chapter 3 : six months later, Dominic returned.
Six months later, Dominic returned.
Then again.
And again.
At first he claimed he was buying pastries.
Then coffee.
Then birthday cakes for business associates.
The entire neighborhood knew he was lying.
Dominic Russo never ate sweets.
Yet somehow he visited Sweetbrier Confections four times a week.
Nora noticed first.
“He likes you.”
Penny nearly dropped a tray.
“Don't be ridiculous.”
“He buys one cupcake every visit.”
“So?”
“He never eats them.”
Penny frowned.
That was true.
One rainy afternoon she finally asked him.
“Why do you keep buying cupcakes?”
Dominic looked down at the chocolate cupcake in his hand.
Then at her.
“Because if I don't buy something, I won't have an excuse to see you.”
The bakery went completely silent.
Even the espresso machine seemed shocked.
Penny's face turned bright red.
Dominic Russo looked terrified.
Which was remarkable.
Because everyone else in New York was terrified of him.
Not the other way around.
Three weeks after that confession came the disaster.
Madison Hayes posted a video online.
A cruel video secretly filmed inside the bakery.
Millions watched it.
Thousands laughed.
Comments flooded social media.
The Chubby Baker.
Too Fat To Be Successful.
Lose Weight.
The cruelty spread like wildfire.
For two days Penny refused to leave her apartment.
On the third day she finally returned to Sweetbrier.
And found something unbelievable.
The line stretched around the block.
Hundreds of people.
Waiting.
Supporting her.
But that wasn't what stunned her.
Parked across the street were six black SUVs.
Security teams.
Reporters.
And Dominic Russo.
Standing in the rain.
Waiting.
Madison happened to be there too.
Still smirking.
Still confident.
Until Dominic slowly turned toward her.
His voice remained calm.
Dangerously calm.
"Touch my wife again."
The entire street froze.
Madison's face lost all color.
"W-wife?"
Dominic walked toward Penny.
Took her hand.
And for the first time in public, revealed the truth.
They had quietly married two weeks earlier.
The billionaire everyone feared.
The baker everyone mocked.
Husband and wife.
The crowd erupted.
But Dominic never took his eyes off Madison.
"People mistake kindness for weakness."
His voice was ice.
"They never make that mistake twice."
For the first time in years, Madison Hayes had nothing to say.
And for the first time in her life, Penny Gallagher realized she didn't need to hide anymore.
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Because the man standing beside her wasn't there to rescue her.
He was there because he loved her exactly as she was.
