Chapter 47 Chapter 47
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Irina's POV
I stared at Mikhail, completely shocked. My mind was trying to process what he just said.
Dimitri was alive, Dimitri was safe, and he had him.
Relief flooded through me so powerfully that tears started falling down my face immediately.
"He is alive," I whispered, my voice breaking. "He is really alive."
"Yes," Mikhail said simply.
Even though Dimitri did not remember me, even though he had amnesia, him being alive was enough.
It was more than enough, it was everything.
"Take me to him," I said quickly, leaning forward in my seat. "Please, I need to see him."
"No," Mikhail said flatly.
"Please," I begged. "I need to see him, I need to know he is okay."
"No," Mikhail repeated more firmly. "He has no memory of you."
His words were harsh, like a slap across my face.
My heart broke, the pain was physical, like something inside me was tearing apart.
"I can help him remember," I said desperately. "I can help bring back his memory, I know things about him, about us."
Mikhail turned to look at me properly for the first time since the journey started.
His gaze was dangerous, cold, and calculating.
"I think it is better if his memory stays locked," he said quietly.
"What?" I could not believe what I was hearing. "You want him to forget? Forever?"
"Yes," Mikhail said without hesitation.
"Why?" I asked, my voice rising. "Why would you want that? He deserves to know who he is!"
"You, Irina, will disappear from his life," Mikhail said coldly. "Since you got involved with the twins, it has been chaos, nothing but problems and violence."
My heart dropped into my stomach, I felt sick.
"It is my job to protect them," Mikhail continued. "Both of them, even if they hate each other, they are my responsibility."
"You are saying I will not see Dimitri again," I whispered. "Ever."
"It is for the greater good," Mikhail said. "You are carrying a bastard anyway. It's Alexei's child, and that complicates everything."
Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably now, I could not stop them.
After months of waiting, months of hoping, months of suffering, I would not see the man I loved.
Everything I had been through, everything I had survived, it was all for nothing.
"You are heartless," I said, my voice was filled with pain and anger.
"Dimitri and Alexei are my sons," Mikhail said, his voice was cold. "Do you think I will jeopardize their lives for your sake? An ordinary slave? Your life is not even worth a penny."
His words cut deeper than any knife, I felt worthless, like trash.
"Please," I begged, my hands clasped together. "Please, I love him, I love Dimitri, I need to see him."
"No," Mikhail said again with finality. His voice was dark and firm.
"Please!" I cried harder, my whole body was shaking. "Just once, let me see him just once, I will not talk to him, I will not tell him who I am."
"Your tears do not move me," Mikhail said coldly. "I have seen too many tears in my life, they mean nothing."
I sobbed into my hands, my heart was completely broken, my hope was gone.
Everything was gone. Dimitri was alive but I would never see him again, never touch him again, never tell him I loved him.
"What will happen to me now?" I asked quietly through my tears. "Where are you taking me?"
Mikhail was silent for a long moment, looking out the window as the car drove through dark streets.
"I will take you somewhere safe to start a new life," he finally said. "A family is waiting to accept you."
"A family?" I repeated. "What family?"
"A good family," Mikhail explained. "Far from here, far from this city, far from the underworld, they will take care of you and your child."
"I do not want to go," I said. "I want to stay here, I want to be near Dimitri."
"That is not an option," Mikhail said firmly. "You will go to this family, you will raise your child in peace, away from all of this chaos."
"And what about Dimitri?" I asked. "What will happen to him?"
"He will reclaim his position," Mikhail said. "He will return to being who he was."
"Without his memories?" I asked.
"We will help him relearn everything," Mikhail said. "His skills are still there, his instincts are still there, he just needs to remember his past."
"But not me," I whispered. "You will make sure he never remembers me."
Mikhail did not answer, but his silence was enough.
The car continued driving through the night, taking me further and further away from Dimitri.
I looked out the window at the passing lights, at the city I would never see again.
Everything I loved was being taken away from me. Dimitri, my home, my life.
And there was nothing I could do about it because I was powerless, just like Mikhail said, I was worthless.
"The family you are going to is kind," Mikhail said after a while. "They live in a small town, they own a bakery, they will treat you well."
"I do not care," I said quietly.
"You should care," Mikhail said. "For your child's sake, you should care, this child deserves a peaceful life."
He was right, I knew he was right, but it did not make the pain any less.
"Will I ever see Dimitri again?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.
"No," Mikhail said simply. "Never."
The word hung in the air like a death sentence.
I would never see Dimitri again. I would never hear his voice. I would never feel his arms on me.
He would go on living without knowing I existed, without knowing we loved each other.
And I would go on living knowing he was alive somewhere but forever out of reach.
It was a cruel fate, worse than death in some ways.
"Can I at least know that he is happy?" I asked quietly. "Can you promise me that?"
Mikhail looked at me, his cold eyes softened just slightly for a moment.
"I will make sure he is safe," he said. "That is all I can promise.”