ANMELDENIvan.“Ivan…” Tanya’s voice shook terribly as tears started to form in her eyes. Her eyes were red and glossy, and she looked like she was being mistreated by me. “Why are you doing this to me, Ivan? You are my brother. I love you so much, and you have never been like this to me before…”“Everything started the moment Vanya entered our lives,” her voice turned bitter.“Don’t you fucking dare,” I cut in before she could say another word. My fingers balled into a hard fist as I tried to control both my temper and the anger thrumming hard inside me.“That’s more than enough. Do not try to bring Vanya into whatever is happening right now. Don’t you fucking try it,” I said sharply.I never liked my father’s mistress, and I would never forgive my father for bringing her into our lives, nor would I forgive him for breaking my mother’s heart the way he did.But I’d come to love Tanya as my sister, even if it weren’t convenient for me. Even if she had a bitch for a mother.Tanya was persiste
She offered more excuses, each one more meaningless than the last, and I felt the last thread holding on to my patience snap with each foolish thing she said.None of it made sense but I wasn’t fucking listening anymore. The pieces of the puzzle in my mind had already begun locking into place, and every new word she spoke only pushed the final pieces further.My jaw tightened.“I know what to do, Tanya. We’re going to run a full DNA test.”Tanya’s eyes widened, and her face, which was already pale, turned even whiter.“I’ll have a full DNA test done for both of us. We are half-siblings, right? So our blood should reflect that properly, Tanya. Let’s clear up this confusion once and for all.”“That’s not actually necessary, Ivan,” Tanya said quickly. “Sofia has gotten the blood she needs. Isn’t that what matters right now? Should we not be more focused on her recovery?”“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” I snapped, and her lips went shut. “I want us to run the DNA test, and that’s f
Ivan. There are natural laws in the world that cannot be altered. It’s the norm. There are things that are and can never be forced to change.Sofia is my adopted daughter, and it’s fine to not be compatible for her blood type. But Tanya is? How the fuck was that fucking possible? And a fucking hundred percent?My jaw tightened.Tanya is my sister, my half-sister. There was no fucking way she could be a perfect match for Sofia, unless…My throat clamped around the word. The muscles in my head strained as I tried to process the thought.I’d been glad to rush down when the doctor to say they’d found the blood needed, but right now, I didn’t know what to fucking think.My blood had never matched Sofia’s. I had known that for years. Her adoption was an arrangement made when my marriage to Inessa still looked salvageable on paper and a child had seemed like the correct next step. I had accepted the absence of biological bond. What I could not accept was right there in front of me.
Ivan dropped to his knees instantly, scooping his daughter into his arms. The little girl’s eyes were closed, and she was breathing. The child’s pulse fluttered under his fingers, but it was so faint. Fragments of shattered glass and spilled juice were everywhere, and not far from where her body lay, Anna, Vanya’s former roommate, stood frozen.“What the hell happened here?” He glanced at Tanya and the maid, who was the only other person present in the hall before the rest of the staff started to arrive.“I just got here and found her like this on the floor,” Tanya said quickly, then turned accusingly toward the maid, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Hey, you! Did you do this? You were standing right there.”“I didn’t do anything,” the maid protested. “I just walked in and found…” Her lips shook as she stared at Tanya.“Will you shut up?!” Tanya cut in immediately, glaring at her as she pointed at the maid. “Did you do this? You should be locked up! It’s your fault! Ivan,” she c
Vanya blinked, her chest tightening.It was rare to see Ivan beg. Hell, she wasn’t sure she had ever seen it happen.She glanced at him and all she saw was how much he wanted and needed her.The coldest man she had ever known was on his knees on a bathroom floor, inches away from a toilet seat and asking permission to simply kiss her. The hunger in his voice was raw and starved for contact, for the simple proof that she would not keep rejecting him.“Please… my love.”Ivan kept begging, mumbling words she could barely make out as he inched closer and closer until his lips covered hers.Heat pulsed through her body, travelling up her thighs, and despite tasting the bitterness in her mouth, which she had not fully rinsed away, he was not repulsed. She let out a little moan and Ivan deepened the kiss in response.His hand moved to support her neck as she leaned into him and suddenly he gasped as her hands shoved at his shoulders in one clean push.“Leave! Leave right now, Ivan. I don’
THIRD POV. Vanya stirred from sleep, squinting as the bright rays of the early morning sun hit her eyes.She had no idea how long she’d slept, but she was in bed, and back to the room at the mansion, with Ivan right next to her.Her throat tightened as she stared at him, and a sudden rush of emotions hit her all at once.His eyes were closed, and his brows were drawn into a tired frown even in his resting state. He was shirtless, but she could tell the pants he wore were the same ones he’d put on at the hospital.She shifted slightly, and he stirred immediately, his eyes opening at once. They were bloodshot and tired, but alert.“Sleep more,” he murmured roughly, reaching for her.She pulled away instinctively before he could touch her, her hand moving instead to her stomach as if she could feel whether the small life inside her was still there.Dread coiled tight in her chest as she glared at Ivan. She had no memory of what had happened after he tied her to the car, but she knew Iv
Ivan. The basement beneath the Petrov estate was always colder than the rest of the estate. Concrete walls, dim industrial lights, blood-spattered floor with the faint metallic scent that never quite washed away.I sat motionless in my wheelchair at the center of one of the cells, my black suit c
Vanya. “Vanya!” The cold hit me first. A shock of freezing water slamming across my face and chest. I gasped, bolting upright on the thin mattress, my thin nightgown clinging to my skin like a second, shivering layer. “Vanya! Get up!” My stepmother’s voice sliced through the morning light l
Vanya.My body hurt all over, and my head ached from crying all night. I had no idea how much time had passed since I was dragged into this cold cell. There was no window or any reliable source of light.I collapsed on the floor as emotions rushed through me. Now that I was alone, I felt every wa
Ivan.I’d just scrubbed the stench of Katya’s blood off my body, yet it remained clear that people no longer valued their miserable lives.I had spent years building order out of chaos. Every living, breathing person in this estate operated according to my rules. Every guard knew his place. Every s







