Blood and Dominion

The silence in the safe house was unsettling—too quiet, like the calm before a storm that doesn't just pass, but destroys.

Geraldine stood in the dim-lit hallway, her eyes locked on the flash drive that had come from Lachlan Valez. It shimmered in her palm like a loaded gun, heavy with secrets. The weight wasn't in the metal—it was in the power it held.

Across the room, Ziana paced, earbuds in, her brows furrowed in thought. Reena sat nearby, sketching shadows and fire across her notebook. Ziana—sixteen and already sharper than steel—had been asking the right questions lately. About Bekett. About Dominion. About why they were running.

Geraldine glanced down at the drawings. One of them showed a crowned woman standing alone in a tower of flames, two younger girls behind her, untouched by the fire.

A warning. A prophecy. Or maybe… a mirror.

Geraldine's throat tightened.

She kissed Reena's forehead, then approached Ziana. "I'm going out. Watch your sister."

"You going to see Lachlan?" Ziana asked flatly, without looking up.

"No," Geraldine replied. "I'm going to find out what your father was planning. And why you're part of it."

Ziana finally looked at her. "I want to know too."

Dominion Towers — Underground Parking, 3:27 AM

Kaison emerged from the shadows like a man who'd been waiting for war.

"You shouldn't be here," he said through gritted teeth, scanning the area. "There are eyes everywhere, Geraldine."

"I was here before any of them," she shot back. "This empire has my blood in its bricks."

"You don't understand what you're getting into. Lachlan is playing you."

"No," she said. "He's trying to destroy Bekett. But he won't use me to do it. I'm not his puppet. I'm no one's anymore."

Kaison looked away, jaw clenched. "Then why are you here?"

"I need the truth. About Dominion. About the girls. About why Bekett kept me in the dark for years."

He hesitated. Then pulled a keycard from his pocket and handed it to her. "Follow me. But once I show you this… there's no going back."

Dominion Archives – Restricted Level

The corridor smelled of metal and ink. Locked rooms lined both sides. Kaison led her into a chamber marked DYNASTY in faded gold.

"It was more than just a succession plan," he said. "Bekett wanted to own more than business. He wanted control over media, education, even parts of the justice system. Dominion wasn't just a corporation—it was a machine."

Geraldine stared at a wall of documents, blueprints, and blackmail files.

"What does this have to do with Reena and Ziana?"

"He built Dynasty for them," Kaison said. "Not as heirs. As leverage. If anything ever happened to him… the entire structure would fall into their names. Whether they knew or not."

Her heart slammed against her ribs. "Why wouldn't he tell me?"

"Because he didn't trust anyone. Not even you."

Geraldine's voice was ice. "He made me build this with him. Sacrifice for it. Bleed for it. And he was still planning to make me a footnote in his legacy?"

Kaison nodded grimly. "That's why Lachlan wants in. If he gets to the girls—he gets everything."

Her breath caught.

"This ends now," she said. "No more hiding. No more running. I'm going to take Dominion back—and cleanse it."

Dominion Boardroom — 9:00 AM

Geraldine walked in like she still owned the building—and this time, she had every intention of taking it.

The boardroom buzzed with voices, but all fell silent the moment she entered. Behind her, Lachlan Valez followed, flashing his signature wolfish grin.

"Geraldine Donovan," the chairwoman stammered. "You no longer—"

"I now control 36% of Dominion's shares," she interrupted. "And with Kaison's transferred equity, that puts me in majority voting control."

Mouths dropped. Chairs shifted. Someone cursed under their breath.

Lachlan took a seat beside her, already too comfortable.

"I assume this means our meeting can officially begin?" he smirked.

"I didn't call this meeting to play your games," Geraldine said coldly. "And don't get comfortable, Lachlan—I'm not here for you. I'm here despite you."

His smirk faded just slightly.

"I'm not here to bury Bekett," she continued. "I'm here to reclaim what my daughters deserve. Dominion isn't a graveyard. It's going to rise—and I'll make sure it does, even if I have to burn out every rotten piece of its foundation."

Later — Dominion Rooftop

The city lights below looked like sparks waiting to ignite something bigger.

"You sure you want this war?" Kaison asked, standing beside her.

"I don't want war," she said. "But I'm not afraid of it."

"Lachlan won't play fair. He's already circling Reena's school. He knows where Ziana trains for debate competitions. He's watching."

Geraldine didn't flinch. "Let him watch. He won't get close. I've survived Bekett. I can handle Lachlan."

Kaison nodded slowly. "You're becoming something he never planned for."

"I'm becoming who I should've been all along," she whispered. "Not Bekett's wife. Not Dominion's silent partner. But the architect of a new legacy."

Down below, the streets buzzed with life—and somewhere in that chaos, Dominion stirred like a beast rousing from slumber.

Geraldine gripped the steel railing, her eyes fierce, her voice deadly calm.

"This empire doesn't belong to Bekett anymore. It doesn't belong to Lachlan. It belongs to my daughters. And I will scorch the earth before I let another man take what they were born to inherit."