Chapter 109 Chapter 109
Chapter One Hundred and Nine
Irina
"What?!" I stared at Dimitri like he had just told me the world was ending.
"He is faking it," Dimitri said. "Alexei never lost his memory. It was all an act."
"How... how do you know?" I whispered.
"I heard him," Dimitri started pacing again, his movements jerky and agitated. "On the phone. He was talking to someone. Saying the plan was in motion. That I had bought the amnesia act completely."
"What plan?" I asked, even though I was terrified of the answer.
"He said..." Dimitri's voice broke. He stopped pacing and looked at me. His eyes were filled with such pain it made my chest ache. "He said when he gets out of the hospital, he is going to take his son and the baby's mother."
The room spun. I gripped the edge of the couch so I would not fall.
Dimitri's jaw clenched. He looked like he was about to be sick. And I knew there was more. Maybe even worse.
"Dimitri?" I pressed. "Tell me. What did Alexei say?"
"He made a proposal," Dimitri said quietly.
"What kind of proposal?" I asked slowly, my voice shaking.
Dimitri would not meet my eyes. "He said... he said I could keep you. But he gets Nikolai," The words seemed to physically hurt him to say. "He said if I give him the baby, he will let you stay with me."
For a moment, I could not do anything except stare at my husband in absolute horror.
"Did you..." I started, my voice shaking. "Did you even consider it?"
"No!" Dimitri said immediately. "Of course not! I would never…"
"Then why do you look like that?" I demanded. Tears were streaming down my face now. "Why do you look so torn?"
"Because I am trying to find a way to keep both of you safe!" Dimitri shouted. "Because no matter what I do, I lose! Do you not see that?"
"I cannot part with my baby," I said, shaking my head. "I cannot. I will not."
"Irina…"
"No!" I stood up, my whole body shook with fury and fear. "That is my son! Alexei might have slept with me, but Nikolai is MINE!"
"I know," Dimitri said desperately. "I know that. But…"
"But nothing!" I screamed. "There is no but here! You cannot ask me to choose between my child and you because I will choose him! Every single time, I will choose that innocent baby!"
Dimitri flinched like I had slapped him.
"Please," he begged. His voice was breaking now. Tears were running down his face. "Please, Irina. Just listen to me."
"What?" I demanded. "What could you possibly say that would make this okay?"
"I will give you another baby,"
Dimitri said desperately. He grabbed my hands, holding them tight. "As many as you want. We can have five children. Ten children. But please... please just let Alexei have this one."
The slap came before I even realized I was moving.
My palm connected with Dimitri's face with a sharp crack that echoed through the study.
"How dare you," I hissed. Fury was coursing through my veins like fire. "How dare you suggest such a thing!"
Dimitri's hand went to his cheek. He was staring at me in shock.
"Do you hear yourself?" I continued, my voice shaking with rage. "You want me to abandon my baby? The child I carried for nine months? The child I gave birth to? The child I almost died protecting?"
"Irina, please…"
"Replace him?" I spat. "You think you can just replace Nikolai like he is a broken toy? Like he means nothing?"
"That is not what I meant!" Dimitri protested.
"Then what did you mean?" I demanded. "Explain it to me! Explain how giving my baby to the monster who raped me is somehow the right thing to do!"
"Because if you keep Nikolai, Alexei will never stop coming after you!" Dimitri shouted back. "He will hunt you. He will find you. And when he does…"
He stopped.
"When he does, what?" I pressed.
"He will take you both," Mikhail said quietly from the corner.
I had almost forgotten he was there.
I turned to look at him. "What?"
"Alexei will not accept losing," Mikhail explained. His face was somber. "If you keep the baby, he will come for both of you. And he will not stop until he has what he wants."
"So what are you saying?" I asked. My voice was hollow now. All the fight had drained out of me.
Mikhail exchanged a long look with Dimitri.
"Say it," I demanded. "Whatever it is, just say it."
"If you choose to keep Nikolai," Mikhail said slowly. "You cannot stay here. You cannot stay with Dimitri."
My heart stopped.
"What?" I whispered.
"Alexei wants his son," Mikhail said. "And he wants you, Irina. Those are his two demands."
"Yes," I said slowly. "So?"
"So you have to give him what he wants." Mikhail suggested.
I felt the blood drain from my face. "What are you saying?"
"I am saying," Mikhail continued carefully. "What if both you and Nikolai went with Alexei?"
"Absolutely not!" Dimitri roared. "Are you insane?"
"Hear me out," Mikhail said, holding up his hands. "If Irina agrees to stay with Alexei, not as his wife, but as... as the mother of his child. Then Alexei gets what he wants. And he has no reason to hurt anyone else."
"You want me to whore myself out to my rapist?" I asked. My voice was deadly quiet.
"I want you to survive," Mikhail replied. "And keep your son. This might be the only way to do both."
"No," Dimitri said flatly. "No. I will not allow it."
"It is not your decision," Mikhail said.
"The hell it is not!" Dimitri shouted. "She is my wife!"
"And Nikolai is her son," Mikhail countered. "She has already said she would choose him over you. This is just... making that choice official."
Dmitri looked hurt.
I felt sick. My stomach was churning.
"Let me understand this," I said slowly. "You want me to go live with Alexei. Let him... touch me and use me. All so I can stay with my baby?"
"And keep Dimitri safe," Mikhail added. "And prevent a war. And protect everyone in this organization."
"That is insane," I whispered.
"It is survival," Mikhail corrected.
I looked at Dimitri. He was shaking his head violently.
"Do not even consider it," he said. "Please, Irina. There has to be another way."
"What way?" I asked. "Tell me what other option there is."
Dimitri opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again. But nothing came out.
Because there was no other option.
I shut my eyes, thinking deeply. I thought about Nikolai. That innocent soul who doesn't deserve everything that's happening.
And Dmitri. My husband.
"How long would I have to stay with him?" I said finally.
“Irina… no,” Dmitri pleaded.
Mikhail's face darkened. "I do not know. Until Alexei loses interest maybe. Or until we can find another solution. It could be months. It could be years."
Was this worth the risk?
I felt tears sliding down my face again. But I was not sobbing. I was strangely calm.
"Dimitri would be here," Mikhail continued. "Running the organization. Living his life."
I looked at my husband. The man I loved more than anything, funnily except my son.
His face was twisted in agony.
"I cannot lose you," he whispered. "Please do not do this."
"I do not want to," I replied honestly.
"But I do not see another choice."
"Then let me find one," Dimitri begged. "Give me time. Let me think. There has to be something…"
A loud knock interrupted him.
We all froze.
"Mr. Volkov?" A voice called from outside the study. "Sir, there is someone here to see you."
"Not now!" Dimitri shouted.
"Sir, Mr. Alexei," the guard continued. "He says it's urgent."
The room went absolutely silent.