Chapter 130 Choater130
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty
Dimitri
Nikolai was gone.
Those three words kept repeating in my mind like a death sentence.
Irina was screaming, crying, clawing at the empty car seat like she could somehow bring him back.
"Where is he?" she sobbed. "Where is my baby?"
I pulled her into my arms even though I wanted to scream too.
"Viktor," I called out calmly. "Find whoever was supposed to be guarding this vehicle."
Viktor nodded and ran off.
I looked down at the car seat.
There was no blood, no sign of struggle. Because he was just a baby.
Whoever took Nikolai did it quietly without alerting anyone.
"Dimitri," Irina choked out. "Please tell me we will find him. Please tell me he is safe."
I wanted to promise her that.
But I could not lie to her.
"We will find him," I said instead. "I swear to you, we will find him."
Viktor came back with two of his men dragging a guard between them.
The guard looked terrified.
"This was the one assigned to watch the vehicles," Viktor said coldly.
I walked over to him.
Every step sent pain shooting through my broken ribs but I did not care.
"Where is my son?" I asked quietly.
The guard's eyes went wide.
"I don't know, sir," he stammered. "I was doing my rounds. When I came back, the door was open and..."
"And you saw nothing?" I demanded.
"No sir," he replied. "I swear I saw nothing."
I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the vehicle.
"My son is missing," I said, my voice shaking with rage. "And you expect me to believe you saw nothing?"
"Dimitri," Mikhail's voice came from behind me. "Let him go. He is telling the truth."
I turned to look at Mikhail.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Because I saw the security footage," Mikhail said, holding up a tablet. "From the cameras Viktor's men installed when we arrived."
I released the guard and walked over to Mikhail.
"Show me," I ordered.
Mikhail played the footage.
It showed the convoy, the vehicles, the guards walking around.
Then a figure appeared.
They moved quickly, almost too fast for the camera to catch.
They went straight to our vehicle, opened the door and took Nikolai.
The whole thing took less than thirty seconds.
"Go back," I said. "Slow it down."
Mikhail rewound the footage and played it again in slow motion.
This time I could see the figure more clearly.
They were wearing dark clothes, a hood covering their face.
But there was something familiar about the way they moved.
"Stop," I said. "Right there."
The footage froze on a frame where the figure's hand was reaching for Nikolai.
On their wrist was a bracelet.
A silver bracelet with a distinctive design.
I had seen that bracelet before. Many years ago.
"No," I whispered.
"What is it?" Viktor asked.
I looked at him, then at Irina who had come over to see the footage.
"I know who took Nikolai," I said.
"Who?" Irina demanded.
Before I could answer, one of Viktor's men came running over.
"Sir!" he shouted. "We found something else!"
"What now?" Viktor asked, frustrated.
"Another body," the man said breathlessly. "In the wine cellar."
My heart sank.
"Who?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"We are not sure," the man replied. "But you need to see this."
We followed him into the villa. Down the stairs to the wine cellar.
The smell of blood hit me first.
The body was lying face down in a pool of blood.
Viktor knelt beside it and carefully turned it over.
Then he cursed.
"Is that..." Irina started.
"Yes," Viktor said grimly.
It was one of Alexei's most trusted guards.
The man who had access to everything. Including the punishment cells.
"He was the one who killed Petrov," I said, understanding dawning on me.
"But who killed him?" Mikhail asked.
I looked around the wine cellar.
On the wall, written in blood, was a message.
"The game has just begun."
"What does that mean?" Irina asked, her voice shaking.
I knew exactly what it meant.
Whoever was behind this was not just taking revenge.
They were playing with us.
"We need to go back to that room," I said. "The one with the journal."
"Why?" Viktor asked.
"Because I need to see that name again," I replied. "I need to be sure."
We rushed back to the servant's quarters.
I grabbed the journal and flipped to the last page.
There it was.
The name that had shocked me before. But now I looked at it differently.
"It is a code," I said suddenly.
"What?" Mikhail asked.
"The name," I explained. "It is written in code. Look at the capital letters."
Viktor leaned over my shoulder and looked.
His face went pale.
"That is impossible," he whispered.
"What is impossible?" Irina demanded. "Who is it?"
I showed her the journal.
Showed her how if you took only the capital letters from the name and rearranged them, they spelled out a different name.
A name that made everything make sense.
"Lucia?" Irina breathed.
"Our old nanny," I said quietly. "The woman who raised Alexei and me when we were children."
"But she left years ago," Viktor said. "After your mother paid her off."
"Maybe she never really left," I replied. "She has been watching us all this time."
I flipped through the journal again, reading faster now. Looking for answers.
Then I found it.
A page near the beginning.
Lucia had loved Alexei and me like her own sons.
When our parents were fighting or absent, which was often, she was the one who took care of us.
She taught us to be brothers. To always stick together. To love each other no matter what.
But then our mother paid her off one night.
Told her she was no longer needed.
Lucia had begged to take us with her. But our mother refused.
Said she had someone better. So Lucia left. But she never stopped watching. Never stopped caring.
"She has been planning this for years," I said, my voice hollow.
"But why take Nikolai?" Irina asked. "Why hurt us now?"
I kept reading.
And then I understood.
"Because of you," I said, looking at Irina.
"What?" she whispered.
"Lucia watched us grow up together," I explained. "Alexei and I were always together. Always united. Just like she taught us."
"And then Irina came along," Viktor said slowly.
"And everything changed," I finished. "Alexei and I turned against each other. We became enemies. All because of..."
I stopped.
I could not say it.
"All because of me," Irina said quietly. "She blames me for destroying your relationship with Alexei."
"It is not your fault," I said firmly.
"But that is what she thinks," Irina replied. "That is why she took Nikolai. To punish me."
"And now she has Nikolai," I said. "She has our baby. And according to this journal, she plans to raise him herself. Like her own grandson."
The words hung in the air.
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One
Irina
I stood frozen.
A stranger was planning to raise my son?
My hands trembled as I tried to process what Dimitri had just revealed.
Lucia.
The woman who had raised Dimitri and Alexei.
The woman who blamed me for destroying their brotherhood.
"We need to move fast," Viktor said. "Every second counts."
"Check the footage again," Dimitri told Mikhail. "See which direction she went."
Mikhail pulled up the security cameras.
We watched as Lucia left the villa.
She walked calmly, carrying Nikolai like nothing was wrong. Like she had every right to take my baby.
She went to the east gate where a car was waiting. She got in and drove away.
"Get the license plate," Viktor ordered.
"Already on it," one of his men replied.
Dimitri looked at the journal again, searching for answers.
For anything that would tell us where Lucia was taking our son.
Then he saw it.
On the last page, below the coded name, was an address.
"Here," he said, pointing. "This has to be it."
Viktor looked at the address.
"That is in the industrial district," he said. "About an hour away."
"Then we leave now," Dimitri said.
He tried to stand but his legs gave out.
The pain from his ribs was too much.
"Let me give you something for the pain," the medic said, pulling out a syringe. "This will help," he explained. "But it will only last a few hours."
Dimitri nodded and the medic injected the medicine.
Within seconds, the pain seemed to dull on his face.
"Let us go," Dimitri said.
We rushed to the vehicles.
I climbed in beside him.
Viktor and Mikhail took the lead vehicle.
The convoy started moving.
Heading towards the industrial district.
"We will get him back," Dimitri told me.
I nodded but I could not hide the fear in my eyes.
Fear that we might be too late. That Lucia might hurt Nikolai. Or worse.
But she wouldn't hurt him right?
I had to stay focused. I had to believe we would find him in time.
The drive felt endless.
Every minute felt like an hour. I kept thinking about Nikolai. About his smile. About the way he reached for me when I entered the room. About how small and helpless he was.
Finally, we reached the industrial district.
Old warehouses and abandoned factories lined the streets.
"Which building?" Viktor asked over the radio.
Dimitri checked the address again.
"The one at the end," he said. "The old textile factory."
We pulled up outside.
The building was dark, seemingly abandoned.
But I knew better.
Lucia was in there with Nikolai. And possibly Alexei.
"Spread out," Viktor ordered his men. "Surround the building. No one gets in or out."
The men moved into position.
Dimitri got out of the vehicle. I was right beside him.
"You should stay here," he told me.
"No," I said firmly. "That is my son in there. I am coming."
He knew better than to argue.
We approached the building carefully.
Viktor tried the door. It was unlocked.
"That is not a good sign," Mikhail muttered.
We entered slowly.
The inside was dark and dusty. Old machinery sat rusting in the corners.
"Hello?" Dimitri called out.
His voice echoed through the empty space.
Then I heard it.
The cry of a baby.
Nikolai.
"Nikolai!" I screamed.
I ran towards the sound without thinking.
"Irina, wait!" Dimitri shouted.
But I did not listen.
My baby was crying.
My baby needed me.
I ran deeper into the darkness, following the sound of his cries.
"Irina!" Dimitri called again.
But I kept running.
The crying got louder and closer.
I was almost there.
I almost had my son.
Then someone grabbed me from behind.
A cloth pressed over my mouth and nose. I tried to fight, tried to scream. But the chemical on the cloth was too strong.
My vision blurred.
My body went limp.
And I fell into darkness.
When I woke up, my head was pounding.
I tried to move but could not.
My hands were tied behind my back.
My feet bound to the legs of a chair. I blinked, trying to focus. I was in a small room with concrete walls, one window with bars. A single light bulb was hanging from the ceiling.
"You are awake," a voice said.
I turned my head.
A woman was sitting across from me, watching me with cold eyes.
"Lucia," I said, my voice hoarse. "Please don't do this?"
"Why?" she repeated, standing up. "Why shouldn't I?"
"Please," I said.
She walked closer.
"You destroyed my boys," she said simply. "Dimitri and Alexei. I raised them. I loved them. I taught them to be brothers. To always protect each other."
She knelt in front of me.
"When their parents were fighting, I was the one who comforted them. When they were scared, I was the one who held them. They were my sons in everything but blood."
"I did not know," I whispered.
"Of course you did not," Lucia said bitterly. "Because no one cares about the help. No one remembers the nanny who gave everything."
"Lucia..."
"Their mother paid me off one night," Lucia continued. "Gave me money and told me to leave. I begged her to let me take the boys with me. They needed me. They loved me."
Tears filled her eyes.
"But she said no. Said she had someone better. So I left. But I never stopped watching. Never stopped caring for my boys."
"Then why hurt them now?" I asked.
"I am not hurting them," Lucia said. "I am saving them. I am bringing them back together."
"By kidnapping Nikolai?" I demanded. "By torturing Dimitri?"
"By removing the poison," Lucia replied, looking at me with so much hatred. "You."
My blood ran cold.
"I watched them for years," Lucia said. "I watched Dimitri and Alexei work together. Build the family business. They were united. Strong like brothers."
She stood up and paced the room.
"But then you came along. Am ordinary slave. A nobody. And Dimitri fell for you. He became obsessed with you. He pushed Alexei away. He forgot what it meant to be a Volkov."
"That is not true," I said.
"Is
it not?" Lucia asked. "Alexei betrayed Dimitri because he felt abandoned. Because his brother chose you over him. All of this pain, all of this suffering, it all started with you."
"I love Dimitri," I said. "And he loves me."
"Love," Lucia spat. "Love destroyed everything. Love turned brothers into enemies. Love ruined my boys."
She walked to the door and knocked twice.
It opened.
Two men entered, dragging someone between them.
My heart stopped.
It was Alexei.