Page 44 of Bought By the Ruthless Pakhan

Ivan

"Of course not!"

I nearly roared.

Five years.

I'd spent five goddamn years looking for her.

And now? She stood right in front of me, casually telling me she'd slept with some guy for one night and gotten pregnant. Like she was putting that bastard on the same level as me.

Fine, I'd admit I wasn't a good man. I'd had my hands in plenty of shit, but I had one bottom line—I'd never leave a woman to raise my kid alone.

Just thinking about what her life might've been like felt like a red-hot iron pressed against my chest, the pain tearing through every breath.

I wanted to know who that man was. Wanted to snap his neck with my bare hands.

"Ivan, you're scaring me."

Anna's voice trembled, panic bleeding through. Her hand still pressed against my chest, so pale, so delicate—like I could snap it with the slightest pressure.

Through the fabric of my shirt, I could feel her shaking.

Calm down.

Ivan, you need to calm the hell down.

I sucked in a breath and forced myself to step back, giving her space.

These five years, I'd imagined finding her a thousand times. I thought she'd throw herself into my arms crying, or curse me out for wrongly accusing her back then, or maybe go completely ballistic.

But I never imagined she'd be this calm. So calm it was like I was just some old neighbor she'd bumped into on the street, exchanging pleasantries about the weather.

She wouldn't even spare me her anger.

She just pushed me away, like shoving aside a chair in her path. Like these five years I'd spent clinging to hope, every single day—it was all just some one-man show I'd written myself.

In her world, I wasn't even a supporting character.

Anna shouldered her bag and headed for the door. No hesitation in her step.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, pressed hard, shoving that explosive frustration back down.

A voice in my head reminded me: Don't rush. You can't rush. You scared her. She ran once before. If she runs again, you won't even catch her shadow.

I knew she was in New York. There had to be a way to bring her back to me.

Nadia came up with juice and saw Anna heading downstairs. She immediately followed.

"Anna, are you leaving?"

Anna smiled faintly. "Yeah, work's done. I need to get home."

Nadia wanted to say more, but Anna stopped. She turned around and picked up the juice Nadia had prepared for her, drinking more than half.

"Nadia, thank you for having me. It was really good to see you today."

When she said that last sentence, her gaze swept across my face. Just for an instant. So quick it felt like an illusion.