Chapter 10 - THE PRICE OF NOTHING
One year after the birthday dinner, Dominic celebrated his forty-first
birthday at home.
There were no business partners, no politicians, and no guests who
wanted something from him. The dining room held only a few people: Ella,
Mrs. Alvarez, Marcus, and two close family friends.
The cake was small.
Ella had chosen it herself. Chocolate, with white icing and a single
pink flower.
Dominic sat at the head of the table.
Ella approached carrying the little wooden box.
He smiled.
“Is that box coming back?”
“It’s my birthday present for you.”
She set it down and opened the lid.
Inside was no money.
There were drawings, a photograph of them at the school play, and a
folded paper heart.
Dominic picked it up.
The old message had been crossed out. Beneath it, Ella had written:
DADDY, I DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR HUGS. BUT I WANT TO GIVE YOU ALL OF
MINE.
He looked at her.
“That’s the best present I’ve ever received.”
Ella climbed into his lap and wrapped both arms around his neck.
“Happy birthday, Daddy.”
He held her close.
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
Across the table, Mrs. Alvarez wiped her eyes.
Marcus pretended to study the cake.
Dominic glanced at the empty chair where Seraphina had once sat. The
legal separation had become a divorce, and the court had established a
structured arrangement for Ella’s contact with her mother. It was not a
perfect ending. Trust had been damaged, and some wounds would take time.
But Ella was safe. She had support. She knew she could love her mother
without accepting hurtful behavior, and she knew she could ask her
father for affection without earning it.
Dominic had also changed the way he ran his life. He reserved school
days and family evenings on his calendar. He delegated meetings that did
not require him. He learned to braid hair, even though his first
attempts looked like tangled rope.
Most importantly, he stopped confusing providing with parenting.
After dinner, Ella took his hand and led him to the study.
“Can we sit together?”
“Of course.”
She climbed onto the sofa and opened a picture book. Dominic read aloud,
changing his voice for each character. When he reached the last page,
Ella was already leaning against his side.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember the first hug I asked you for?”
“I remember.”
“I was scared you would say no.”
Dominic put the book aside.
“I am sorry you ever had to be scared of that.”
Ella touched his cheek.
“You said I could have as many as I wanted.”
“I did.”
“Did you mean forever?”
He kissed her forehead.
“Forever.”
She yawned.
“Then I think I have enough.”
“Enough what?”
“Hugs.”
Dominic smiled and wrapped his arms around her.
Outside, the city glowed beneath the night sky. Inside the Moretti
mansion, there were no guards at the nursery door, no coins waiting to
be counted, and no child wondering whether love had a price.
The little wooden box rested on the shelf.
It no longer held a payment.
It held a memory of the night a little girl found the courage to ask for
what should always have been hers.
And the man who had once believed he could buy or command anything
May you like
finally understood the one thing money could never purchase:
A child’s trust.
