by Marian Tee
Vassi was about to take it when Misha suddenly punched him in the face.
“What the hell, Misha?” He rubbed his jaw, wincing.
Misha gave him a feral smile. “You didn’t really think I’d just smile when you decided to make our baby sister as your girlfriend, did you?” He shook his head and heading to the door, he said over his shoulder, “I’m in need of a stiff drink right now. I have a need to drown my sorrows.”
Vassi followed his older brother outside, saying pragmatically, “It’s not that bad. Another man would’ve taken her away from home, but because she’s with me, you’ll still have Seri around.”
“Shut up. It’s depressing to think you’ll continue living under the same roof with my little dove.”
“Technically, she’s not your little dove---”
Not wanting to hear that particular piece of truth, Misha turned his back on his younger brother and called out to Max. “Want to join us for a drink? I’m sure you’re as depressed as I am.”
After a moment, Max said, “Sure. And you’re right. I did get some pretty depressing news.” Taking his lab coat off the chair, he said matter-of-factly, “Your sister has bad taste in men.”
Misha nodded. “I agree.”
“You two know you’re just being sore losers, aren’t you?” Vassi eyed Max’s lab coat with a curl of his upper lip. “And do you seriously need to wear that when we’re going out to drink?” He glanced at Misha, who also had his lab coat on. “I’m asking the same of you.”
“Why not?” Misha and Max asked seriously at the same time.
Vassi shook his head. Whatever. The two probably just liked having their photos go viral on the Internet.
The three of them headed to a nearby bar, and after ordering their drinks, Vassi took his phone out, hoping to see a message from Seri. But there was none.
He hesitated for a second before deciding to take the first step.
He sent a message to Sergei and Fyodor first, asking them to meet with him because he had something important to say. After, he sent a message to Daniela.
I already know your real name is Layla, and that you didn’t even have a stepbrother to begin with. If something did happen between us, and you do end up pregnant, I’ll need you to submit to DNA testing. Whatever it is you’re planning – it won’t work. It’s over.
Noticing the hard look on Vassi’s face, Misha asked, “Anything wrong?”
Knowing he had to come clean, he said grimly, “That’s an understatement.” And even with Max present, he gave Misha all the facts, not bothering to whitewash any part of it.
Misha cursed under his breath when he finished. “That woman is messed up.”
“Do you think you really did sleep with her?” Max asked.
He shook his head. “There’s a very low probability, but I can’t say for sure. If she had spiked my drink, I wouldn’t exactly have been able to perform. But if she did something else – I just don’t know. I keep thinking I should remember something if we had done it. But I don’t.”
“A paternity test is the only answer then,” Misha said.
“She’s probably schizophrenic,” Max warned after a moment. “There’s no telling what she’ll do once she reads your message.”
Vassi nodded. “I’m going to tell Seri everything tonight.”
* * *
In the comfort of her home, Daniela listened to Vassi’s conversation, his words coming loud and clear through the tiny bug that she had slipped in his wallet while he was asleep. The device had cost her thousands of dollars, but the price was worth it.
When she heard Maximilian Rockford referring to her as schizophrenic, she only laughed out loud. The term didn’t affect her at all because she knew it was true. What they didn’t know was that embracing her condition was liberating, allowing her to do things that normal stupid people wouldn’t have been able to accomplish.
She lied, she schemed, and she fucked to get things done.
These were simple things ordinary people would have found appalling, but for her it was a means to an end, and she was able to see it that way because she was what she was.
She continued to listen, microwaving herself some popcorn as she settled in for the night. At around ten in the evening, she heard Vassi receive a phone call.
Daniela increased the volume when the voice came to her slightly garbled.
Seri…Cedar Sinai…
The scrawny little bitch was in the hospital.
And Daniela realized she had the opening she needed.
Vassi thought he could discard her just like that, after all the years she had spent working to be his perfect match. She sent one video to Seri then sent another to certain members of the press, some of them owing her favors, the others the kind who could be paid to do just about anything.
This shall teach you not to fuck with me.
Chapter Fifteen
When Seri woke up, it was to find her vision blurry and her body feeling like it had been beaten black and blue. Most of the pain seemed to center on her lower left chest---
Oh.
Everything came rushing back, and when she opened her eyes again, the room she was in focused into view. She shifted slightly, turning on her side, and that was when she saw…Fyodor.
Upon realizing she was awake, he straightened abruptly in his chair. “Are you alright?” His voice was scratchy.
She nodded. “A-are you?” It looked like he had aged overnight, with the heavy lines of worry marring Fyodor’s forehead.
“Yes.” He reached for her with a visibly shaking hand.
Seri stiffened instinctively, a part of her remembering the time he had shoved her away---
Fyodor saw the look in his daughter’s eyes and knew exactly what she was thinking. His hand froze, and despair struck him as he, too, remembered the pain he had inflicted on her.
“I’m not going to hurt you, baby.”
Seri didn’t answer, afraid that she was just imagining the look in his eyes, afraid that she had misheard him.
Fyodor’s fingers clenched into a fist, and he said hoarsely, “I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry I believed your lies all too easily.” When her face started to crumple, he could no longer bear the distance between him and his baby.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so, so sorry.” He pressed his lips to the top of her hair and tasted his own tears in his kiss.
“P-Papa?”
His heart clenched at the uncertainty in her voice. “Yes, baby.”
Her tears fell faster when she realized that she could really call him that again. “Papa.” The sobs came crawling out, and there was no stopping them. “Papa, Papa, Papa.”
He bent his head, touching it with hers. “Never do that again, not for me or for any of your brothers. Da?”
“D-da.”
“I missed you so damn much, my baby girl.”
“Me, too, Papa. I missed all of you so, s-so much.”
Drawing back, he self-consciously wiped his eyes, saying, “Your brothers are waiting outside. May I let them in?”
Seri didn’t answer right away.
He said quietly, “It’s all three of them. Sergei, Misha, and Vassi.” When she only bit her lip, he asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to see them?”
“I do. I miss all of you. I miss us together, but Papa…” She tried to get the words out, but fear stopped her. She just got him back, and she was so, so scared to lose her father all over again.
Looking at her, he finally understood what was holding her back, and he sighed. “Seri.” When her frightened gaze met his, he said, “It’s okay. You and Vassi – it’s okay. I just want my children happy, and you and Vassi loving each other – it’s what makes you two happy, don’t you?”
She gave him a small nod.
“Then I’m happy, too.” When Seri still looked troubled, he suggested softly, “How about I give you time to think about it? You can see them all together or just Vassi first, with or without me here. It’s what you want that c
ounts, baby.”
She managed a smile, saying, “I’d l-like that.”
“Then that’s how it will be. For now---” His voice turned brisk. “How about I get you a glass of water first?”
Her smile widened a bit. “I’d like that, too, Papa.” She watched her father move towards the en-suite pantry and it was easily one of her happiest moments in the world, knowing that her father was back in her life and that he didn’t hate her anymore.
“I have a bento for you, too.” His brows furrowed, and his voice was a touch dissatisfied as he added, “Nothing fancy, unfortunately, because I made it here while waiting for you to wake up.” Fyodor looked at her over his shoulder hopefully. “Are you hungry?”
She choked back a teary giggle. “I think so.”
“Great.”
As Fyodor prepared her bento, she noticed her phone lying on the bedside table and took it. There were several unread texts, but the first one she clicked was of course Vassi’s.
Vassi: Where are you? I’d like to talk to you.
There were texts from her other brothers, too, and even Max’s, and then there was another message from an unregistered number.
Clicking it, the first thing she saw was an embedded video.
Below it was a message…from Daniela.
Daniela: I’m sorry for sending you something so crude, but I just thought you wouldn’t believe me if I didn’t do this. And I don’t mean to hurt you. You can choose to trust me or not. But I just wanted you to know the truth – and I don’t want him to hurt you like he hurt me. I’ve loved Vassi for years. Maybe not as long as you have but even when I dated other men, he was always in my heart. The night before the press conference, something happened between us, and I thought he was finally over you. That there could be an us – but the next day…he couldn’t even look me in the eye. He told me he didn’t love me, but he also told me he didn’t love you either. And it just made me realize – he’s been stringing us both along. He’s so twisted inside, he likes blowing hot and cold to keep us running after him. But the truth is, the only person he loves is himself.
When Seri reached the end of the message, she slowly clicked for the video to play.
Ah.
The phone slipped from her fingers and crashed to the floor.
At the sound, Fyodor immediately whipped around and was aghast to see Seri ashen-faced and tears rolling silently down her face.
He went to her swiftly, demanding, “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, whispering, “I just don’t know what to believe anymore, Papa.” And if she was unconsciously echoing the words Vassi once said, it was probably because she now understood why Vassi could so easily lose his trust in her when she had pretended to love him for his money.
Chapter Sixteen
Vassi didn’t know what to expect when he entered Seri’s room in the hospital, but it was definitely not what he saw. She was seated upright on the bed, pale and unmoving, not even looking up when the door swung shut behind him.
He took the chair next to her bed, and that was the only time she turned to him. One look in her glassy eyes and he knew ---
She knew about Daniela, maybe not everything, but just enough to be hurt inside.
He sucked in his breath. “I was planning to tell you.”
“And you probably expect me to believe that now,” she said dully.
“Whatever you think, whatever she told you – there’s no certainty that something really happened---”
“Are you seriously expecting me to believe that?” she whispered incredulously. “She sent me your video.”
Vassi swore. That damn bitch. He should have expected she’d go that far. “What kind of video was it?” he asked levelly. “Did you actually see---”
“Your cock going into her pussy?” she cried out. “Should I ask her for a director’s cut then? If I get to see actual intercourse, will that be the only way I’ll have the right to distrust you?”
Flinching at the way her voice shook, he tried to calm her down, rising from his seat to hold her shoulders. “Seri---”
She shoved him away. “No!”
He let his hands fall to his sides.
“Admit it to me first. Did you fuck her? Did you make love to her?”
He said bleakly, “I don’t know.”
A cry of pain escaped her. “Don’t lie to me, Vassi. Please.”
“I’m not lying. I wish to God I could tell you the truth, to give you a definitive answer, but I can’t. I went to her place for a drink. She mixed something in it and there was nothing of that night I could remember.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that?” she asked sickly.
“Yes.” His voice was fierce. “Even if it hurts, even if it makes you jealous, even if it makes you feel like an idiot – all those things and more were what I felt when I saw Rockford’s text. But in the end I knew I had to trust you. And I do. Beyond all doubt. Because I love you.” He inhaled deeply. “That’s why, even though the world would probably think I’m just lying my way out of this – I have to think you’ll believe me, too. Because you love me.”
And after, he waited.
For her to tell him she did believe him and that she loved him.
Because…she had to.
They had gone through so much that surely, surely it couldn’t be possible – now that they even had their family’s blessing to be together, surely it couldn’t be possible for them to fall apart now?
But when Seri finally looked up, he realized that it was.
“She told me,” Seri said dully, “you told her that you didn’t love me. Did you tell her that?”
He swallowed. “Yes.”
Seri whitened.
He blows hot and cold. He likes us to keep running after him.
“I don’t understand you anymore, Vassi, and I’m j-just too tired to try. You tell me I should believe you, but then you tell me you also told her you don’t love me. At the hotel, you made love to me like I mean everything but when you came back, you told me you needed time.”
“Seri, let me explain---”
“No.” She shook her head faintly. “There’s no point.” Her voice faltered.
He grabbed her hand. “Please.”
Her tears started to fall again.
D’err mo.
God, oh God, she was so tired of crying.
But she just couldn’t stop.
They kept rising out of her, making her chest squeeze, her throat burn, her eyes hurt.
She cried even as she could no longer see, could no longer breathe---
The heartbeat monitor started to beep, and even Seri was dimly aware that something was wrong.
But she just couldn’t stop crying.
Nurses suddenly came rushing in, and through the blur of her tears, she saw Fyodor following behind them.
She saw Sergei and Misha walking towards her as Fyodor and Vassi walked away.
Fyodor closed the door behind him.
“Will she be alright?” Vassi asked rawly.
“She’s in good hands. You don’t have to worry.” Fyodor turned to his youngest boy. “I love you, son. You know that, da? I love you and the others equally.” His voice turned grim. “But I don’t know if I can support the two of you together if you keep hurting her.”
“I love her,” Vassi whispered. “There’s no one I love more than Seri.”
“Then why do you keep making her cry?”
* * *
No one had to ask Vassi to stay away for the next days. He was no fool. He knew that she wouldn’t be able to recover properly if merely seeing him would practically cause her a panic attack. And so he forced himself to keep his distance and lived for the updates Fyodor and his brothers gave him, and when he found out that Max had come to visit her every day---
He had ended up destroying three punching bags at the gym.
But he didn’t question her.
Because this time he wanted to prove to her that
their love could be strong enough to withstand everything.
On Seri’s last night at the hospital, Vassi went to meet with Daniela, determined to put everything to an end between them.
They sat opposite each other in the conference room Vassi had rented at a hotel, Daniela coming alone even though he had specifically asked her to bring her attorney.
“Before we proceed with the meeting, I’d like a word with you in private.”
His lawyer gave him a warning look, but Vassi said anyway, “It’s okay. I’ll call you back once she’s done.”
When his lawyer left, he asked abruptly, “What do you have to say?”
“I have photos of you and Seri together. You can sue me for it, of course, but by the time you win in court, everything about the two of you will be out in the open, and the news will be spun the way I wrote it.”
“What do you want in return?”
Her lip curled. “Don’t worry. I’m done with my obsession over you. But what I want still has something to do with you.”
When she finished telling him what she wanted, he said simply, “You are insane.”
“True. But I don’t mind as long as it allows me to call the shots. Like not.” She came to her feet. “You have until tomorrow to decide.”
When Daniela left, his lawyer came back, demanding, “What happened?”
“Nothing just yet.”
“That’s too damn cryptic.”
“I need to speak to my sister first. And then…I’ll know.” Taking his phone out, he tried calling Seri and when she didn’t answer, he sent her a text message.
Vassi: I just want to know if you’re okay.
Seri: I am.
Vassi: I’m glad.
She didn’t reply after it.
Vassi: I love you.
Seri: If you really do – if I ever meant anything to you, let me just be your sister.
And there was his answer.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you excited to go home?” Misha asked her with a smile.
She nodded. “Uh huh.” Once Fyodor was done with the paperwork, she could finally go home.