MasukOne month had passed since Konstantin Malkov was publicly declared dead.His name still dominated every major network. Archives of the man who had, according to official records, been dead for five years now ran alongside fresh investigations into Vostok Global Holdings.The company had collapsed under the revelation. Its accounts were frozen, contracts were voided, and political and corporate partners who had done business with Vostok Global Holdings were scrambling to distance themselves. Some issued statements claiming limited contact or complete ignorance, while others disappeared from public view.Medical examiners had published an official autopsy report and death certificate, and even online blogs had uncovered where he was buried and pointed out that the pictures being used of him were AI-generated. His recent interviews were also being dissected, with the heavy editing now obvious.Salma watched the coverage with a satisfied smile. She always had the upstairs sitting room TV
Two weeks after the bombing that killed Dash, she had tried to mask the pain that came with the death of Barrister Dash. Dr. Aris had cleared her to move about to reduce the swelling around her leg—the twins were stable, and her cervix had closed back up, with no further signs of distress. At six months, she was double her weight, and the bed rest was making her slower. Salma woke to the faint scent of the jasmine oil Adam had left burning on the side table the night before. She sat up as Shane walked into the room holding a shopping bag. “Good morning, sunshine.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Morning.” She mumbled and closed her eyes, inhaling his scent. “I got you these.” He said and handed her the bag. She looked into it. It held two fabrics and what seemed like foot warmers. “What’s this?” she asked, looking at him. “Comfy maternity gowns and leg warmers, the weather would be getting cold soon.” She smiled at him as she brought out the first soft fabric from the b
“What happened to Dash?” she asked Adam as he sat speechless on the bed, the phone lying beside him.“It was his wife... he got a letter bomb,” Adam said as he stood and walked around the bed to the door.Salma was up before he could reach the door, but a little wave of dizziness washed over her. She propped herself against the headboard and waited until it cleared. Adam came back towards her.“You should be in bed, babe,” he said.She raised a hand towards him in silence as the dizziness dispersed.“I’m fine,” she said, walking to her closet.“Salma... you’re...”“I said I’m fine, Adam.” She struggled with her nightwear trousers. “I stay in bed and these bastards keep killing my people!” Her voice broke.Adam stood looking at her.“They have taken everything from me at this point. Our babies, they fucking blew up my company! Even my father’s wife... in her home!” Her voice cracked.“Now Barrister Dash.” She couldn’t stop the frustrated tears that fell from her eyes.Adam pulled up be
Salma had been on bed rest for a week now. Sovereign seemed to have gone quiet, with no new attacks. Wellington Tower had been completely repaired, and operations had resumed as normal.She lay in bed in her suite, on a Zoom call with their Bangkok clients. Susan, her new PA, was efficient, she had sent her a lot of files to her email. Salma had spent all morning reviewing them.She sat propped against the pillows in her bed, a tablet balanced on the curve of her stomach. The twins had become even more active as she approached six months, kicking and moving around at the slightest sound, especially at the voices of her husbands. The bleeding had stopped, and at this point, she felt well rested, but Dr. Aris wouldn't let her off. He demanded that she continue bed rest because stopping the bleeding didn't mean the pregnancy was safe.Outside the windows, the afternoon light was soft. Inside, the room still carried the faint scent of the flowers Devon changed every morning. Sovereign's s
There was silence after Dr. Aris finished his report, and all three women were alive. That was the first thing he made clear as he opened the folder on his desk and looked through the reports before continuing. “The first surrogate was shot in the abdomen. The bullet killed the baby and damaged her womb badly enough that I recommend transferring her to a specialist facility once she is stable enough to travel. The second was injected with an unknown substance that triggered severe bleeding. The bleeding caused her to lose the pregnancy, but we managed to stop it, and she is responding to treatment. The third suffered a significant head injury from a blunt-force strike. She remains under close observation, but the pregnancy survived.” Salma sat in Dr. Aris’s office with Devon, Shane and Adam standing around her, listening without interrupting. Two babies were gone. The women had been carrying Salma's children, and someone had deliberately ended two of those pregnancies. Dr. Aris loo
The study was quiet in the middle of the day, sunlight peeking through the open curtains as Salma sat at her desk with the latest reports on the Sovereign-linked companies spread in front of her. She was still working through the threads left from the Wellington Tower explosion. She had spent the last two weeks trying to calm investors and the board.Since Joyce was no longer around, she had found it harder to organize the files and workload. She needed an assistant as soon as possible. The thought crossed her mind again as she finished the Zoom meeting she was having with their Singapore clients.The news of the Tower explosion had gone global, and a lot of investors were threatening to pull out. A handful had already sold their shares, sending the stock price further down.Salma sighed and rubbed her belly. One of the twins moved under her palm. The scan she had done days ago had revealed she was carrying twin boys. At five months, she was beginning to feel their combined weight on







