“Stay with me. They’re my children.”
“They’re our children. And they’re asking to go home. You heard Mila.”
“They’ll adjust.”
“To what? Living in this house instead of the estate? To be confused about why their father isn’t there anymore?”
“You should have thought about that before you spent three years manipulating my family.”
She’s right. But that doesn’t change the current reality.
“I’ll give you space,” I say. “But I’m not walking away from the twins. I’ll see them. Regularly. Whether you like it or not.”
“Fine.”
“And you need to read those documents. Actually read them. Not just dismiss them because you’re angry.”
“I’ll read them when I’m ready.”
I stand. Look at Viktor and Svetlana. “I know you hate me right now. That’s fair. But your daughter married me. Your grandchildren are my children. We’re connected, whether any of us likes it. At some point, we’ll have to figure out how to make this work.”
“Get out of my house,” Viktor says.
I look at Anna one more time. She won’t meet my eyes.
“I’ll call tomorrow about seeing the twins.”
“Fine.”
I walk out. Pavel follows me to the car. “That went well,” he says dryly.
“Shut up and drive.”
We head back to the estate. The house feels empty without them. Too quiet. Too big.
I go to my study and sit behind my desk. The Kestrel Maritime files are still scattered where Anna left them. She found the worst possible documents at the worst possible time. Right when I was about to show her I’d changed everything.
Now she thinks I’m lying. Thinks the restructuring is just another manipulation. And I don’t know how to prove otherwise.
My phone rings. Maxim.
“I heard,” he says. “Pavel called me. Are you okay?”
“No.”
“What do you need?”
“I need Anna to believe me. I need my children back in my house. I need to fix this.”
“Can you? Fix it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you want me to come over?”
“No. I need to think.”
I hang up and stare at the empty study.
