PART 3
Three weeks later.
The soft winter sun filtered through the bulletproof windows of a private recovery suite inside the Rossi estate.
The room smelled of fresh lilies and expensive essential oils.
Skyler Gallagher lay in the center of a massive king-sized bed, surrounded by silk pillows.
A thick white bandage still covered the healing wound on her cheek.
Her body remained weak from the effects of the neurotoxin.
But she was alive.
And that alone felt like a miracle.
The heavy oak door slowly opened.
Dominic Rossi stepped inside.
In his hands was a silver tray carrying a steaming cup of Earl Grey tea and a plate of delicate pastries.
Skyler immediately blushed.
She tried to sit up.
“Mr. Rossi, you really don’t have to do this.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“I’m just a maid.”
Dominic placed the tray gently on her lap and sat beside her on the edge of the bed.
His dark eyes, once feared by an entire city, softened.
“No.”
His voice was calm but firm.
“You stopped being a maid the moment you threw yourself in front of my mother.”
Skyler stared at him.
“You’re family now.”
Tears instantly filled her eyes.
Nobody had ever called her family before.
Not like that.
Not sincerely.
All her life she had been the overweight girl.
The clumsy girl.
The girl people laughed at.
The girl nobody noticed.
But never family.
“I just…”
Her voice trembled.
“I didn’t want Mrs. Carmela to get hurt.”
“She’s always been kind to me.”
“She never looked at me the way everyone else does.”
Dominic was silent for a moment.
Then he gently brushed a loose strand of hair from her forehead.
“Do you know what surprised me the most that night?”
Skyler shook her head.
“There were dozens of armed guards in this house.”
“Hundreds of loyal men.”
“But when my mother was in danger…”
“You were the only one who moved.”
Skyler lowered her eyes.
“I love her.”
“That’s all.”
A faint smile appeared on Dominic’s face.
A real smile.
The first one she had ever seen.
“That’s exactly why you’re different.”
He pulled a folder from inside his jacket and placed it in front of her.
Skyler opened it.
Her eyes widened.
“What is this?”
“Your father’s medical debt.”
“Paid in full.”
Skyler froze.
Dominic continued.
“The dialysis treatments.”
“The medications.”
“The mortgage.”
“Everything is taken care of.”
The folder slipped from her trembling hands.
“No…”
“This can’t be real.”
“Why would you do this for me?”
Dominic looked at her quietly.
Then he placed a small golden key in her palm.
“This is yours.”
“A key?”
“To your new suite.”
“My what?”
“A permanent suite here in the estate.”
“Right beside the family wing.”
Skyler thought she must be dreaming.
“I don’t understand.”
Dominic leaned back.
“Skyler.”
“You saved my mother.”
“You saved me.”
“You saved the Rossi empire.”
His gaze locked onto hers.
“A woman like you was never meant to spend her life carrying trays and scrubbing floors.”
Tears streamed down her face.
For years she had believed she was worthless.
Yet the most powerful man in New York was telling her the exact opposite.
Suddenly the door opened again.
Carmela Rossi entered.
She walked slowly with a cane.
But her smile was bright.
“My sweet girl.”
She opened her arms.
Skyler immediately burst into tears and embraced her.
Carmela held her tightly.
“You scared me half to death.”
“You are never allowed to do something that reckless again.”
Skyler laughed through her tears.
“I’ll try.”
“No.”
Carmela shook her head.
“You must promise.”
“Because now you’re my daughter.”
The room fell silent.
Skyler could barely breathe.
Nobody had ever called her that before.
Daughter.
But at that moment, her heart felt full for the first time in her life.
Several months later.
The Rossi family’s annual gala was held in New York.
The city’s elite filled the grand ballroom.
Politicians.
Billionaires.
Celebrities.
Business tycoons.
Everyone waited for Dominic Rossi to arrive.
When the massive doors opened, the room fell silent.
Dominic entered first.
Dressed in a perfectly tailored black tuxedo.
But it wasn’t him who captured everyone’s attention.
It was the woman walking beside him.
Skyler Gallagher.
Her custom-designed evening gown flowed elegantly around her figure.
No apron.
No humiliation.
No cruel whispers.
The scar on her cheek remained.
But instead of diminishing her beauty, it enhanced it.
It was a symbol of courage.
A reminder of sacrifice.
People stared in stunned silence.
Dominic led her to the center of the ballroom.
Then he took her hand.
“Allow me to introduce someone.”
His voice echoed through the hall.
“The woman who saved my mother.”
“The person I trust more than anyone else in this world.”
The crowd remained speechless.
Skyler’s heart pounded.
Dominic squeezed her hand gently.
Then he said the words nobody expected.
“And the woman I love.”
Gasps swept through the ballroom.
Skyler froze.
Tears instantly filled her eyes.
Before she could react, Dominic dropped to one knee.
A black velvet box appeared in his hand.
Inside rested a brilliant diamond ring.
Nothing like Bianca’s poisoned ring.
This one represented loyalty.
Protection.
And love.
“Skyler Gallagher.”
His voice was low and sincere.
“You used your body to shield my family.”
“Now let me spend the rest of my life shielding you.”
“Will you marry me?”
Skyler burst into tears.
Her entire body trembled.
Then she nodded again and again.
“Yes.”
“Yes, I will.”
The ballroom erupted into applause.
Carmela cried harder than anyone.
Laughing and weeping at the same time.
Dominic slipped the ring onto Skyler’s finger.
Then pulled her into his arms.
For the first time in her life, Skyler finally understood something important.
A person’s worth is not measured by appearance.
Not by status.
Not by the opinions of others.
It is measured by the heart.
And it was her heart—
The very thing everyone had overlooked—
That carried her from the kitchens of the Rossi estate…
To the throne beside the king of the Rossi empire.
THE END
