A Divorce He Regrets

Chapter 42:

Her brother. All this time, all the suspicions, the accusations… I felt the truth settling over me like a weight, crushing and undeniable. And as I looked into her eyes, I saw the hurt, the betrayal—everything I’d caused by believing the worst of her.

RAINA

Alexander had to have gone mad. Completely unhinged, and he seemed barely able to recognize it. His anger, though, wasn’t what had thrown me off balance—it was the regret flashing in his eyes. Regret, as if he had the right to feel any of it after all this time. I had no use for his regret now. If anything, I wanted him to regret nothing, to see his mistakes clearly so that his guilt wouldn’t interfere with what needed to be done.

I’d made a grave error myself, though.

Why, why did I have to let it slip? Dominic was my brother, not some stranger or lover for Alexander to fight over, but that fact had been meant to stay buried until I’d gotten Liam out of his life entirely. There’d been no other way to ensure he wouldn’t pull something at the last minute, some sudden moral epiphany that would make him claim I had no right to keep his son from him. But now it was out. He knew Dominic was my brother. And the look in Alexander’s eyes told me he would use this knowledge somehow—that he’d use it to upend everything I’d set in motion.

I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood, the familiar tang sharp on my tongue. Without a word, I reached down, helping Dominic back up. His jaw was bruised, and he gave a low groan before flashing Alexander a smirk that was equal parts arrogance and challenge.

“Well,” Dominic said, a mischievous glint in his eye as he wiped the blood from his lip, “now that the cat’s out of the bag, there’s no need to hold back, is there?”

Without a second’s hesitation, he swung at Alexander, his fist connecting with Alexander’s jaw in a way that left a satisfying crack in the air. Alexander staggered back, stunned, but it didn’t deter him. And for the first time, I saw something in him shatter—something beyond pride, something that I didn’t know he had.

“That’s for hurting my baby sister all those years ago,” Dominic hissed, his voice dripping with restrained fury. Alexander stared, momentarily mute, his shock giving way to something raw and desperate that he tried to mask but failed.

I couldn’t deal with this now, not when there was a more pressing threat out there. Eliza, the poisoned treatment, Liam’s deteriorating condition—it all weighed down on me with a suffocating intensity. There wasn’t time for this petty brawl, not when my child was still in danger.

“Okay, Dom, that’s enough,” I muttered to Dominic, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the door. “We’re wasting time.”

Dominic’s eyes softened a bit as he looked at me, his face still twisted in anger but tempered by concern. “You okay?”

I huffed, impatient with this whole fiasco. “The cat’s out of the bag. And that means a conversation is brewing between me and Alexander that I never wanted to have. Not now. Not ever.”

Dominic let out a dry laugh, wiping at the blood trickling from his split lip. “Trust me, Raina, I would’ve been fine taking a few more punches. Alexander has nothing on me.”

I paused, watching him through narrowed eyes. His jaw was bruised, and there was a fresh cut just above his eyebrow. Despite his bravado, he looked more rattled than he’d admit. For all his stubbornness, he was my brother, and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt seeing him like this. I offered him a sarcastic smile, hoping to mask my own rising panic.noveldrama

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