Chapter 15
After returning, Dominic immediately had his assistant draft divorce papers.
On his way to the hospital, he passed a pasta restaurant and, strangely compelled, decided to go in
for a bowl.
With the first bite, he realized why he’d wanted them. Every Friday, Winter used to make pasta for him. He always gave them to his assistant, only once when an intern had spilled his dinner.
Though he disliked Winter, he had to admit her cooking was excellent.
At least her pasta was delicious–exactly like the ones he was eating now,
“Boss, I haven’t been back for years, but your pasta has gotten better,” a customer remarked to the
owner.
The owner emerged from the kitchen with a smile. “A few years ago, a female student worked part–time here and improved our filling recipe. Everyone loves it.”
A student? Dominic wondered, “A college student? Why work at a restaurant instead of interning at
a company?”
The owner gave him a look that said “how out of touch are you?” before replying, “You must be a big executive. You wouldn’t understand. Back then she had some trouble, and major companies wouldn’t hire her. She had nowhere else to go. But what’s wrong with a pasta shop? We treated her
well…”
Dominic apologized, saying he didn’t mean it that way, but he wondered internally. He wanted to find a photo of Winter on his phone, but after searching, he found only pictures of himself with
Aurelia. Annoyed, he deleted them all.
After finishing his meal, he asked his assistant to investigate the pasta shop. He strongly suspected
the student was Winter.
But he was puzzled–Winter could have worked at his company. If she had asked, he would have given her an internship position. So why would the owner say she had nowhere to go?
That evening, his assistant rushed to the hospital with the gathered information. The employee photo indeed showed Winter.
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Chapter 15
“Why didn’t she come intern with us…” Dominic mused aloud.
The assistant glanced at him, carefully considering before answering: “Sir, you specifically ordered that no company in the city could hire Ms. Bailey, so…”
“Me?” Dominic found this laughable. “How could I possibly…”
Then he remembered–Aurelia had told him she feared competing with Winter, so he had banned all companies from hiring Winter simply because Aurelia hadn’t decided where she wanted to work.
How had Winter responded? Dominic couldn’t remember, or rather, he had never cared what Winter would say.
Winter had been like an unwanted shadow he couldn’t shake. No matter how he treated her, she
never left. Even when he hurt her for Aurelia’s sake, Winter only said, “It’s okay, I’m willing. If you
feel bad, then be with me.”
And how had he responded? He would say, “Dream on, Winter. I’ll never be with you. The only one I
love is Aurelia.”
Winter never seemed upset–or if she was, Dominic didn’t care.
But he had already agreed to marry her, so why had Winter suddenly left? Did she no longer want
him?
Dominic couldn’t accept this. He could no longer distinguish his feelings for Winter, only knowing he
didn’t want her to leave.
His phone vibrated persistently.
Dominic was too irritated to answer, but the unknown caller kept ringing back.
When he finally answered, whatever the person said made his face change drastically, and he rushed upstairs.
During his brief absence, Chase had slipped into the hospital room. Mrs. Thorne had just awakened,
and Chase showed her a USB drive.
“Think your son married a good woman? With such poor taste?”
Mrs. Thorne threw the computer, demanding he leave, but Chase persisted, embellishing details
about Aurelia’s actions.
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Chapter 15
“You don’t know? That Winter you treated like a daughter–Aurelia used her as a blood bag. Your son knew about it too. Your son is terrible because you, his mother, raised him that way!”
The door burst open from outside, and Chase, acting like a madman, was thrown out by Dominic. Mrs. Thorne lay with her eyes tightly shut, tears streaming down her face, her chest heaving dramatically.
Dominic rushed to her side to help her breathe.
Mrs. Thorne opened her eyes and pushed him away, her voice trembling.
“It’s my fault… I didn’t raise you properly…”
Time seemed to freeze for a moment. Dominic felt as though an invisible rope was binding him, constricting his breathing.
Suddenly, the heart monitor alarm sounded.
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