And for the first time since this war began, I let her see everything.
No masks.
No armor.
Just the man who would burn an empire for her…and did.
Chapter 26 – Vivian
“He’s alive. Where he goes from here…what happens next…that choice isn’t mine. It’s yours.”
The words hang in the air like smoke. I stare at Dimitri, barely processing what he’s just told me. My father… alive. After all the betrayal, the fear, the near-loss, he’s still breathing somewhere.
I don’t know how to feel. Relief? Anger? Confusion? The edges of my mind feel jagged, my heart heavy with a thousand emotions I can’t untangle.
“I…I need time,” I whisper finally, my voice small. My eyes won’t meet his. “I can’t…I can’t think about this right now. Just…give me time.”
He studies me for a long moment, those piercing eyes softening slightly. “Do you want to see him?” he asks quietly, almost afraid of my answer.
I shake my head, a shiver running through me. “No. Never. I never want to see his face again.”
He nods slowly. “I’ll wait,” he murmurs. “For as long as you need.”
I finally look at him, my chest tight, and see the unwavering intensity in his gaze. Even when the world has been cruel, dangerous, and twisted, he’s been my constant. My anchor.
“Thank you, Dimitri. For everything.”
***
The next few weeks come quickly. Dimitri moves us from the penthouse to his estate. My mother’s recovery is slow—private medical care under Rusnak protection keeps her safe—and the Kovals have scattered into hiding.
Dimitri becomes quieter, more introspective. His violence has turned inward. He avoids me. Never sleeps in the suite. Always out.
One evening, almost five weeks later, I find him at the stables behind the estate—a place so similar to where our story began. He’s feeding his horse, sleeves rolled, eyes distant, lost in thought. Usually, whenever he sees me coming, he would think up an excuse and disappear. But now, he just watches me quietly as I approach.
I step closer, hesitant. “Why have you been avoiding me?”
He murmurs, almost to himself, “You were never supposed to stay.”
Sunlight catches in my hair as I close the distance between us. “But I did.”
He doesn’t respond at first, just keeps brushing the horse, quiet and tense. The air feels heavy with everything left unsaid, the ghosts of violence and love tangled together.
I take another step, careful, reaching out. “I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Slowly, he lowers the brush, his dark eyes finally meeting mine. There’s a storm in them—a mixture of guilt, fear, and something softer, something meant only for me.
“You weren’t supposed to see this side of me,” he murmurs, voice rough. “The man you married…he shouldn’t exist in this world.”
I step even closer, letting my hand rest on his arm. “I’ve seen him. And I’ve stayed.”
He exhales, long and low, and finally, the tension in his shoulders eases, just slightly. For the first time in weeks, he looks at me not with distance, but with the quiet recognition of a shared bond that neither of us can—or wants to—deny.
Then his voice drops, heavy with a weight I’ve never heard before. “The Rusnak elders…they want me to distancemyself from you now that the scandal is over. To protect the family’s public image.”
The words hit me like a slap. I laugh, sharp and bitter, the sound breaking against the quiet of the stables. “So…I was good enough for revenge, but not for reputation?”
His hand snaps out, grabbing my wrist, eyes fierce, and for a second I feel the full force of him—protective, desperate, raw. “Don’t you dare think that,” he says, voice cracking, raw and unguarded. “They don’t understand…you’re the only thing in this world I didn’t plan.”
