Chapter 151 Anya
I sat on the floor beside my grandfather's body, my hands still wet with his blood. Alexander stood over me, his cold eyes watching, waiting.
"You will sign the papers," he said.
"No."
"You do not have a choice."
I looked up at him. "You cannot force me. I will never sign anything you put in front of me."
Alexander smiled. It was the smile of a snake. "I was hoping you would say that."
He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. Then he turned it toward me.
A video played. Grainy security footage from a warehouse. I saw Nikolai, his hands tied, surrounded by guards. Then I saw him talking to them, convincing them, bribing them. I watched as they untied him and led him toward a door.
My heart soared. He was escaping. He was coming for me.
Then the video changed. A new image appeared. A diagram of the warehouse, covered in red dots.
"Those are explosives," Alexander said. "Enough to level the entire building. I had them installed before I left. Every exit is wired. Every window is wired. The moment anyone tries to leave, the bombs will detonate."
My blood ran cold. "You are lying."
The video switched to a live feed. The warehouse appeared on screen, surrounded by Alexander's men. Then I saw Nikolai. He was climbing over a fence, running into the darkness.
But behind him, the warehouse was still standing. Still intact. The bombs had not gone off.
Alexander laughed. "Do not worry. He is safe. For now."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to sign the papers. All of them. Every document that transfers your inheritance to me. Every share. Every ruble. Every property. Everything."
"And if I refuse?"
Alexander tapped his phone again. A new image appeared. A map of Moscow with a red dot in the center.
"That is the safe house where Nikolai is hiding right now. I have men following him. I know exactly where he is. And I have bombs planted there too."
"You are a monster."
"I am a businessman." He stepped closer, his shadow falling over me. "You have five minutes to decide. Sign the papers, and Nikolai lives. Refuse, and I will press this button."
He held up a small remote. Red button. Innocent looking. But I knew what it could do.
"How do I know you will keep your word?"
"You do not. But you have no choice."
I looked at my grandfather's body. At the blood on my hands. At the cold, cruel face of my brother.
"Bring me the papers."
Alexander smiled. He snapped his fingers. A lawyer appeared from the hallway, carrying a thick folder. He spread the documents on a table beside the bed.
"Sign here," Alexander said, pointing. "And here. And here. Initial every page."
I picked up the pen. My hand was shaking so badly I could barely hold it.
"What about the bombs?" I asked. "If I sign, you will disarm them?"
"Of course. I am not a killer. I am just a man who wants what is his."
I signed the first page. Then the second. Then the third. Each signature felt like a piece of my soul being torn away.
I did not want the money. I had never wanted the money. But signing it over to Alexander felt like betraying my grandfather's final wish. Even if he was a monster. Even if he had ruined my life.
The last page. I hesitated.
Alexander held up the remote. "Do not test my patience."
I signed my name. Anya Markov. My real name. The name I had chosen. Not Volkov. Not Volkova. Markov.
The lawyer gathered the papers and handed them to Alexander. He flipped through them, checking each signature, each initial.
"Perfect," he said. "Everything is in order. The wealth is now mine."
"Now disarm the bombs."
"Of course." He smiled. "I said I would disarm them. I did not say when."
"What?"
He pressed the red button on the remote.
On his phone screen, the warehouse exploded. Flames shot into the night sky. Smoke billowed. The building crumbled into rubble.
"No!" I screamed.
I lunged at him, but his guards grabbed me, held me back. I kicked and clawed and fought, but they were too strong.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
Alexander watched me struggle, his face expressionless. "I am sorry, sister. But I could not take the risk. If I left Nikolai alive, he would have come for you. He would have destroyed everything I built. This was the only way."
"You killed him! You killed my husband!"
"He was already dead. He just did not know it yet."
I collapsed to the floor, sobbing. My chest heaved. My throat burned. My whole body shook with grief.
Alexander knelt beside me. He tilted my chin up with his finger.
"Do not worry," he said softly. "You will get used to the pain. After a while, you will not feel anything at all."
He stood up and walked toward the door. The guards followed. The lawyer followed.
"You cannot leave me here," I said.
"I am not leaving you here. I am taking you back to Moscow. You will live in my house. You will be my guest. Forever."
"I would rather die."
Alexander paused at the door. He looked back at me, his eyes cold and empty.
"That can be arranged."
The door closed. The lock clicked.
I was alone with my grandfather's body and the knowledge that Nikolai was gone.
The building on the screen was still burning. Flames and smoke and ash.
And somewhere in those flames was the man I loved. The man I had signed everything away to save. The man Alexander had killed anyway.
I laid my head on my grandfather's chest and wept.
I had nothing left. No money. No family. No hope.
But as I cried, I heard something. A voice shouting.
The phone was still playing the live feed.
I looked up.
Through the smoke and flames, I saw a figure running and limping. But alive.mmm
Nikolai.
He had survived the explosion.
But Alexander was already gone. He did not know. He thought Nikolai was dead.
I grabbed the phone and clutched it to my chest.
Nikolai was alive.
And I would find a way to get back to him. Even if I had to burn Alexander's whole world to the ground.