Afterward, in the quiet of the aftercare room, he didn’t talk about the scene. He wrapped her in a soft blanket, handed her a warm mug of tea, and simply said, “You’re very good at holding the world up, Chanel. Who holds you up?”
“I built a prison and called it a palace,” he said, his voice raw. “You were right. I didn’t know how to connect.” Afterward, in the quiet of the aftercare room,
Dominic, shaken by losing her, came back. He had sold his company, gone to therapy, and learned the difference between command and care. He knelt before her—the Master kneeling to his former sub—and asked not for a second chance, but for a single conversation. and simply said