Chapter 77 Anya
The room went silent.
A servant girl stood in the doorway. She was wearing a simple uniform. Her hands were trembling. But her eyes were determined.
"Who are you?" Ivanov demanded.
"I am Maria. I work in your factory." Her voice was shaking.
"What do you know about Dmitri Koslov's death?" The council asked.
She looked at me. Her eyes were filled with tears. "I am sorry, Miss. I should have said something sooner. But I was scared of what Mr. Ivanov would do to me."
"Enough of this!" Ivanov stood up. His face was red. "Guards! Remove this woman! She has no business here!"
"Wait!" One of the council members held up his hand. "Let her speak. We should hear all testimony."
"This is absurd! She is just a factory worker! What could she possibly know?"
"I was there," Maria said. Her voice was getting stronger. "The day Dmitri died. I saw everything."
"Saw what?" The head council member leaned forward.
"I was cleaning on the factory floor. Mr. Ivanov came in. He was angry. He started screaming at Dmitri, saying he was worthless. That he should have never made the deal with him."
"Lies!" Ivanov shouted. "I was not even at the factory that day!"
"You were," Maria said firmly. "You were there. And you had a metal pipe in your hand."
The room erupted. Council members started talking all at once.
"This is ridiculous!" Ivanov's voice rose above the noise. "This woman is making up stories! Probably paid by Markov to lie!"
"I am not lying!" Maria's voice cracked. "And no one paid me! I am here because I cannot stay silent anymore! I have children! What kind of example would I be if I let an innocent man die?"
"What did you see?" I asked. My voice was shaking.
"Dmitri was working. He was exhausted. He could barely stand. But he kept working because he was scared of what would happen if he stopped." Tears streamed down her face. "Mr. Ivanov started hitting him with the pipe. Over and over. Dmitri fell to the ground. He was begging him to stop. But Mr. Ivanov did not stop. He kept hitting him until..."
"Until what?" The council member pressed.
"Until he was not moving anymore." She was sobbing now. "Then Mr. Ivanov ordered the other guards to clean it up and make it look like an accident."
"These are serious accusations," the head council member said. "Do you have any proof?"
"I have this." Maria pulled out a small piece of cloth from her pocket. It was covered in blood. "I found it in the factory after they cleaned up."
Before a guard could collect it, Ivanov snatched it. "You are confused, Maria. You probably had a fever that day like you always do. You were hallucinating. Remember? You have a medical case of mental illness."
"I was not hallucinating! I know what I saw! And I cannot stay silent anymore!" She turned to the council. "Mr. Ivanov killed Dmitri Koslov."
"She's lying!" Ivanov turned to the council. "Gentlemen. My servant is mentally unstable. She's been receiving treatments since she got here. This is just another episode."
One of the council members looked sympathetic. "Mr. Ivanov. Is this true? Does your servant have a history of mental illness?"
"Yes. Unfortunately. It's in her report."
"No!" Maria screamed. "He is lying! Those records are fake! He made them up to discredit me!"
"Maria, please." Ivanov's voice turned soft. "You are not well. Let them take you back to your room to get you your medication."
"I do not need medication! I need you to tell the truth!"
But the damage was done. I could see it in the council members' faces. They believed Ivanov. Not his servant.
"This testimony is unreliable," the head council member said. "The girl is clearly disturbed. We cannot base a judgment on the words of someone mentally unstable."
"No!" Nikolai shouted. "She is telling the truth! Can you not see? Ivanov is manipulating you!"
"Mr Markov. Please stay quiet."
"Then what about the timing? What about the fact that Dmitri's body was cremated within hours? What about the convenient witness? What about the knife that was supposedly found weeks after I lost it?"
"All of that can be explained," Ivanov said smoothly. "The body was cremated quickly because it was standard protocol for factory accidents. And the knife was recovered while cleaning the factory."
"You have an answer for everything, do you not?" Nikolai spat.
"Because I am telling the truth. Unlike my poor, delusional servant."
Maria collapsed to her knees, sobbing. "Please. Please believe me. I am not crazy. I am not lying."
But no one listened. Guards came and took her away. She was screaming. But it did not matter.
I didn't know what to think.
Everything was happening so fast.
"Now," the head council member said. "We have heard enough. The evidence against Nikolai Markov is substantial. The testimony from Ivanov's servant is unreliable. The council finds the accused guilty of murder."
"No!" Nikolai screamed. "This is wrong! I did not kill him! Ivanov did!"
I looked at Nikolai. He was on his knees, bleeding.
My heart shattered. But I couldn't show sympathy.
He was my brother’s killer.
Tears stremed down my face.
"The sentence is death," the head council member continued. "To be carried out at dawn tomorrow. All assets belonging to Nikolai Markov, including territories, businesses, and..." He looked at me. "Personal property, will be transferred to Alexei Ivanov immediately."
Personal property. That includes me.
"Take the prisoner to the dungeons."
They grabbed Nikolai and hauled him to his feet.
He looked at me one last time. His eyes were empty. I looked away quickly as they dragged him away to the dungeons, where he would wait for his execution.
A guard walked up to me. "Miss Koskov, you belong to Mr. Ivanov now."
I couldn't say anything.
Ivanov walked over to me. "It is over, Anya. I got justice for your brother. See how better I am to that murderer."
I looked at him. He was smiling.
And as the saying goes, the devil you know is better than the angel you did not know.
Entering into Ivanov’s territory was the begining of my end.