told her you were handling a private family matter.”
Dominic had ended the call before anger could make him careless.
Now, in a waiting room decorated with watercolor animals, his wife held a clipboard against her knees and filled out forms he should have helped her complete weeks earlier.
Emergency contact.
She paused at that line.
Then wrote Catherine’s name.
He looked away.
Inside the examination room, Dr. Lena Patel greeted Emily first.
“Would you like both of them to stay?”
“Yes,” Emily said. “For now.”
Dominic appreciated the distinction even as it hurt.
The doctor reviewed the earlier scan.
“The twins have separate sacs and placentas, which is reassuring. Today we’re taking a clearer look at the small area of bleeding we discussed.”
Emily’s fingers tightened around the paper sheet.
Dominic leaned forward, then caught himself.
“What would you like to ask?” he said to her.
Emily glanced at him, surprised.
“Whether I caused it.”
Dr. Patel shook her head. “Nothing you’ve told me suggests that. These findings can happen in pregnancy. We’ll monitor it, and I’ll explain which symptoms should prompt a call.”
For the first time since entering, Emily released a full breath.
Then the screen brightened.
One small shape appeared.
Then another.
Two flickering hearts.
Dominic gripped the edge of his chair.
He had imagined fatherhood as something distant and orderly. A nursery. A school chosen years in advance. A child running down the staircase.
He had never imagined being undone by two tiny movements on a grainy screen.
Emily began to cry silently.
He wanted to take her hand.
Instead, he laid his palm on the mattress between them.
After several seconds, she placed two fingers against it.
Nothing more.
He didn’t move.
On the way out, Emily finally accepted the water.
They were almost at the elevator when a woman stepped from the reception desk.
Beautiful. Dark-haired. Wearing a cream coat.
Emily stopped.
Dominic recognized her immediately.
“Natalie?”
The woman looked from him to Emily, and her expression changed.
“You must be Mrs. Caruso.”
Emily’s fingers tightened around the bottle.
“I suppose that depends on who’s asking.”
Natalie frowned.
Dominic understood a second before Emily spoke again.
“Vivian showed me your photograph.”
Natalie went completely still.
“What photograph?”
“At a dinner. With my husband.”
“It was a property closing,” Natalie said. “My wife was there too.”
Emily blinked.
Natalie looked at Dominic.
“What exactly has your aunt been saying?”
Twenty minutes later, they sat in a small café across the street.
Natalie Hart was a commercial architect. Her firm had worked on one of Dominic’s buildings. Vivian had invited her to two fundraising dinners, then requested photographs for a charity brochure.
“There’s something else,” Natalie said, opening her phone. “She contacted me last week.”
She turned the screen.
Vivian’s message was brief.
Emily may reach out. She has become unstable about Dominic. Please don’t encourage her.
Emily read it twice.
Then she put the phone down with extraordinary care.
Catherine’s face went white with anger.
Dominic felt something inside him settle into a hard, terrible clarity.
His aunt hadn’t merely taken advantage of his silence.
She had been building a story inside it.
Emily stood.
“I’m going to my father’s.”
“I’ll arrange—”
“No,” she said. “You’ll ask.”
He stopped.
“Would you like security?”
“Someone independent. Someone who reports to me.”
Dominic nodded.
“I can pay for that.”
“My lawyer can work out how.”
She looked exhausted, but her voice no longer shook.
After she left with Catherine, Natalie remained across from him.
“You understand how bad this looks.”
“Yes.”
“No,” Natalie said quietly. “I mean how long someone had to believe you wouldn’t talk to your own wife for this to work.”
May you like
Dominic had no answer.
For the first time in his life, silence gave him exactly what he deserved.
