King of Greed

Once Roman leaves Alessandra’s company, Dominic confronts him. The private contractor that Dominic hired to investigate his foster brother has not yet gathered any intel on Roman, which has been a point of concern for Dominic. Roman hints that his own elite connections have secured him an invite to this highly private event. When Dominic asks if Roman is in trouble, Roman tells him not to fake concern; Roman says it is clear from Dominic’s decade of silence that he does not care about Roman.

At the Le Boudoir dinner party, Martin Wellgrew—the CEO of Orion Bank—falls dead after an allergic reaction to traces of peanuts in his food. Chaos ensues as people trample each other to escape the party, believing that foul play might be involved. Dominic rushes to find Alessandra before escaping the venue and fleeing to his penthouse. In the aftermath, overcome with emotion, Alessandra and Dominic impulsively have sex.

Dominic wakes to Alessandra getting dressed and preparing to sneak out of the penthouse. When Dominic catches her, Alessandra admits that having sex with him last night was a mistake. She intends to return to Sloane’s. Dominic and Alessandra have a heated discussion about their failed marriage. Though Dominic loves her, Alessandra insists that love was never the issue. She explains that she has given up all of herself for his sake, even despite the late nights, missed dates, and canceled trips. She never felt as though she was enough for him, and she believes that he is never happy with what he has. Alessandra asks him to let her go if he truly loves her. Dominic does as she says and signs the divorce papers.

Six weeks after Dominic signs the divorce papers, the divorce is officially finalized. During this time, Alessandra has gone through the motions of setting up her flower shop. Her friends insist that she go on a few dates, if only to take her mind off Dominic. Alessandra reluctantly agrees and asks her landlord, Aiden, out for a friendly dinner. The next day, Alessandra already regrets this decision, feeling that she is moving too fast. She goes out to dinner with Aiden at a nice restaurant and struggles to find the rhythm of conversation. She is out of practice with dating, but eventually, the evening improves. However, their dinner is interrupted by the arrival of Dominic, who shares a tense conversation with Aiden before Alessandra asks him to leave. When Aiden later goes to the restroom, Dominic slips into his vacated chair and asks questions about her date. Though he is bothered to see her moving on, he leaves when she asks him to. After dinner, Alessandra parts with Aiden and returns home to Sloane’s. She thinks of her brother, Marcelo, who is a bachelor living in São Paulo and “enjoying life the way he deserved” (121). Feeling inspired, Alessandra calls up her brother and begins planning a getaway trip to Brazil.

Dominic plays tennis with Dante at Valhalla Club, but Dante ends the match early because he has a dinner date with Vivian. Dominic asks about it, as he was under the impression that Vivian and Dante were planning to leave for Paris that night. When Dante mentions postponing the trip because of Alessandra’s goodbye drinks tomorrow, Dominic asks what he means. Unable to brush past this slip-up, Dante admits that Alessandra is leaving for Brazil tomorrow. Although Dominic assumes that she is visiting her mother and brother for the Thanksgiving holiday, Dante reveals that Alessandra has bought a one-way ticket.

At work, Dominic agonizes over the thought of Alessandra leaving for an extended period of time. In the past, he never considered taking a long break from work due to his anxiety that matters will devolve into chaos during his absence. Now, however, he pushes his fears aside and buys a one-way ticket to Brazil, determined to follow Alessandra.

Marcelo and Alessandra travel to Buzios for a sibling vacation. They go surfing and enjoy lazing about. Marcelo notices how happy Alessandra is and believes that this change is good for her. During their childhood, their mom spent all of her time working, partying, and dating, so Alessandra became Marcelo’s caretaker. After he became capable of taking care of himself, she then married Dominic and lost herself in that relationship too. Now, Marcelo wants her to enjoy her life without worrying about others. After surfing, they return to their villa. As they reach it, a cab pulls up to the neighboring villa, and Dominic steps out.

Alessandra internally panics at the sight of her ex-husband in Buzios.

Marcelo feels bad for Dominic, who seems lonely on his first day in Buzios. While Alessandra is in the shower, Dominic comes over to borrow sugar, but Marcelo invites him in for dinner instead. Dominic offers to leave if Alessandra is uncomfortable with his presence, but she allows him to stay. Alessandra and Marcelo are shocked when Dominic reveals that he has also bought a one-way ticket. They cannot believe that he has abandoned work for an indefinite amount of time. After dinner, Dominic seizes the opportunity to have a private conversation with Alessandra. He claims that he wants them to start fresh. He admits to neglecting her and taking her for granted, saying that he lost sight of his priorities and plans to change.

Two days later, Dominic agonizes over not seeing Alessandra. Her response to his pleas the other night was to leave the conversation.

A flashback reveals more details about the beginning of Dominic and Alessandra’s relationship. At the end of the semester that she spent tutoring him, Dominic shared that he passed his English course thanks to her help. Their conversation turned awkward as they determined what to do next, but Dominic ended the uncertainty by asking Alessandra on a date.

The narrative returns to the present. Dominic goes scuba diving and is in the same class as Alessandra. Dominic is surprised to see that she has signed up to dive since she was afraid to go diving during their Jamaica honeymoon years ago. However, the conversation reveals that she went diving last year during a girls’ trip to the Bahamas. Dominic is proud to learn that Alessandra has conquered one of her fears, but he also feels guilty that he never knew this and realizes that he never bothered to ask about her trip.

After the class, Dominic asks Alessandra if she’d like to grab dinner, but she refuses. Dominic returns to his villa. He watches the news by the pool; the news reports mention the recent deaths of various bank CEOs, and Dominic finds this pattern suspicious. The news also reveals that Thayer University is naming a wing of Carter Hall after his former professor, David Ehrlich. Ehrlich’s passing in 2017 destroyed Dominic, as Ehrlich was the “only teacher who’d treated [him] like [he] was a normal student instead of an annoyance” (156). To assuage his grief at the time, Alessandra gifted him a lighter, stating that “no matter how dark it gets, [he] can always find a light” (157).

Every confrontation with Dominic weakens Alessandra’s defenses and boundaries. Although she is not ready to forgive him, she is not entirely opposed to his company. When her brother leaves her alone at a local bar in Buzios, her previous diving instructor, Ignacio, flirts with her and convinces her to dance with him. However, they are interrupted by Dominic’s arrival. When Alessandra threatens never to talk to Dominic again if he doesn’t leave, Dominic walks away but stays in the vicinity. When Alessandra leaves the dance floor to confront Dominic further, she is distracted by a phone call from her mother, who invites her to attend her wedding in three days.

Although this is Alessandra’s mother’s fourth marriage, Alessandra and Marcelo still attend. They take Dominic’s private jet to Rio, so Dominic attends the wedding as well. Attending her mother’s wedding reminds Alessandra of her own wedding to Dominic.