Sergei was actively fighting against the restraints mped around his wrists, the guards struggling to keep him still. The sharpmands they barked into their radios became background noise as I stared, paralyzed, at the scene unfolding before me.

“Elena, if you just listen. I’ll prove it you!” he shouted, his voice hoarse, cracking with a kind of desperation that didn’t match his hard–edged presence. That voice–hoarse but certain–slithered under my skin like smoke. I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

I turned to Niki.

I didn’t want to believe Sergei. Not in front of Niki. Not in front of the man I had fallen for, the man I’d fought to trust again after I’d been betrayed. I didn’t want to believe this was happening, that he had anything to do with this… this spiraling mess.

But the dread in my stomach coiled tighter.

Niki stood frozen, jaw clenched, fists curled at his sides. His eyes met mine, wide, pleading–but he didn’t move forward. Not after I’d told him not to touch me. Not after the way I’d yanked my wrist from his grasp minutes ago.

“Niki…” I whispered, breath catching painfully in my throat. I didn’t know what I was asking yet. I only knew I needed to see him. Hear him. Feel him tell me that everything I was hearing was a lie.

His throat bobbed. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“Is he telling the truth?” I asked, louder this time. More steady. “About me?”

He went rigid. His entire body stilled like someone had driven a spike through his spine. For a full second, he didn’t answer.

Then finally–soft, evasive–he said, “He’s not a good person, Elena.”

I blinked.

“That’s not the answer to my question,” I said slowly, my voice thick, like I was talking through syrup. “You know I’d believe anything you said, right? I believe you. I’ve chosen to believe you. Because I thought we–because I thought you-” My voice broke, and I pressed my lips together before the dam burst.

“So please,” I whispered, desperate now. “Tell me. Is he telling the truth? Am I… really his daughter?”

Niki looked like he wanted to disappear.

His tongue flicked out, wetting his lips, but he still said nothing.

“Why aren’t you answering me?” I asked, voice trembling. “Is that-“I swallowed, my heart pounding like it wanted out of my chest, “-is that really why you married me? Is that what this whole thing was about?”

He stepped forward suddenly, hands reaching out, but I stepped back instantly, shaking my head. “Answer me first, Niki.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. His eyes flicked to the floor, then back to me, as if calcting, as if debating whether the truth was worth destroying everything we had built.

“Please…” he said instead. Let’s talk in private. I’ll tell you everything. I swear. Just–just not here. Not now.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you answer me? My voice was steel now. Fractured, maybe, but firm. I wouldn’t run from this—not now.

“Did you knowi?/ii” /iI asked. “Did you know, Niki?”

“Elena-

b1/4 /b

13:19 Frib, /b25 Jul G

“Did you or did you not know?!”

57%

Silence

And then–like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my chest–he spoke.

“I knew,” he said.

It was a whisper. But I heard it like a scream.

The world tilted on its axis.

My knees threatened to buckle, and I nearly staggered back. The voices in the room seemed to dull. The lights blurred into a smear of white. My ears

rang

+28)

“I’m a Morozov?” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. “I’m his daughter. His…”

The same Morozovs who allegedly ran Omerta. The samepany who had dragged my family into debt so deep, we had drowned in it for years. Who had siphoned every cent from my parents while they begged hospitals and insurance agencies for help paying my bills.

The same debt that had indirectly led to George’s death.

No.

No, no, no, no,

I squeezed my eyes shut. But I couldn’t block it out.

Iturned to Sergei. My throat felt like it had been stuffed with sandpaper. I needed to confirm it. I needed to. Please don’t let what I am thinking be the

case

“Omerta,” I rasped. “Omerta Credit Services. Do you know thatpany?”

Niki called my name, his voice breaking, but I didn’t look at him. Couldn’t. My feet moved forward as if of their own volition, carrying me toward the man I should have hated–who imed to be my father.

“Tell me i shouted. “Answer bme/b!”

Sergei didn’t blink. He frowned like he was confused.

“Omerta is one of mypanies,” he said calmly, Like bhe /bwasn’t talking about the corporate monster that had nearly destroyed my life.

My mouth went dry. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Thatpany had charged my familypound interest so grotesque, so inhumane, that it was unbelievable. Ten percent per week on the new total. We were suffocating. Because of him.

I stared at him this man who shared my eyes, my coloring, who stood now with silver lining his beard and temples, bound in cuffs, looking at me like be had the right to call homself my father.

becked slightly.

thought about George. The way bhe /bused to hold my hand when I was scared. The way he’d smiled through the pain. The way he’d driven through gleem, though nancial ruin, just to get me medicine on time

My adoptie tatter

No–my reat father

13:19 Fri, b25 /bJul G

He was real.

And now I stood in front of the man who had ensured that George died drowning in debt, stress, and heartbreak.

How… how was i supposed to face my mother after this?

71 shook my head. A sharp pain in my chest made me gasp. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Thurned.

+28

Iran.

I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t care. My heels clicked against the ballroom floor, but I couldn’t hear them over the pounding in my ears.

My mind reeled, flinging me back into the past–the cardiac arrest when I was fourteen, the ER lights shing above me, my mother’s hysterical sobs, George’s trembling voice as he clutched my cold hand.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

A congenital condition.

Gic

My mother hadn’t signed up for this when she’d adopted me. She wanted a normal child. A child lovable that wouldn’t bring ruin to her own life. But I’d done just that, I’d ruined her life. Not just me, but my biological father had also been the cause of it.

nearly stumbled as my vision swam. My chest ached–sharp and growing worse with every breath.

Then I felt arms around me.

Niki.

He caught me. Pulled me against him, his arms wrapped tight around my body like he could hold me together.

bBut /bit didn’tfort me.

I made bit /bworse.

His embrace used to feel like safety. Now it felt like betrayal disguised in silk.

1 let out a broken, breathless sob. “Let me go…”

“bena–please,” he whispered, voice thick with emotion. “Don’t shut me out. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to hurt you. I-”

as voce blurted i wasn’t hearing anything anymore.

As my mind, one memory shed.

taver gets to be too much, use your safeword,” he’d said multiple times. Always reminding me of this fact. “I’ll back off. No questions asked ”

17enbered that

ever thought 16

But ther

Now, the weight

ything crushed down at my chest like stone. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think

I couldn’t bfeel /banything except agony

13:19 Fri, b25 /bJul G G

*Red,” I said.

Niki stilled. “What?”

I looked up at him, tears pouring freely down my cheeks.

“I said Red, Niki. Stop. Just… stop.”

His eyes widened.

“Elena–”

“RED!” I screamed, shoving him back, ripping myself from his arms.

My voice echoed across the hallway like a thunderp. Most of the hall was empty, people had run as the gunshots rang out. I could see Seraphina frozen in ce though, her hand over her mouth. Her brother stood beside her, grim–faced. Two guards stood in front of both of them.

The remaining few stood and watched.

But I didn’t care.

It burt.

Oh God, it hurt so much.

bAnd /bit wouldn’t stop.