Page 76 of The Pakhan’s Debt by Leona White

“Who are the staff who moved out of line today?” I ask.

Mrs. Wentworth continues, “The kitchen runner carried hot water twice to the east hall without being asked. The laundry cart left early. One of the drivers was near the side gate when Dr. Markova arrived. If I noticed, so did anyone paid to notice.”

Abramov’s mouth tightens. “Karpov’s men?”

“Karpov is alive,” I say. “Don’t speak of him as if his reach died because his first move failed.”

Elena’s fingers are still on the table.

Abramov scrolls once, then tilts the tablet so I can see.

“We intercepted this through a trusted runner,” he says, tapping the line. “Someone close to Karpov thinks Elena is pregnant.” No one moves. Elena closes her eyes for a second.

Abramov looks at me. Only me.

“Pakhan, if she’s carrying your child, Moretti pushes faster, and Karpov uses it to force her status before you set the terms.”

Abramov looks back at the tablet.

“There’s another line. If she can’t be controlled, the pregnancy makes her dangerous enough to remove from the board.”

Elena opens her eyes, and every inch of her face changes. She looks straight at Abramov and says, “Remove from the board?”

Abramov looks at me instead of her.

“Elena asked you,” I say.

His throat works. “It means they’re asking whether you become a threat if you won’t cooperate.”

“No,” she says, looking at me, steady enough to turn every head at the table. “It means Karpov wants your men looking at me instead of him. If they argue over me, they stop watching who gets in.”

She reaches for the letter and turns it toward herself. “Sergei calls the baby continuity because he wants everyone using his words. If this room starts doing that, he’s already in the meeting.”

Mrs. Wentworth’s eyes flick to me. She nods, once.

Elena points to the middle of Sergei’s letter. “The child matters. He’s also saying he may have legal triggers tied to pregnancy, marriage, or public claim. Maybe he does, or maybe he wants Maksim rushing to formalize me before we know what activates.”

Leonid leans forward, and his eyes sharpen behind his glasses. “That’s possible.”

“It’s more than possible,” Elena says. “It’s how he works. He builds pressure, then lets the other side hurry into the mistake.”

I look at Leonid. “Could marriage trigger anything?”

“If Sergei tied continuity events to dormant filings, yes.”

Elena gives him a cool look. “Not if. Where.”

Leonid takes that without flinching, and I almost smile. Good one, Elena.

Abramov says, “Security still has to move.”

“It will,” I say.

Elena turns to me. “Stop treating every route change as if it solves what my father built. He wants security pressure. He wants me angry at you. Karpov whispering that I’m dangerous. Moretti asking if I’m still listed. All of that pushes you toward a public claim before we control the paperwork.”

Color rises in her cheeks as she speaks, and her fingers press flat on the table near Sergei’s letter. Her mouth is pale at the edges, but her chin stays up.

I lean back. “And your recommendation, Counselor?”