Chapter 4 #2
Platon leans forward. “She stays contained until we recover every item she sold and confirm who’s seen the paperwork.
Until then, she doesn’t leave this property, she doesn’t contact anyone without monitoring, and she doesn’t access any part of the house without escort.
” He closes the laptop lid halfway. “I also want a full accounting of every person who entered this estate during her three months of access, including service workers, delivery personnel, and anyone else who might have seen her operating inside the house.”
Piper nods. “I can provide that. I used the estate for three months, and foot traffic stayed minimal. I avoided scheduling any visits that overlapped.”
Platon acknowledges this with a short nod of his own, the first indication that he finds any part of her conduct professionally acceptable.
Mila sets down her coffee. “If Shilov’s network already has her name, making her disappear creates complications.
A woman connected to a forged estate claim doesn’t vanish quietly.
There will be a legal trail, medical records, and contacts who’ll report her missing.
Removing her from the situation creates more exposure than managing her presence.
” She turns to Piper. “Do you have any preexisting medical conditions I should know about?”
“I’m healthy,” Piper says reluctantly.
“That’s good. If you’re staying in this house under sustained threat conditions, I’ll need to do a baseline examination.” Mila retrieves her coffee without further comment.
Adrian clears his throat. “The more immediate concern is the forged marriage itself. If the estate-service firm discovers the certificate is fraudulent during their verification review, we lose control of the estate entirely. Every transaction she made becomes evidence of criminal access, and the resulting investigation exposes activity I’ve been managing quietly for four years.
” He opens a folder and produces a printed timeline.
“The verification team will send two examiners. They’ll review the marriage certificate, cross-reference the filing date against public death records, and interview the listed spouse.
If the listed spouse can’t produce consistent identification, travel history, and a plausible account of the marriage, the review escalates within seventy-two hours.
” He sets the timeline on the table. “The dormant accounts attached to the sold assets are a secondary concern. The primary exposure is the forgery.”
An attorney would reasonably prioritize an active fraud review over dormant accounts.
It is the correct call, and Adrian has always made correct calls, which is why my father kept him and why I have never once had cause to read his files as closely as everyone else’s. I let the point stand and move on.
“What has Lazar done?” I ask.
Platon pulls up a screen on his laptop. “Since the photographs were uploaded last night, Lazar Malenkov has asked about the cigarette case through three separate auction channels. He’s mapping the sale chain to identify the seller, not trying to recover the piece.
He wants to know who accessed the estate. ”
“Which means he’ll reach Maren within the week,” Piper says.
She hasn’t moved from her standing position beside the door, and her voice stays steady despite what that information means for her closest friend.
“She’s the contact point for every buyer I used.
If Lazar traces the auction channel back to Maren’s broker list, he’ll have my name within days. ”
Vera looks from Piper to Platon without immediately repeating her demand that Piper leave. Angelina watches me. Mila takes a slow sip of coffee.
“She can’t stay here,” Vera says.
“She stays contained until we’ve recovered every piece and neutralized Lazar’s search,” Platon says. “Letting her leave while Shilov’s enforcer is actively tracing the sale doesn’t protect the family. It exposes us.”
I look at Piper. She meets my stare without flinching, still standing, still holding the posture she chose when she walked into this room. She’s scared. I can see it in the rigid stillness of her hands and the careful way she plants her weight, distributing it evenly so her legs won’t shake.
She’s also furious that her continued survival depends on people she’s never met making decisions about her life. That’s clear to me. I catch myself watching her composure instead of reviewing Adrian’s verification timeline, and I force my attention back to the documents on the table.
I know that fury. I built my entire exile around it.
The strategic calculation takes less than a minute, but I let the silence hold because the decision needs to feel considered rather than impulsive, even if I know where it’s going before I start.
Piper’s forgery is already filed. Retracting it would trigger the same investigation Adrian described, and the investigation would expose the estate’s dormant holdings, Platon’s monitoring operation, and eventually, that the man declared dead four years ago never died.
Keeping the forgery intact creates manageable risk and provides immediate cover for both the verification review and Piper’s presence at the mansion.
The lie she built to rob me now protects us both.
“The world will continue believing Piper Voss is my widow. She’ll perform that role for the verification team and help us recover every item she sold. Inside this house, she remains my wife on paper.”
“How long will this arrangement last?” Vera asks.
“The arrangement lasts until Rahil Shilov is dead.”
Vera stands, picks up her coat, and pauses in front of Piper long enough to read her face at close range. Whatever she sees doesn’t soften her, but she doesn’t deliver the dismissal I expected. She walks toward the kitchen without conceding anything.
Angelina pushes back from the table. “I have questions about the logistics, and I have questions about the last four years. I intend to ask both before the week is over.” She pauses beside me on her way out. “You’d better have answers I can live with, Nikita, or you really will be dead.”
Adrian collects his documents slowly, slides the verification timeline toward me, and excuses himself through the north entrance.
Mila leaves her card on the table beside Piper’s standing position and follows Vera toward the kitchen, murmuring something about the baseline examination she’ll conduct tomorrow morning.
Platon catches my eye from across the table. He reads what I’m not saying, the same as he has for ten years, and has the decency not to say it out loud. He nods once and closes his laptop.
Piper Voss will remain my widow in public and my wife on paper inside this house. I’m converting a con artist’s forgery into operational cover, and the strategic logic is sound.
The part I’m not examining is why the word “wife” didn’t feel entirely strategic when I said it. It doesn’t feel intrusive or burdensome either.
That’s not good or normal.