Chapter 3
JULIET
The family lawyer, Mr. Volkov, cleared his throat with the solemn gravity of a man who had spent a lifetime safeguarding dangerous secrets.
His fingers rested on the thick leather folder before him as though it carried enough weight to crush everyone seated around the table.
My grandmother had been dead for twelve days.
My grandfather died forty-eight hours later, as though losing her had finally silenced the heart that had loved her for a lifetime.
Now their children and grandchildren sat together in solemn silence before the family lawyer, waiting for the reading of their grandparents’ final wills and the distribution of the inheritance they had left behind.
The room was unnaturally still.
Every eye remained fixed on the lawyer as they waited for him to speak.
No one reached for a drink. No one checked a phone.
Even my notoriously impatient uncle kept his mouth shut.
Everyone knew fortunes could change with a single sentence.
Mr. Volkov adjusted his glasses before opening the folder.
“It is hereby stipulated and declared in the Last Will and Testament of Elena Ivanovna Sokolov, executed on the fifteenth day of March, two thousand twenty-six, and duly witnessed and notarized,” he began, his measured voice echoing against the paneled walls.
“That Juliet Alina Sokolov, granddaughter of the deceased, shall neither gain access to nor exercise control over the trust established for her benefit, comprising approximately forty-eight billion United States dollars in liquid assets together with full beneficial ownership of the Sokolov Diamond Mine in Yakutia, presently valued in excess of two hundred and seventy billion United States dollars, unless and until she enters into a lawful marriage with the eldest surviving grandson of the Flynn family, specifically Romeo Medved Flynn.”
He paused briefly before continuing.
“Such marriage shall take place within one month of the passing of the testators and shall remain in force for a minimum period of two years. Upon the expiration of that period, the parties shall be free to continue the marriage or dissolve it at their sole discretion, without prejudice to Juliet Alina Sokolov’s right to receive and retain the inheritance granted under this Will. ”
He paused only long enough for the words to settle over the room like a layer of ash.
“Failure to comply shall result in the entirety of the trust reverting in equal shares to the surviving children of the testator.”
Absolute silence descended over the room.
My mind struggled to keep up with the legal jargon as the lawyer continued reading the will, but one fact rang with startling clarity.
I was the sole heir to everything my grandparents had spent their lives building.
Every business. Every property. Every investment.
Every dollar they had earned.
Every asset they had acquired over decades of sacrifice and hard work.
The inheritance every one of their children and grandchildren had hoped would one day be theirs...
Had been left to me alone.
Why?
Yes, they had always loved me more than anyone else, and they had never hidden it.
But even so...
Leaving everything to me?
The thought felt impossible.
I could feel the weight of every pair of eyes in the room turning toward me, disbelief and resentment thickening the air with every passing second.
The grandfather clock in the corner ticked once.
Twice.
Then someone sucked in a sharp breath.
Mr. Volkov continued reading as though he hadn’t just detonated a bomb in the middle of the room.
I barely heard another word.
Forty-eight billion dollars in liquid assets
A diamond mine worth hundreds of billions.
All of it chained to one impossible condition.
Marry Romeo Flynn.
The name echoed through my head.
Every person in this room knew exactly who the Flynns were.
Powerful. Untouchable. Ruthless.
The sort of family that smiled while deciding whether to bury you or make you useful.
Grandmother hadn’t simply chosen me a husband.
She had tied my future to an Irish mafia dynasty, despite the fact that we were Bratva.
The Bratva and the Irish Mafia had been bitter rivals for as long as anyone could remember.
Their history was written in blood, betrayal, and generations of hatred.
Yet somehow...
My grandmother had chosen to bind our two families together.
My gaze drifted across the table.
Aunt Irina’s lips had gone thin with irritation.
Aunt Sofia looked positively delighted, as though she had already begun calculating how quickly the inheritance would revert to her.
The smug smile tugging at her lips made it painfully obvious what she was thinking.
She was convinced I would never agree to marry Romeo Flynn.
Convinced I would reject the arrangement my grandparents had orchestrated from beyond the grave.
And the moment I did...
Everything they had left to me would become theirs to claim.
Uncle Viktor drummed thick fingers against the tabletop, the black Bratva tattoos disappearing beneath the cuffs of his tailored suit before reappearing with every impatient tap. His jaw worked as if he were chewing on an insult.
The atmosphere in the room turned poisonous.
Every one of them looked at me as though they wanted to tear me apart with their bare hands.
But there was nothing they could do.
My grandparents’ will had stripped them of any claim.
Their only hope now was that I refused to marry Romeo Flynn.
If I did...
The inheritance would no longer be mine.
It would be divided among them.
For the first time since the lawyer had begun reading the will, I realized they weren’t waiting for me to accept.
They were praying I would refuse.
Mr. Volkov then moved on to the remainder of the will, calmly distributing what little my grandparents had left for the rest of the family.
It wasn’t much.
Barely three percent of their total wealth and assets.
The remaining ninety-seven percent had been entrusted to me...
Subject to the conditions he had just read aloud.
With each name he called and each allocation he announced, the resentment in the room deepened.
Faces hardened.
Jaw muscles tightened.
Several of my uncles muttered curses under their breath, while others didn’t bother lowering their voices at all.
Aunt Sofia looked as though she wanted to snatch the will from Mr. Volkov’s hands and tear it to pieces.
No one even tried to hide their anger anymore.
They all knew the truth.
Everything they had expected to inherit had slipped through their fingers and landed in my lap.
By the time Mr. Volkov reached the final page, the room had become a pressure cooker of barely restrained fury.
Satisfied that every provision had been read and every remaining asset accounted for, he closed the folder with a quiet snap.
The sound echoed through the suffocating silence.
“If there are no further questions, I shall take my leave.”
My father gave a single curt nod.
“Thank you, Mr. Volkov.”
Mr. Volkov gathered his papers, offered his condolences one final time, then quietly excused himself from the room.
The instant the doors clicked shut behind him...
The room exploded.
“What kind of joke is this?”
“Ninety-seven percent?”
“They’ve disgraced the entire family!”
Angry voices crashed over one another as my uncles rounded on my father.
“So this was your doing?” Uncle Viktor snarled, jabbing a finger toward him. “You manipulated them into leaving everything to your branch of the family!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” my father snapped. “I knew nothing about the contents of that will.”
“Liar!”
Several of my uncles surged toward him, their faces twisted with fury. For a terrifying moment, I thought fists would fly.
My pulse quickened.
It felt as though the Sokolov family itself was on the verge of tearing apart.
My father raised his voice above the uproar.
“I am the new Capo of this family.”
His words rang through the study. “And I will not tolerate this disrespect.”
A bitter laugh answered him.
“You expect our loyalty after this?”
One of my uncles stepped forward, his expression dark with contempt.
“You think we’ll kneel to you while your daughter walks away with everything our parents spent a lifetime building?”
His gaze swept around the room.
“We’ve all been cheated.”
He looked back at my father.
“I’d rather watch this family splinter into a hundred pieces than swear loyalty under these circumstances.”
Then his eyes found me.
“If your daughter refuses this marriage, the inheritance will be divided equally among the rest of us—exactly as it should have been from the beginning.”
He turned back to my father.
“We’re giving her three days to come to the only decision that serves this family.”
His voice hardened.
“Surely you don’t want to become Capo only to watch this family tear itself apart.”
A faint, threatening smile curved his lips.
“No... I don’t believe you can afford that.”
He held my father’s gaze for another long moment.
“So persuade your daughter. Because if she insists on honoring that will... you’ll discover just how quickly a family can turn against its own.”
He took another step closer to my father.
His voice turned cold.
“You know exactly what we’re capable of. And you know you’re nothing without the rest of us.”
Without waiting for a reply, he stormed from the study.
One by one, my other uncles followed, cursing beneath their breath.
My aunts exchanged resentful glances before gathering their handbags and leaving with them, each one muttering threats and bitter accusations as they disappeared through the doorway.
By the time the last door closed...
Only my immediate family remained.
The silence that followed felt even heavier than before.
My sister, Yarina, sat beside me with flawless posture, every strand of her dark hair secured in an elegant chignon.
Her expression was composed, but I caught the almost imperceptible tightening around her eyes.
It lasted only a second before she masked it again.
Most people would never have noticed.
I did.
She wasn’t happy.
Not after watching our grandparents leave me everything while she walked away with nothing.