Chapter 139 Anya
They came for me in the morning.
Alexei himself unlocked my chains. His face was clean. His suit was expensive. He looked like a businessman, not a monster.
"Get up," he said. "We are going somewhere."
"Where?"
"To a meeting. Important people are coming to the estate tonight. Government officials. Military officers. Men who keep this country running."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"You are going to be there as my wife. Smiling. Beautiful. Showing everyone that I am a man who has everything."
"I will not do it."
Alexei grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. His face was inches from mine. "Yes you will. Because if you do not, I will find Nikolai and I will cut him into pieces while you watch. Do you understand?"
I understood.
They took me upstairs to a bathroom. Let me shower for the first time in weeks. The water was hot. It stung my raw skin and open wounds. But it felt like heaven. When I finished, there were clothes waiting for me. A black dress. Elegant. Expensive. The kind of thing a mafia wife would wear to impress important men. I put it on. Let them do my hair and makeup. They covered the bruises and scars until I looked almost human again.
When I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized myself. I looked like Anya Volkov. The perfect wife. The beautiful prisoner.
Alexei came to inspect me. He smiled. "Perfect. Now remember. You smile. You stay by my side. You say nothing unless spoken to. And you act like you love me."
"I hate you."
"I know. But tonight you will pretend. Or Nikolai dies slowly while you watch."
He took my arm and led me downstairs. The estate was already filling with people. Men in expensive suits. Women in designer dresses. Everyone drinking champagne and pretending they were not criminals. Alexei paraded me around like a trophy. Introduced me to generals and ministers and businessmen. I smiled and nodded and played my part. Inside I was screaming.
The meeting started at eight. Everyone gathered in the main hall. Alexei gave a speech about unity and power and the future of their organization. I stood beside him, silent and obedient. Everything he wanted me to be.
Then at exactly nine o'clock, the windows exploded.
Gunfire erupted from every direction. People screamed. Tables flipped. Glasses shattered. Men in black poured through the broken windows like shadows. They had automatic weapons and grenades. They moved like soldiers, trained and efficient and deadly.
"We are under attack!" someone shouted.
Chaos erupted. People ran in every direction. Guards fired back but they were outnumbered and outgunned. Bodies started falling. Blood sprayed across the walls. The smell of gunpowder filled the air.
I stood frozen, not knowing what to do or where to go.
Alexei grabbed my arm. "We need to move. Now."
"Who is attacking us?"
"I do not know. But whoever they are, they brought an army. My forces combined with everyone here cannot stop this."
He started pulling me toward the back exit. But then he saw more attackers coming from that direction. We were surrounded.
"This way," Alexei said. He pulled me toward a side corridor away from the main fighting.
An explosion rocked the building. The floor shook. Part of the ceiling collapsed behind us. We kept running. Alexei was ahead of me, dragging me by the wrist. Then we reached a junction. Attackers appeared from both directions.
Alexei looked at me. Then at them. Then back at me.
And he let go of my wrist.
"I am sorry," he said.
Then he ran down a different corridor, leaving me alone, unarmed, defenseless. Nikolai would never have done that. Nikolai would have died before leaving me. But Alexei was not Nikolai. Alexei was a coward who only cared about himself.
The attackers moved toward me with guns raised. I closed my eyes and waited for the bullet.
It never came.
Instead I heard footsteps running and coming closer. I opened my eyes. One of the attackers was in front of me but he was not shooting. He was lowering his weapon.
"Mrs. Markov?" he said.
"Yes."
"Come with me. Now."
He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the chaos. We ran through corridors filled with smoke and gunfire, past bodies, past flames, past destruction. The building was falling apart around us. Ceilings collapsed. Walls crumbled. The heat was unbearable.
We reached a side door. He kicked it open. Fresh air hit my face. Outside was just as chaotic. Fires burned everywhere. Men fought and died. The estate was being destroyed piece by piece. We ran toward the trees at the edge of the property, away from the fighting, toward safety.
We were almost there when something hit me hard from behind. I fell. The guard tried to grab me but someone pulled him away. I heard a struggle. A gunshot. Then silence.
Darkness swallowed me. A bag went over my head. Hands grabbed me and dragged me across the ground. I tried to scream but my voice was gone. I tried to fight but my body was too weak. The hands pulled me through the trees, over roots and rocks and cold earth. The sounds of the battle faded behind me until there was nothing but the wind and my own ragged breathing.
We walked for a long time. Minutes or hours. I could not tell. My dress tore on branches. My bare feet bled on stones. But the hands did not stop. Did not slow down.
Finally, the hands let go of me. I heard footsteps walking away. Crunching through leaves. Then nothing.
I lay there for a long time, too afraid to move. The bag was still over my head. My hands were tied behind my back. I could hear nothing except the wind and the distant crackle of fire.
Slowly, carefully, I worked my hands against the rope. It took a long time. My wrists were raw and bleeding. But finally the rope loosened. I pulled my hands free and ripped the bag off my head.
I was alone.
Forest surrounded me on all sides. Tall trees. Dark shadows. No buildings. No lights. No sounds of people. The person who had brought me was gone. Disappeared into the night like a ghost. I could not tell if it had been a man or a woman. The hands had been strong but silent. The footsteps had been quick and sure.
I sat up and looked around. Nothing but trees and darkness and the cold night sky. I had no idea where I was. No idea which direction to go. No idea who had taken me or why they had let me go.
I wrapped my arms around myself and started to shake. The dress was thin. The night was cold. My body was broken and starving and exhausted.
But I was alive.
Nikolai had come for me. I knew it in my bones. He had burned the mansion. He had killed Alexei. He had destroyed everyone who had ever hurt me.
But he did not know where I was. He could not find me. Not here. Not in the middle of nowhere.
I looked up at the stars and prayed to a God I was not sure existed anymore.
Nikolai, I am here. I am alive. Please find me.
The wind howled through the trees. Somewhere in the distance, an animal cried out.
And I was alone.