His innocent wife is a dangerous hacker.-Chapter 661 You like her

Jay watched him, his eyes sharp. He had seen the way Dom looked at Hazel. The way he leaned toward her when she spoke. The way he found excuses to touch her hand, to stand close, to make her laugh. He had seen it in the way Dom talked about her when she wasn’t in the room.

This wasn’t about finding a pretend fiancée.

This was about Dom wanting to take Hazel to meet his parents because he wanted her to meet his parents.

Jay’s suspicion solidified into certainty.

"Dom," he said quietly, "you like her."

Dom’s face went still. "What?"

"You like Hazel. Not as a pretend fiancée. Not as a convenient solution. You actually like her."

The room was very quiet. Jace had stopped pretending to look at his sleeve. His eyes were wide, fixed on Dom.

Dom’s ears went pink. His hand, which had been reaching for the apple again, froze mid-air. "I don’t. That’s not—"

"You’re blushing."

"I’m not blushing. The room is warm."

"The room is sixty-eight degrees."

"The sun is bright."

"It’s cloudy."

Dom dropped his hand. His jaw tightened. For a moment, he looked like he might argue, might deflect, might make another joke about bananas or dog commercials. But then his shoulders slumped, just slightly, and something in his expression softened.

"Fine," he said quietly. "Maybe I do. A little."

Jay’s eyes widened. He had suspected, but hearing Dom say it, actually say it, was different.

"A little," Jay repeated.

"More than a little," Dom admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "But that’s not why I want her to come with me. I swear. I just thought she’s the only one who would understand. The only one who wouldn’t be scared of my family or my title or any of it. She’s been through worse. She’s faced down things that would break most people. And she’s still standing. She’s still—" He stopped, swallowing hard. "She’s still kind. Underneath everything. She’s still kind."

Jay stared at him. He wanted to be happy for Dom. He wanted to support him—because Jay knew, deep down, that Dom was a thousand times better than that bastard Nicolas. The same Nicolas who was sabotaging Leo’s company just to feed his own ego.

And then there was Hazel. If she married Dom—or even just dated him—wouldn’t she become a princess? The thought made Jay genuinely happy. Especially when he imagined the look on Nicolas’s face once he found out Hazel had landed someone far better.

"Dom," he said carefully, "Hazel will never agree to this."

Dom’s face fell. "What?"

"Pretending to be your fiancée? Lying to your parents? Playing a role?" Jay shook his head slowly. "You don’t know her like I do. She’s proud, Dom. Fiercely proud. She’s spent years hiding behind a mask because of her scar, because of what people think when they look at her. She’s not going to put on another mask just to make your parents happy."

Dom opened his mouth, but Jay kept going.

"She doesn’t like lying. She’s had enough lies in her life. From Nicolas, from people who pretended to care about her, from the world that told her she wasn’t beautiful because of a scar. She’s not going to pretend to be something she’s not. Not for you. Not for anyone."

The words hung in the air, heavy and undeniable.

Dom looked down at his hands. His shoulders had gone tight, his jaw clenched. "I wasn’t trying to. I didn’t think—"

"I know you didn’t." Jay’s voice softened, just slightly. "But you need to think about her. Not just about what you want. She’s been through enough. She doesn’t need to be dragged into your family drama on top of everything else."

Dom was quiet for a long moment. The apple sat forgotten on the table. The afternoon light had shifted again, shadows growing longer across the floor.

"You’re right," he said finally, his voice hollow. "I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about her. I was just thinking about—" He stopped. "I don’t know what I was thinking."

Jay watched him, something twisting in his chest. He didn’t like seeing Dom like this. Defeated. Quiet. The jokes gone, the laughter faded.

"Dom," he said.

Dom looked up.

"If you like her, really like her, then tell her. Honestly. Not as a pretend fiancée. Not as a solution to your problems. Just tell her how you feel. And let her decide what she wants."

Dom stared at him. "You think I should—"

"I think you should stop hiding behind plans and schemes and pretending." Jay’s voice was firm. "If you want Hazel, then go after Hazel. But don’t ask her to be someone she’s not. She deserves better than that."

The room was quiet again. Jace was watching them both, his expression soft, almost sad.

Dom nodded slowly. "Okay," he said. "Okay."

He picked up the apple, looked at it, and set it back down.

"I’m going to need more bananas," he said quietly.

Jay almost smiled. "I’ll get you more bananas."

Dom nodded, and the room felt a little lighter. Not much. But a little.

Meanwhile, across the city, Nicolas Vale sat in his corner office on the top floor of the Vale Industries building, a smug smile plasterer across his face. The morning sun streamed through the floor to ceiling windows, casting long shadows across his polished mahogany desk. He leaned back in his leather chair, his fingers steepled, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

Today was the day. The day everything would change.

He had been working on this deal for months. Months of phone calls, of negotiations, of flying across the country to meet with potential investors. And now, finally, it was happening. A high profile investor from overseas, someone with deep pockets and even deeper connections, was coming to sign a deal that would take Vale Industries to new heights.

The investor’s identity was a closely guarded secret. Nicolas had told no one. Not his parents, not his closest advisors, not even the lawyers who had drawn up the contracts. The only person who knew the investor’s name was Nicolas himself. And he planned to keep it that way until the deal was signed and sealed.

The investor would pour an enormous amount of money into Vale Industries, enough to double their market share within a year. In return, Vale Industries would provide access to their distribution networks, their warehouses, and their shipping routes. But Nicolas had bigger plans. He wasn’t just thinking about distribution. He was thinking about conquest. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

With this new capital, he planned to undercut Leo’s prices, steal his clients, and poach his best employees. He would buy up properties that Leo’s company had been eyeing for years, blocking his expansion. He would invest in new technology that would make Leo’s systems look outdated and obsolete. He would flood the market with cheaper products, forcing Leo to either lower his prices, cutting into his profits, or lose customers.