Chapter 7 - The Beauty of Her Name
Spring arrived over the city, covering the Rossi estate in blooming tulips and cherry blossoms.
Skyler’s life had completely transformed.
She was appointed the Director of the newly established Gallagher Medical Foundation—a multi-million-dollar philanthropic branch funded by Rossi Enterprises, dedicated to paying off dialysis and medical bills for low-income families across the state.
Her father’s medical debts were completely paid off, and he was moved to a top-tier private care lodge near the estate, where Skyler visited him every weekend.
On a warm afternoon in May, Skyler was sitting in the estate garden, working on her laptop, reviewing financial grants for a children's hospital in Detroit.
Dominic walked out onto the patio, carrying two iced teas. He was dressed casually in a soft black sweater and trousers, looking relaxed and happy.
He sat beside her on the teak bench, handing her a glass.
"You work too hard, Director Gallagher," Dominic teased gently, kissing her cheek.
"I’m just finishing the grant allocations," Skyler smiled, leaning against him. "We’re helping three hundred dialysis patients this month."
Dominic looked at her with endless admiration. "My mother was right about you from the very first day. You are the light this family needed."
Skyler paused, looking down at her glass, a sudden quiet thought crossing her mind.
"Dominic?" she asked softly.
"Yes, my love?"
"When I first worked here... when everyone called me 'Penny'..." Skyler whispered, looking into his eyes. "Did you ever think of me as just a clumsy maid?"
Dominic set his glass down on the table. He turned toward her, taking both of her soft hands in his, his expression becoming deeply serious and intensely earnest.
"Skyler," Dominic spoke, his voice rich and steady. "Do you want to know the truth about the first time I saw you?"
Skyler blinked. "The first time?"
"It wasn't the night of the wine," Dominic revealed, a gentle smile touching his dark eyes. "It was six months ago. It was two o'clock in the morning. I came home from a dangerous negotiation in Brooklyn, exhausted and disgusted by the violence of my world."
He stroked her cheek softly, right along the faint silver mark where she had been healed.
"I walked past the kitchen," Dominic continued softly, "and I saw you sitting at the small wooden table, eating a piece of leftover pie, humming a soft tune to yourself. You had a speck of flour on your nose, and you looked so peaceful, so warm, and so genuinely beautiful that I stopped in the hallway for ten minutes just watching you."
Skyler’s breath caught in her throat, her hazel eyes filling with happy tears.
"I didn't know your name then," Dominic confessed. "I asked my mother the next day, and she told me, 'That is Skyler. She is the girl who keeps this house alive.' I never saw a maid, Skyler. I saw the only woman who could ever make me want to be a better man."
Skyler threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder as happy tears spilled down her cheeks.
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"I love you, Dominic," she whispered fiercely.
"I love you, Skyler," Dominic murmured, holding her tight against his heart. "More than life itself."
