Chapter 7 - THE EMPIRE THAT TURNED AGAINST DOMINIC
News of Dominic’s cooperation spread quickly.
Allies called him a traitor.
Enemies called him weak.
Executives resigned.
Bank accounts froze.
Ships were detained in three ports.
Politicians denied knowing him.
Men who had begged for his approval described him as a criminal monster on television.
Some were correct.
Others were protecting themselves.
Dominic announced the restructuring of Vale Holdings at a press conference.
He admitted the company had financed illegal operations.
He named subsidiaries.
Officials.
Routes.
He did not blame everything on Nathan.
“I permitted fear to replace governance,” he said. “I used violence as management. Nathan Cross exploited that system, but he did not create every crime inside it.”
The statement shocked the criminal world.
Leaders rarely confessed without naming themselves victims.
Dominic did both.
Victim of betrayal.
Participant in harm.
Vale Holdings entered federal oversight.
Legitimate construction and shipping divisions were separated.
Employees retained wages and pensions.
Illegal assets were seized.
A victims’ compensation fund was created from Dominic’s personal fortune.
He lost control rapidly.
Nathan’s remaining loyalists attacked.
One night, gunmen entered the estate through the carriage-house tunnel before investigators permanently sealed it.
Daniel stopped the first attacker.
Marcus was wounded.
Dominic moved Mia and Harper into the secure library.
Harper shook beneath the desk.
“Are they taking Mommy again?”
“No.”
Dominic remained near the door.
“They will not reach her.”
Mia looked at the pistol in his hand.
“What happens if they do?”
He understood the question.
Would he become the old Dominic?
He lowered the weapon slightly.
“Then I stop them. And afterward, I answer for how.”
Federal agents captured the attackers alive.
One carried instructions signed by Vincent Bennett.
Claire’s father had ordered the assault from his Manhattan residence.
He was arrested the next morning.
The respected former judge was led from his home before cameras.
He shouted that Dominic had fabricated the evidence.
Then agents displayed his transfers from the hidden ledger.
May you like
The man who spent decades controlling courtrooms entered one as a defendant.
---
