King of Greed

When Alessandra returns home to her apartment, she discovers a drunken Dominic sitting outside her front door. She brings him inside, and he asks about her date. Alessandra lies and says it went well, then encourages him to get some rest.

Dominic wakes with a hangover. Alessandra laughs at the sorry state of him, and Dominic is shocked by how happy she looks. Dominic shares with Alessandra the pressure he felt to dedicate his energy to work during their marriage. He was terrified to fail, believing that he would fulfill the low expectations that everyone from his past had of him. In turn, Alessandra admits that she didn’t have a date last night; she explains that she was afraid she would stay with him if she didn’t leave. She does not want to return to a relationship with Dominic only for it to end the same way. Dominic promises Alessandra that this will not happen because he has changed and his priorities have shifted. Dominic admits that her absence has put things into perspective; he admits that the worst thing he can lose has always been her, not wealth or work or success. Dominic begs for one last chance, and Alessandra agrees.

Dominic and Alessandra spend the weekend together in her apartment. They sleep in the same bed, and she invites him to the grand opening of her pressed flower shop. On Monday, Dominic arrives at his office an hour later than usual. His employees notice his mood change, and he even encourages one of his junior associates to leave work earlier than normal to meet a girlfriend for dinner. Dominic leaves his office at five, right on time, and buys flowers on his way to Floria Designs. He hands the flowers to Alessandra and convinces her to grab dinner with him. When Roman texts him, asking to grab drinks, Dominic invites Roman to the burger place where he and Alessandra are having dinner. Alessandra is uneasy with Roman when she meets him. She has a gut feeling that something is not quite right, but she cannot quantify her intuition.

At work, Dominic asks one of Alessandra’s favorite designers to bring options to his office. He picks out a dress for Alessandra and has it shipped directly to her apartment for her opening on Saturday. He tasks his assistants with setting multiple reminders about her grand opening so that he does not miss it. Suddenly, Kai calls and asks him to check his email. Dominic’s email contains a document from Kai, revealing that a major fraud occurred at a massive regional bank called DBG. Dominic calls in all of his employees to prepare to buy the bank. His team begins working around the clock to prepare. In the midst of these activities, Dominic receives an anonymous call. He previously received similar calls in the fall; he would answer, but no one would speak, and then the unknown person would hang up. Now, this is the first anonymous call that has happened in a while. Dominic answers and receives a voice-distorted warning not to buy the bank or he will die.

Dominic ignores the warning and continues to work through Friday night. By the time Saturday evening arrives, he leaves his team to continue their work and starts to leave the building, heading to Alessandra’s grand opening. However, when he gets into his elevator, he finds Roman holding him at gunpoint.

Alessandra’s grand opening is a smashing success. While she’s happy at the turnout, she worries over Dominic’s absence. Though she tries to convince herself that Dominic has learned from his past mistakes, she cannot help but wonder if he has gotten caught up with his own work yet again. When a friend of Dominic’s, Sebastian, mentions the DBG bank fiasco and reveals that Dominic is rushing to buy it, Alessandra’s suspicions seem to be confirmed. She is heartbroken at the thought that Dominic skipped her grand opening for yet another “work emergency.”

Dominic dodges the shot that Roman fires and wrangles to get control of the weapon. Dominic is distracted by the ringing of his phone, which allows Roman to get the upper hand. Roman pins Dominic against the wall and holds him at gunpoint once again. Roman warns Dominic that he shouldn’t have tried to pursue the DBG deal.

Dominic comes to Alessandra’s shop long after the grand opening has concluded. He explains the situation with Roman, and although Alessandra is upset with him at first, she accepts his explanation and his apology. Dominic shows her a recent headline that proves the truth of his story; it announces that he has given up his attempts to acquire DBG Bank.

By Monday, DBG has collapsed without anyone to buy it. Dominic’s team is angry with him for wasting their time and pulling out of the deal, but he keeps the reasons for his decision to himself. Kai calls Dominic and asks him to check Twitter. The platform reveals that the CEO of Sunfolk Bank hired a private mercenary company to kill Martin Wellgrew, the owner of Orion Bank, and to take down DBG. Dominic believes that Roman turned on his own company and released this information to public sources. Although Dominic has tried to find Roman, Roman has gone to ground for his own safety. A week later, Dominic receives an anonymous call. Though Roman doesn’t speak, Dominic knows that his foster brother is on the other end of the line. Dominic promises that if Roman ever needs him, he will be there for him.

Three months later, Dominic becomes the owner of Sunfolk Bank. Dominic still worries about Roman’s safety and is concerned that Roman’s former employer will come after him and Alessandra due to his personal connection to Roman. Dominic takes the day off work to celebrate Alessandra’s birthday. He takes her to Washington, D.C.: the city where they met and fell in love. They visit his old workplace for lunch, then they go to Thayer University and other spots that they used to frequent.

Four months later, Alessandra and Dominic have moved in together. Rather than going back to his former penthouse, they get a four-story brownstone in West Village with a backyard and a cozier atmosphere. This time, they do not buy the most expensive interior decorations; Dominic and Alessandra enjoy decorating it together with subtle pieces that they genuinely love. Dominic has also begun to donate money to Thayer University, creating the Erlich Scholarship Fund, which will provide full tuition for a dozen new students each year. Floria Designs has only continued to flourish with success, and Dominic has finally found contentment with his life. As long as he has his relationship with Alessandra, he does not care how much money he loses or makes from day to day.

Dominic eventually proposes to Alessandra again, and she agrees to remarry him. They get remarried with their family and friends in attendance. Dante and Vivian bring their newborn daughter, Josephine. Roman doesn’t attend, but Alessandra and Dominic remain open to his return whenever he wishes to come by.