جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 100

Elara’s POVThe room felt colder after Viktor placed the photograph on the table. Ruin stared at the image without speaking. His expression had changed in a way I had never seen before. Shock had replaced the anger that had filled his eyes only moments earlier.My chest tightened.I leaned forward slightly in the chair, trying to see the photograph clearly from where I sat.“What is that?” I asked.Viktor turned the photograph toward me. The moment I saw it, my breath caught. The woman standing beside Viktor in the picture was unmistakable.It was my mother.She looked younger than I remembered, but her face was the same. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, and the soft smile she wore in the photograph matched the one I remembered from childhood.My heart began racing. “That is impossible,” I said quietly.Viktor folded his arms. “Why is it impossible?”“Because my mother had nothing to do with you.”Viktor raised an eyebrow. “Are you certain about that?”Ruin’s gaze shifted betwee

Elara’s POVThe hospital smelled like smoke and broken concrete as we stepped into the night. Sirens echoed somewhere in the distance while the red glow of burning buildings lit the sky beyond the city blocks. The attack Axel organized had spread far beyond a single warehouse.I had never seen the Bratva this exposed before. However, I had also never seen Ruin this quiet; he stood beside the black car in the hospital parking lot while Axel spoke into his phone.Ruin’s eyes remained fixed on the distant flames.“Confirm the northern perimeter,” Axel said into the phone. “Do not let Sergei leave the city.”He ended the call and turned toward Ruin.“Three of our teams are still active,” Axel reported.Ruin nodded once. “And the Bratva?”“They are mobilizing,” Axel replied.Ruin finally looked away from the fire. “That was expected.”Axel glanced toward me briefly before continuing. “Sergei is moving fast.”Ruin’s voice grew colder. “He will not reach Viktor.”“We cannot be certain of tha

Elara’s POVThe safe house stood at the edge of the city, hidden behind a line of abandoned warehouses that looked forgotten by time. Axel drove through the gate without slowing down; the guards recognized the car immediately and opened the entrance without question.The moment the gates closed behind us, the noise of the city faded. The silence felt unreal after everything we had just survived.Axel parked the car near the building. “Inside,” he said.Ruin opened the door for me again. This time, his movements were slower and more careful. I stepped out of the car and followed him inside without speaking. The safe house felt dimly lit and quiet; several men stood in the hallway, but they kept their distance when Ruin walked past. Everyone could see the blood on his clothes, and everyone could feel the tension in the air.Axel dragged Sergei down another corridor without saying a word. The sound of a heavy door closing echoed behind him. Ruin stopped walking, and he turned toward me.

Elara’s POVI could not breathe. The screen in Ruin’s hand felt like it held the power to rewrite my entire life; my mother’s face stared back at me. My knees weakened, and I reached for the edge of the table to steady myself.“This is not real,” I said, although my voice lacked conviction.Ruin did not speak. Axel remained silent by the door; the room felt smaller with every second.“It cannot be real,” I repeated.Ruin finally moved. He set the tablet down carefully on the table, as if it were both fragile and dangerous.“Elara,” he said quietly.I shook my head. “No.”I stepped closer to the screen again, but the video continued to play on a loop. My mother lifted her head slowly; her eyes looked tired, but they were the same eyes I remembered, the same expression, and the same presence.“No,” I whispered again. “She is dead.” That was what they told me, but what is really happening?Ruin’s voice stayed calm. “That is what you were told.”“I saw the reports.”“Reports can be altere

Elara’s POVThe room felt too small for the truth we were standing in. I could not take my eyes off the photo on the screen because the child’s face was clear now. There was no shadow to hide behind and no distance to blur the details. The resemblance hit me like a physical blow because those eyes look like my eyes.My throat tightened until it hurt to swallow. “This is not possible,” I said, but my voice sounded hollow.Ruin stood beside me, completely still. His silence felt heavier than anything he could have said.“It is not possible,” I repeated, more firmly this time, as if saying it enough would make it true.Ruin finally spoke. “It is possible.”I turned toward him sharply. “No.”“Elara—”“No,” I said again, shaking my head.“This does not make sense.”“Nothing about this situation makes sense.”“That does not mean we accept everything we see.”Ruin’s jaw tightened. “We do not have the luxury of denial.”“This is not denial.”“This is reality.”I pointed at the screen. “That c