Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Dominic drifted through a dream.
In this dream, he returned to the charity gala’s garden, bathed in perfect sunlight.
This time, he didn’t answer that fateful phone call. Instead, he stood beneath the tree, watching as the girl in white carefully returned the bird’s nest to its perch.
She gracefully jumped down, brushing dust from her skirt before looking up and meeting his gaze.
He approached her, his voice deep and gentle: “Hello, I’m Dominic Reed. I’d like to know you.”
The girl blinked, tilting her chin with elegant pride: “Oh? Why’s that?”
“Because you’re beautiful,” he smiled.
She made a dismissive sound, though the tips of her ears turned pink: “Since you’re so taken with me, I suppose I’ll do you the favor of letting you get to know me.”
He suppressed a laugh, finding her utterly adorable.
The dream unfolded naturally from there.
He pursued her, she “reluctantly” accepted his advances. During their courtship, he spoiled her endlessly while she curled in his arms, playfully demanding attention. Eventually, they stood at the altar, exchanging rings amid universal blessings.
He bent to kiss her, and she whispered with flushed cheeks: “Dominic Reed, you’d better be good to me forever.”
“I will,” he promised with a smile. “Forever.”
“Mr. Reed? Mr. Reed!”
The doctor’s urgent voice yanked him from his dream.
Dominic’s eyes snapped open to a stark white ceiling, the pain in his back and chest reminding him of the harsh reality-
No wedding, no love, only wounds and regret.
“Where’s Miss Reeves?” he asked hoarsely.
“In the garden,” the doctor replied.
Dominic ignored all protests, forcing himself out of bed and staggering toward the garden.
Sunlight bathed the flower beds, illuminating Ariana as she stood there, fingertips gently stroking a rose petal. Her profile in the light was breathtakingly beautiful.
He moved to approach her, but froze when he heard her laugh softly into her phone-
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“Yes, I miss you too.”
Dominic’s blood instantly turned to ice.
Her tone carried a hint of shyness and affection, a softness he had never heard from her before.
“Darling,” she said tenderly.
Those one word stabbed into Dominic’s heart like daggers!
He rushed forward, seizing her wrist: “What are you doing?!”
Ariana startled, but quickly regained her composure, raising an eyebrow: “Talking to my husband. Is there a problem?”
“Don’t call him that!” His voice was raw, eyes burning red.
“I’ll call him whatever I want,” Ariana smirked. “Husband, husband, husband-”
With each repetition, Dominic’s face grew paler.
Finally, his eyes actually welled with tears, his voice breaking: “…Ari, don’t do this to me.”
Ariana hesitated.
She had never seen Dominic like this-
Humbled, wounded, as if she had personally shattered his pride.
“It’s karma, isn’t it…” He attempted a smile that looked more like a grimace. “You can kill me if you want, just don’t torture me
like this.”
Ariana’s throat tightened, but before she could respond, Dominic composed himself and said quietly: “I wasn’t there for you last night. That was wrong of me.”
He paused, taking her hand: “I’ve prepared a surprise for you today.”
As dusk fell, Dominic took her to an outdoor arena.
Ariana assumed it would be some sort of performance, until the announcer’s excited voice boomed through the speakers-
“Tonight’s special event! Dominic Reed versus ‘Black Death‘ the Tibetan Mastiff!”
Ariana leapt to her feet: “Have you lost your mind?!”
Dominic merely smiled gently: “Every wound you suffered, I’ll repay a hundredfold.”
The metal cage opened, and an enormous Tibetan mastiff charged out with a ferocious roar!
Dominic faced it bare–handed, immediately being knocked to the ground!
“Dominic!” Ariana cried out involuntarily.
The mastiff’s fangs tore into his arm, blood spurting forth, but Dominic merely grunted, delivering a powerful blow to the
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animal’s eye!
Gasps of horror erupted from the audience!
The combat was brutally intense, each attack from the mastiff potentially lethal, yet Dominic never retreated despite being covered in blood.
Finally, he managed to get his hands around the mastiff’s throat and, to everyone’s ferror, choked the beast until it went limpi
The arena fell silent.
Dominic staggered to his feet, his body a bloody mess, yet somehow made his way to Ariana. There, he knelt before her in a gesture of complete submission.
“I counted ten chunks of flesh it took from me,” he looked up at her, voice ragged. “Ten times repayment.”
“Ari, can you forgive me now?”
Ariana’s fingers trembled: “You’ve truly lost your
But Dominic smiled.
mind…”
He took her hand and pressed it against his bloodied face, his gaze both obsessive and tender: “Yes, I have. I lost it long ago.”
“Ari, only you… can heal me now.”
♡ (1)
