Chapter 12 - The Begging Knee
Dominic was left kneeling alone on the floor, stripped of his dignity, his fortune, and his freedom.
The Sterling security guards released their grip, stepping back to let him face the reality of his total destruction.
He looked at the towering figure of Arthur Sterling.
He looked at the sea of former business partners who regarded him with open disgust.
Finally, he looked up at me.
He crawled on his knees across the marble floor, dragging his ruined tuxedo through the broken glass, stopping inches from my shoes.
Tears, snot, and sweat ran down his face, smearing into an unrecognizable mask of absolute ruin.
“Cynthia…” Dominic begged, his voice trembling with pathetic agony.
“I was stupid… I was blind!”
“Vivienne poisoned my mind! She manipulated me!”
“I love you, Cynthia! I’ve always loved you!”
“Think of our six years together! Think of our wedding day in Tuscany!”
“I will get on my knees every day for the rest of my life! I will scrub your floors! I will be whatever you want me to be!”
“Just call off the banks… please… don't send me to prison!”
Chloe buried her face deeper into my shoulder, frightened by the pathetic display of her biological father.
I raised my hand, gently stroking my daughter’s hair to calm her racing heart.
“Do not speak of our wedding, Dominic,” I said, my voice echoing with an absolute finality that chilled the room.
“On that day, I promised to love you in sickness and in health, in poverty and in wealth.”
“I kept that promise every single day.”
“I endured your mother’s cruelty.”
“I tolerated your arrogance.”
“I secretly funded your dreams while you treated me like an invisible maid.”
“I stayed because I wanted Chloe to have a father.”
I reached into my clutch and pulled out the fountain pen Dominic had given me on our first anniversary—a cheap plastic pen he had bought at an airport gift shop.
I dropped it onto the floor before him.
“A real father protects his child with his life.”
“You stood by and adjusted your platinum watch while a criminal beat your five-year-old daughter until she bled.”
“You are not a father, Dominic.”
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“You are an insect who mistook a titan’s grace for weakness.”
“And the time for grace is officially over.”
