Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Burgundy Dress
Vadim went first.
Elara followed.
The hidden staircase led beneath the mansion to a small archival room.
There was no treasure.
No piles of money.
Only boxes.
Hundreds of them.
Each bore dates.
Catherine had documented everything.
Bank transfers.
Shell companies.
Gerald's theft.
Patrick's debts.
And something worse.
A folder containing reports about Elara.
Gerald had been monitoring her since childhood.
School schedules.
Friends.
Photographs.
Vadim's face became colder with every page.
"He wasn't protecting you from society," Vadim said. "He was tracking you."
Patrick stood silently.
Mara searched another box.
Then she found a burgundy envelope.
Her name was written across it.
Mara Fagan.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Catherine and Mara's mother.
On the back:
If anything happens to me, Mara's mother knows the second location.
Mara went pale.
"My mother?"
Patrick cursed under his breath.
"Where is she?"
"At home."
Vadim immediately dispatched men.
Too late.
Mara's mother was gone.
Her front door had been left open.
No sign of struggle.
Only a burgundy scarf on the floor.
Mara recognized it.
Her mother had worn it to Catherine's funeral.
They returned to Vadim's estate before sunrise.
Elara sat alone in the kitchen.
Vadim found her there.
"You should sleep."
"So should you."
"I don't sleep much."
"Neither do I."
He sat opposite her.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Elara asked, "Were you really going to kiss me?"
Vadim stared at her.
She laughed softly.
"Sorry. Terrible timing."
"Yes."
Her smile disappeared.
"I keep thinking about it."
"Why?"
"Because I almost had one normal moment."
Vadim leaned back.
"Elara, normal is overrated."
"Says the Bratva king."
"Exactly."
She laughed again.
It felt strange.
Good strange.
He watched her.
Then his expression became serious.
"You can still leave this marriage."
"Do you want me to?"
"No."
The answer was immediate.
Her heart skipped.
"Why?"
"Because I like having you here."
"That's almost romantic."
"Don't spread it around."
She smiled.
Vadim stood.
This time Elara stopped him.
"Wait."
He did.
She walked toward him.
Every step felt enormous.
"Can I touch you?"
Something changed in his eyes.
"Yes."
She placed her hand against his.
Nothing happened.
No humiliation.
No joke.
No rejection.
His fingers slowly closed around hers.
Elara looked at their hands.
"This is ridiculous."
"What?"
"I'm twenty-seven and holding someone's hand feels terrifying."
Vadim lifted her hand slightly.
"Then we'll start here."
She looked up.
He didn't kiss her.
And somehow that made her trust him more.
Morning brought another revelation.
The flash drive recovered outside the mansion contained a recording.
Catherine.
Elara watched her mother's face appear on the screen.
"If Elara is seeing this, Patrick failed."
Patrick flinched.
Catherine continued.
"Gerald has been stealing money, but money isn't the greatest danger. He has been collecting leverage on powerful families across Chicago. Judges. Police. Businessmen."
Vadim leaned closer.
Then Catherine said his surname.
"Sokolov."
Vadim froze.
Catherine explained that Gerald possessed information about the Sokolov organization.
That explained the arranged marriage.
Patrick hadn't selected Vadim merely for protection.
Gerald wanted access to him.
Elara looked at Vadim.
"My father delivered me to you because Gerald wanted you."
"Apparently."
"That's comforting."
"No."
Catherine's recording continued.
"The second archive is held by someone I trust."
A name appeared.
Margaret Bell.
Elara turned.
Margaret had disappeared after the wedding.
Vadim ordered a search.
They found her phone abandoned near the airport.
But a surveillance camera showed Margaret leaving willingly with a woman wearing a burgundy coat.
Mara stared at the image.
"That's my mother."
Elara's pulse quickened.
Mara's mother hadn't been kidnapped.
She and Margaret were working together.
Why?
A message arrived on Mara's phone.
FROM MOM.
She opened it.
DON'T TRUST PATRICK'S CONFESSION.
Mara looked up.
A second message appeared.
CATHERINE DID NOT DIE ON OCTOBER 17.
Elara's breath stopped.
Then the third message arrived.
Neither Mara nor Elara spoke.
Vadim took the phone.
The message contained an address.
May you like
And five words:
COME IF YOU WANT HER BACK.
