Chapter 35: Chapter 35
Dominic sat alone in his penthouse office, the city skyline glittering behind him. The soft clink of ice in his whiskey glass was the only sound until his phone buzzed on the table.
He eyed the phone, only for it to buzz again.
He ignored it, again. He felt it was just another time wasting concern. Probably another article, or another meeting. But then it buzzed again. Then again. Then five more times in the span of ten seconds.
With a tired exhale, he picked it up and unlocked the screen. He blinked after seeing his screen.
There were pictures. Dozens of them about him and Celeste.
His Celeste.
Dominic stared, unmoving, as his thumb absently scrolled through the shots.
There was one with Celeste’s head on his chest. It was innocent that night but staring at it now, it looked really intimate.
Another picture was when Celeste laughed as he lifted her over his shoulder. There was another with Celeste sitting on his lap, his face tucked close to her neck like he couldn’t get enough of her.
Each image was an intimate freeze-frame of a night he’d tried to keep tucked between the spaces of silence and memory. But now it was out there.
The headlines screamed at him:
"Dominic Cross Spotted With Mystery Girl – Who Is She?"
"Cross Love Triangle? Dominic and Landon Both Linked To Same Woman"
"From Rags To Cross: Club Girl Gets Her Hands On The Billionaire"
His jaw clenched.
He didn’t say a word. He just stared. The expression in his eyes didn’t change. Unmoved, he took some of the pictures, and saved them.
Whoever took the pictures was good. The angles were really beautiful, and Celeste looked free in them. Flushed but free.
If not for the circumstances surrounding them, he’d have rewarded the photographer.
His phone rang. A call from his publicist.
He declined it.
It rang again. Roman was calling.
He cursed under his breath, and declined it again.
Roman called again, and he declined it again.
After a few seconds, his phone ran again. His assistant was. He declined it without a second thought.
They must have seen the news.
He turned his phone face-down and stood up, walking to the floor-to-ceiling windows as if the city could offer an answer. His reflection stared back, tight-lipped and too still.
He returned to his desk, flipped the phone back over, and opened the first thread that had gone viral.
Dominic opened the thread. It had already amassed hundreds of thousands of views, shares, and comments. The handle was an anonymous gossip blog. Low-graded but fast-growing. The caption read:
"Dominic Cross and the same girl Landon was seen with last month? 👀 This can’t be just coincidence. Club witnesses say she left with Dominic that night. Who is she? #CrossMess #CelesteUncovered #ClubGirlOrQueen"
Dominic’s finger stilled above the screen.
Celeste.
This wasn’t how he wanted the world to see her with him.
He closed the thread and opened the next post. It was worse. A side-by-side of Celeste on Landon’s arm two weeks ago, and then with him in the club two nights ago.
"Uncle and Nephew? With one girl? We’ve got a family feud in the making! 🍿Is she using them both? Or is she the pawn? Either way... we’re hooked."
The comments were a nightmare:
Someone said, "Typical gold digger behavior."
Another posted. "Bet she slept her way through the entire family."
"What’s she offering, though? Must be something wild to have Cross and son sharing." someone replied to a comment.
"Not the billionaire slut saga again."
Dominic’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the desk. He closed the app, and opened his email instead. He typed fast to his legal team.
"Take down everything concerning Celeste Monroe right now."
He hit send, and not even a second passed before he opened his messaging app again. He found the thread with Elias, his most trusted attorney, and sent:
DOMINIC: Find who posted the photos. I don’t care what you have to do. DMCA, NDA, restraining order. Make their ink bleed.
ELIAS: On it. Already issuing cease-and-desist notices. They’re spreading fast.
DOMINIC: Pay for priority handling. Bury the thread before it hits global trending.
ELIAS: We’re already two hours late. Reddit, X, TikTok, Instagram already carried the news. She’s on every platform.
Too late.
Dominic let the phone fall from his hand to the desk. His temple pulsed. He had power but he never imagined hearing these words concerning Celeste would strangke him this way.
He rubbed it slowly, like the act might contain the rage simmering in him.
He should’ve known the press would find something. They always did. He just never thought he was visible enough for them to be on his trail.
Celeste... she wasn’t built for this.
She didn’t even want this.
He grabbed the phone again. He called Ava, his assistant. It rang once.
"Dominic?" she answered, breathless. She already knew.
"I want someone on Celeste," he said, voice low and even.
"Sir?"
"It should be discreet. Do not interfere. Just to make sure she’s not alone. No press, and no panic."
"Yes, sir. Already assumed you’d want that. I’ll send Matty."
"Make sure she doesn’t know it’s us."
There was a beat. "Understood."
He hung up without saying goodbye. That wasn’t like him. But nothing about this morning was.
He walked back to the window, glass in hand, and stared out again. The weight of it all pressed against his chest.
He hadn’t even spoken to her since the morning after. He pictured her finding out.
He imagined the look in her eyes, the betrayal, and the way her trust... so fragile, and so hesitant would crumble all over again.
And the worst part?
He couldn’t even blame her.
He was supposed to protect her. And now the world had her name, her face, her smile, and they were dragging it through the dirt.
And Landon.
Dominic knew it wouldn’t take long before Landon saw it too.
His nephew was volatile on a good day. But this? This would blow everything up.
The headlines had handed him ammunition, gift-wrapped and poisoned.
Dominic picked up his phone again. This time, he hesitated.
"Do I call her?" He muttered, for the first time, unsure of what he wanted.
He hovered over her contact.
Her picture smiled back at him. He had taken it from a night she didn’t know he’d saved the photo.