ANMELDENLena's POV The air in the office instantly turned to ice.I stared at the lawyer, my chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths as the weight of my own question hung in the quiet room. "Was it Nikolai’s father?" I pressed, my voice barely more than a whisper, yet sharp enough to cut through the heavy silence. "Was the previous Capo the one who stopped you from filing her papers? Is that why she never escaped?"The lawyer looked visibly shaken. His hands trembled as he shuffled the legal documents on the desk, refusing to meet my eyes. He cleared his throat nervously, a sweat-sheened pale mask of worry. "Mrs. Volkova... it is entirely unnecessary to dredge up the past," he stammered, his voice laced with a frantic edge. "What happened decades ago has no bearing on our current proceedings. We should focus on constructing a more viable, legally sound justification for this dissolution—something the syndicate council will accept without friction.""The grounds she stated are mor
Lena's POV We sat in his office, the lawyer sat from across, his eyes moving between me and Nikolai who kept a gap between us. “So, you both are thinking of getting divorce?” He said, his voice laced with confusion as if he still couldn't believe we'd come up with something so absurd. It was expected, giving how strict the mademen were about marriage. Divorce was never an option, even though the marriage was born out of duty and obligations. Marriage like Nikolai's and I were rather common and normalized and marriage of love was seen as something rare and a fantasy that many never dreamt of having. Yet, I did. I dreamt of marrying for love but that dream never came true just like every other girl who had the dreams of meeting their true partner shattered.The silence in the grand office was suffocating, heavy with an uncomfortable tension that made my skin crawl. Nikolai and I sat across from the Volkov family lawyer at the massive mahogany desk, but the physical distance between
Nikolai's POV My hold tightened on her shoulders as I tried to calm the emotions wrecking my body. I slowly dropped my hands when I felt her stiff, clearly terrified that I'd hurt her.It became more palpable. The trauma I had caused her had left a scar on her heart that she wouldn't easily forget. Which meant I couldn't convince her to stay and if I used force on her, she'd drift into isolation, hiding from me and that light around her that I had fallen for would completely disappear. No. I couldn't push her further away from. I couldn't use my hands to destroy her and break her more. I had to let her go. I needed to let her go in order to move on, to heal and to keep that light around her alive. Sighing as I came to the decision, I nodded slowly. Chest tightened as the words lingered on the tip of my tongue. “Alright then. Let's get divorced. Right now, if that's what you want.” I could see the shock and disbelief in
Lena's POV Snapping out of my initial shock, I didn't wait for him to speak and immediately brush past him but Irina called after me. “Why? Are you running after calling him trash?” She scoffed, her voice laced with malice. “What? Scared of being punished again?” I turned around to face her and immediately regretted it. That smug look on her face made me burn with the need to wipe it off her face. But I held back, not giving her the reaction she did. Tilting my chin up, I smiled coldly. “No,this air just reeks with rot,” I looked between her and Nikolai. “And I don't have to look far to know where exactly it steams from.” “What did you just say—” “Leave!” Nikolai's voice cut her off, his cold eyes met hers with an intensity that made her shudder in fear. She parted her lips to speak but was too afraid to let out any words, so she bolted
Lena's POV “I don't know…” I shook my head. “You hurt me, Nikolai. You treated me like I was never important to you. Do you even love me?” I asked, my voice broken in despair. Nikolai pulled back, his eyes still filled with guilt as he shook his head. “You're important to me, Lena. I never meant to hurt—” “Don't say that!” I pushed him off, getting down from the bed. “Don't you dare claim you never meant to hurt me. Because I begged you, Nikolai. I begged you!” Turning on my heels, I rushed to the bathroom and locked the door. I rested against the door, my heart pounding as I waited for him to follow after me but that was just my wishful thinking because I heard nothing, no sound of footsteps. I slowly calmed myself, finally rationalising my thoughts. My body ached, especially my backside and my pussy. I still couldn't be
Lena's POV That night, Alexi had been unhinged and unrecognisable. He told me everything, yelling in anger like a deranged lunatic while I tearfully listened to his unremorseful recount of how had killed our mother. He made it sound like it was something he had always thought of doing. His eyes lit up with a spark, as he described how he struck her at the back of her head and strangled her until she died. It was just two weeks ago, but I remembered how we found her laying on the cold floor of her room with her eyes open in terror. To think he did something heartless and still didn't regret it. Although he was drinking, acting like he was tormenting with guilt, I knew it was the opposite. He wasn't feeling any ounce of guilt. He was drinking because of the intense argument he had with dad and the fear that he might never be the capo. Something he had always been obsessed with







