MADDEST OBSESSION - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

Dominic read the word twice.
“Obedience.”
The paper trembled in his hand, but not from fear.
From fury.
The kind that started deep in his spine and burned upward like gasoline licking bone.
“She didn’t tell me,” he growled, voice hollow.
Giovanni stood in the center of the study, silent, eyes wary.
“She found it last night,” he said finally. “Didn’t open it. Matteo De Luca was seen with her earlier that day.”
Dominic didn’t speak.
Didn’t breathe.
Didn’t blink.
He stared at the envelope like it was dipped in poison.
Because it was.
A warning.
A leash.
A curse that had once lived in Aria’s blood.
And now it was back.
“She’s not property,” Dominic said quietly. “Not anymore.”
Giovanni cleared his throat. “Maybe not to you. But to the De Lucas—”
“Finish that sentence and I’ll kill you.”
Silence.
Dominic turned toward the window.
The city glittered below, unaware that a storm was building — not outside — but in the body of the man who once ruled it without mercy.
He picked up his phone. Dialed.
“Matteo De Luca,” he ordered. “Bring him to me. Alive. Unbroken. For now.”
They met in the old warehouse.
Neutral ground. No guards. Just rage.
Matteo arrived under tight escort. His wrists weren’t bound, but his fate was.
Dominic didn’t waste time.
He grabbed the younger man by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
“She found an envelope.”
Matteo didn’t resist. “I know.”
“Did you send it?”
“No.”
Dominic’s voice dropped to a lethal whisper. “But you knew what it meant.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened. “It was never supposed to resurface.”
“What is it?” Dominic demanded. “What did he do to her?”
Matteo swallowed hard. “He created a compliance protocol. Psychological triggers. Emotional punishments. It was... a method of permanent obedience.”
Dominic stilled.
“She was test subject number one,” Matteo said. “Your marriage was the trial run.”
Dominic let go.
But not out of mercy.
Out of strategy.
Because now he knew what this was:
Not just revenge.
A war.
“She’s not an experiment,” Dominic growled. “She’s mine.”
Matteo’s voice was quiet. “Then stop handling her like one.”
That earned him a punch — one that cracked bone.
But Dominic didn’t finish it.
He turned to Giovanni. “Find everyone tied to that program. Burn it. End it. Every file. Every person.”
He looked down at his bloodied knuckles.
Th
en whispered, almost to himself—
> “If her father wants obedience… I’ll show him what defiance truly costs.”