Chapter 39: Chapter 39
Landon lost his mind staring at the photos.
They were everywhere.
His phone screen glared with images he couldn’t unsee. Celeste in Dominic’s arms. Celeste smiling up at him. Celeste being lifted effortlessly onto his shoulders. It was like a full documentary of betrayal, served to him in a carousel of Instagram posts, Tweets, and TikToks with millions of views already.
He swiped angrily. Again. And again. It just doesn’t end.
The comments stung more than the photos.
"She upgraded."
"Uncle and nephew? Juicy."
"Dominic always gets what he wants."
"Dominic is older and more handsome. Not gonna lie, I’m also gonna ride on him any chance I have."
Landon’s hands shook. His chest burned. The edges of his vision blurred in white-hot rage. He tossed his phone across the room. It hit the wall with a crack and landed on the carpet face-down.
He stood, pacing.
He couldn’t breathe. Dominic was winning in public eyes.
Grigor’s voice rang through his head.
"He’s not clean, Landon. Not even close. You want to hurt him? Find his secrets."
Landon froze mid-step.
Secrets.
There had to be something. There was always something.
He dropped into the desk chair in his room and dragged his laptop forward. His fingers flew across the keyboard, furious and desperate.
Dominic Cross.
He searched everything.
He dug into public records, business filings, and lawsuit archives. He went down Reddit threads, gossip forums, deep web whispers. He bought access to exclusive background search databases. He even downloaded PDFs of magazines that had once hinted at Dominic’s mysterious silence and blank past.
Nothing stuck. Clean. Everything was clean.
Too clean.
Landon stayed hunched over the screen for hours, eyes bloodshot, and brain spinning in loops. His coffee had long gone cold.
Every trace of Dominic was manicured. Every image was polished. Every business deal was locked down behind layers of NDAs.
Landon slammed his laptop shut, breathing hard.
Grigor.
Grigor said Dominic had secrets. And he wasn’t the type to lie about that. He grabbed his phone and dialed.
One ring.
Two.
Grigor answered.
"Hello."
"I want the truth," Landon said. His voice cracked. "You said he wasn’t clean. You said he had secrets. Give them to me."
A pause.
Then, Grigor’s calm voice: "Dig."
Landon gritted his teeth. "I did. I’ve been digging all night. I found nothing. If there’s something you know, tell me. Now."
Silence.
Then, he responded with a single word, "Patience."
Landon clenched his jaw. "Don’t play riddles with me. This is real. You’ve seen the photos. You know what he did."
"Yes."
"Then help me."
"No."
Landon’s pulse thudded. "Why?"
Grigor sighed. "You’re still a kid."
Landon nearly screamed. "I’ve lost her! My uncle took her. He paraded her like a trophy in front of the world. And you’re telling me I’m not ready?"
Grigor’s voice remained calm, unreadable. "You’re too emotional. You’ll ruin everything."
"I don’t care anymore. I just want to ruin him."
"Then wait."
Grigor hung up.
The dead tone echoed into Landon’s ear like a slap.
He stared at the phone screen.
He was alone again, drowning in betrayal and fury, and the one person who could help him refused to lift a finger.
Landon sat still for a long moment.
Then he picked up his phone again, opened his email, and started writing.
If Grigor wouldn’t help him, someone else would.
And if he couldn’t find the dirt on Dominic Cain, he’d make some. Whatever it took. He hated Dominic so much that it blinded him.
Landon didn’t sleep all through the night. Not a second. Not even when the sun broke over the horizon or when the housekeeper knocked gently and asked if he wanted breakfast. He’d locked himself in his father’s private study—the only place he thought clearly—and for the past six hours, he’d been tearing the internet apart.
"Come on, come on," he muttered, fingers flying over the keyboard. "There has to be something."
Grigor had said it like it was a guarantee.
But the deeper Landon searched, the cleaner Dominic looked. No scandals. No hidden companies. No unacknowledged children. No lawsuits. Just one perfect business deal after another. One award after another. And somehow, that made it worse.
His phone buzzed on the desk. He grabbed it without looking.
Grigor.
Landon answered immediately. "What the hell are you hiding?"
There was a pause. The kind of pause that stretched out like a held breath.
"Good morning to you too," Grigor said dryly.
"Don’t do that. You hung up on me last night . You told me he has secrets. I’ve been digging for hours. There’s nothing. No dirt. No leaks. Not even a damn traffic violation."
"You searched Google."
"I searched everything." Landon stood up and began pacing. "Whatever you’re implying, just spit it out. You said Dominic wasn’t the man everyone thinks he is. You said he’s hiding something big. So tell me."
Grigor finally said, "Ask Dominic."
Landon stopped pacing. "What?"
"Tell him to tell you the truth about his father. Your grandfather. His death."
Landon blinked. He thought of a thousand secrets, but never that.
"What does that mean?"
Grigor didn’t answer. The call ended.
Silas Cross.
His grandfather.
He remembered Silas vaguely. He was a quiet, regal man who never smiled unless Dominic was around. Landon had been twelve when Silas died. He had a sudden heart attack, they said.
Wait, he remembered something else too.
He remembered a fight. It happened one night. Raised voices. His father yelled Dominic’s name for the first time.
Landon’s eyes narrowed.
He clicked on obituary pages, and scanned financial documents from the Cross estate. He picked up his phone again. This time, he didn’t call Grigor. He called Dominic himself.
The line rang once.
Twice, and went straight to voicemail.
Landon exhaled. His jaw tightened.
He dialed again.
Same result.
He sent a text:
"You stole her from me. At least have the balls to answer your phone."
No reply.
Another text:
"Tell me what happened to Grandpa. Or I will."
He didn’t even know what that meant yet but he knew that there must be something that didn’t add up.
He turned back to the computer and opened an encrypted browser. This time, he wasn’t looking for press releases. He was going underground.
If there was even a hint of truth in Grigor’s words, Landon was going to find it.
And if Dominic had a hand in anything dark, anything illegal, anything deadly...
Landon was going to destroy him.