Chapter 12 - A Ledger Cleared in Salt
That evening, Dominic led me into his private library.
A fire crackled softly in the hearth.
On his desk sat a heavy, leather-bound ledger.
The record of family obligations and debts.
He opened it to the page listing the Laurent family trust.
My deceased father’s old medical debts and Claire’s tuition.
Dominic dipped an antique fountain pen in black ink.
Across the entire page, he wrote in bold, elegant letters:
PAID IN FULL. ETERNAL GRATITUDE.
He closed the ledger and locked it away in the safe.
“You owe nothing to this world, Sylvie,” he said, walking toward me.
“You are completely free. If you want to take Claire and move to Paris, I will
buy you any home you choose.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Are you asking me to leave?”
“I’m telling you that you have a choice,” Dominic said softly.
He stopped inches from me.
May you like
“I have spent my life taking choices away from people. I will never do that to
you.”
