Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Natasha
The black iron gate of the manor clanged shut behind me with a dull metallic thud.
Leo told me to wait by the gate while he got his car from the lot—his only possession in the world. I nodded. Said okay. But the second that gate closed, I started walking, following the streetlights forward.
I knew I shouldn't. Leo told me to wait. He meant well.
But I couldn't keep doing this.
Leo liked me. I couldn't pretend I didn't know, couldn't keep leaning on him, bothering him guilt-free. He'd already done too much for me.
He was a good man. He deserved someone truly good, deserved real feelings. But as long as I clung to him, he'd never let himself look for anyone else.
Maybe leaving him was the best thing I could do. That way, he could forget me, live his own life, love someone who could actually love him back. So I kept walking. Left the man who'd quit his job for me behind.
Spring had come, but the cold hadn't quite left.
Night wind poured down my collar, made me hunch into myself.
I hugged my arms to my chest and shuffled forward step by step.
My shoes barely made a sound on the clean asphalt of this rich neighborhood.
Mansions with high walls and iron gates lined both sides, light filtering through tree shadows in patches. Quiet as a grave.
I walked until my legs ached before I finally stopped.
Then I realized the problem. Where could I go?
The first place that popped into my head was the Kornilov house.
No. Absolutely not.
What I'd done had shattered the empire Nikolai spent years building. And I didn't want to go back. I'd rather freeze to death on this street than return to that house.
But besides that house, where else was there?
Another person flashed through my mind—Anna.
My only friend. Probably the only person in this world who genuinely cared about me.
But that was exactly why it wouldn't work. She was my only friend.
If Dante and Nikolai wanted to settle scores with me, they'd only have to dig a little into my past to find Anna. She was too easy to track. If I hid at her place, I'd be dragging her into this mess with my own hands. If Dante's people showed up, if she got hurt trying to protect me—
I couldn't do it.
I stood under a streetlight, shaking all over, teeth chattering out of control.
Instinctively, I checked my pockets.
Empty. Not a cent.
That's when it really hit me—how clueless I was about money.
What little savings I'd had were frozen by Nikolai the day I became the substitute bride.
As for Dante's end, I'd lived at the Manor all this time and never handled actual cash.
Whatever I wanted, I just told Richard, and he'd arrange everything.
Clothes, art supplies, books—all bought by someone else, delivered right to me.
Sounded luxurious. But it also meant I didn't have a single card in my own name that would actually work.
Now I'd been thrown out with nothing.
Twenty-some years, and I'd always relied on others. On whatever scraps Nikolai tossed down with his cold face, on whatever Dante casually threw my way like that studio. I'd painted so many paintings but never earned a single dollar with my own hands.
Maybe I deserved this.
I needed a job. After all, I had to support myself. And the child in my belly.
Thinking of the child steadied me, strangely enough.
I couldn't be like before. Curling up and crying at every setback, curling up and waiting for someone else to clean up my mess—that Natasha should've stayed in the Manor tonight, tossed at Dante's feet along with that ring.
I wasn't alone anymore. I had to hold it together for this unborn child. No matter how hard the road ahead, I had to walk it myself, step by step.
Headlights appeared behind me, growing closer. A car screeched to a stop beside me. The window rolled down.
"Are you insane?" Leo leaned out, face livid. "I told you to wait at the gate! What the hell are you doing out here alone? This whole area's crawling with Dante's patrols—if they recognize you—"
He didn't finish. Just shoved the passenger door open.
"Get in. Don't make me drag you."
I didn't move.
Getting in his car meant dumping my problems in his lap again. I'd just decided to leave him. How could I turn around and climb into his passenger seat?
"Leo, I'm trouble now. Leaving me alone is the smart choice."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Natasha, what kind of person do you think I am? I don't abandon my friends."
I tried to refuse again, but Leo was already out of the car, grabbing my freezing wrist, bending to pick up my suitcase. He half-dragged, half-carried me into the passenger seat. Quick movements—tossed the case in back, jumped into the driver's seat, hit the gas. The car shot forward.
Well. Guess I didn't get a choice after all.
We drove out of the rich neighborhood, past the neon downtown, and finally turned onto an empty road in the suburbs. Leo kept checking the rearview mirror, shoulders tight the whole way. Not until he pulled into a 24-hour drive-in diner's parking lot did he let out a long breath.
"What's your plan now?" Leo spoke first.
"Find a job, I guess." I stared at the flickering broken sign outside. "I don't have a dime. Got to feed myself somehow."
Leo whipped around, staring at me, not processing.
"A job?" His brow furrowed. "Natasha, you're joking, right? You're pregnant. And your family's loaded—the Kornilovs could drop pocket change and you'd be set for life. And you're telling me you're gonna get a job?"
I smiled bitterly.
"That's Kornilov money. Not mine." I said. "My father and I are done. My card's been frozen since the day I married Dante in Vera's place. Right now, I'm no different from any broke person on the street."
Leo froze, mouth hanging open, couldn't get a word out. Finally, he forced something through his teeth.
"How could Nikolai do this to you?" His hand clenched into a fist on the steering wheel, knuckles white, then slowly released. "You're a Kornilov. You married into the Romanov family—and you don't have a cent to your name."
I said nothing. No point rehashing it.
Leo was quiet for a moment. Then he reached into his jacket, pulled out a thick wallet, and shoved it into my hands.
"This is everything I've got." His voice turned urgent. "Not much, but it'll keep us going for a while. Natasha, listen—let's leave. Get out of New York. Go somewhere nobody knows us. West coast, or farther. Start over."
He grabbed my hand holding the wallet, gripped it tight.
"I'll take care of you. I can do anything. I won't let you starve." He locked eyes with me, word by word. "All these years, I've never changed. Give me a chance, Natasha. I won't treat you like he did."
The car went silent.
For a second, I wavered.
I was exhausted. Frozen numb. Hollowed out to nothing but a shell.
And here was this man, willing to hand over every dollar, his entire future, without blinking, just to take me away.
First time in twenty-some years anyone wanted to protect me unconditionally.
That feeling of being needed, being wanted—I almost said yes.
But the second I softened, Dante's face surfaced again.
I couldn't do this again.
Not because Leo wasn't good enough. The opposite. Precisely because he was good enough, I couldn't gamble with his real feelings when I had nothing left to give back. The way I was now, I couldn't give anyone anything.
I gently pushed the wallet back and placed it in his hand.
"Leo." I heard my own voice. "Thank you. Really. But I can't take it."
"Why?"
I took a deep breath. "The only thing I want right now is to survive on my own. Just me."
I lowered my gaze. "I don't have it in me to love anyone anymore. And if I accepted your feelings knowing that, it wouldn't be fair to you."
Leo looked at me. His Adam's apple bobbed.
"If you won't come with me, you still need to find somewhere safe.
" Leo restarted the car, talking as he drove.
"Dante told you to leave, but I'm not sure he won't come looking.
If you want to live alone, regular motels are out.
They require ID registration—check in and you're broadcasting your location. "
"Where can I go then?"
Leo didn't answer right away. He thought for a bit, pulled out his phone, made a call, spoke in low slang I couldn't follow, and hung up.
"I knew some people back when I ran the streets." He glanced at me, volunteering an explanation for having these connections. "Edge of the roughest part of the city, there are broken-down apartments that don't require registration, cash only, rent by the day. You'd be safer there."
"I'll handle the money myself." I felt around and found the one necklace I had left.
Even after pawning the only thing my mother left me, the apartment was worse than I'd imagined.
The hallway reeked of damp and mold, wallpaper peeling in chunks, exposing blackened cement underneath. Leo hauled my suitcase up to the fourth floor, used a rusted key to open the door.
Inside: a single bed, a table with a broken leg, an ancient TV, water stains creeping down the corner. A bare lightbulb dangled overhead, sickly yellow.
Leo stood in the doorway, frown deep, clearly unhappy about leaving me here. He walked in, circled the room, tested the window latch, and examined the busted lock on the door. Frown deepened.
"This place is a dump," he said quietly, looking back at me. "Natasha, let's find something else."
"Leo." I cut him off. "This is fine. Rent's cheap. I'll fix it up."
He opened his mouth, said nothing, just sighed heavily again.
He walked to the broken table, pulled a black phone from his pocket, and set it down.
"Take it," he said, handing it to me. "It's secure. No tracking, no interception. If anything goes wrong—anything—you call me first. Don't try to handle it alone."
"Leo," I looked at him, chest tight and warm at once, "thank you. If it weren't for you today... I honestly don't know what to do."
Leo smiled bitterly.
"Don't thank me yet. I'm telling you now—I'm not giving up, Natasha. I respect your decision. I won't push you. But I'll wait. Wait until that empty place inside you grows something new."
I didn't know what to say.
Leo didn't wait for an answer. He gave me one last look, turned, and walked out. Closed the door softly.
Footsteps faded.
Then the whole room went completely silent.
I slowly took in this place.
The overhead bulb couldn't reach the corners. That damp smell kept forcing its way into my nose. Outside the window, occasional distant shouts and sirens reminded me this was the city's most shameful corner.
But it was mine now.
I turned on the old TV, wanting background noise. The screen flickered with static, sound cutting in and out.
Looked like a gossip show.
"...according to insiders, Romanov family heir Dante Romanov will wed Vera Kornilov in what's said to be the most extravagant high society wedding New York's seen in years..."
Dante's face flashed across the screen. Still that face I'd painted over and over. Cold, handsome, unreachable.
A familiar twist of pain shot through my chest. Dante and I hadn't even legally ended this marriage, and he was already planning his wedding to Vera. But who was gonna tell a mob boss how many times he could get married?
I walked over and switched off the TV. The screen went dark. Just that sickly bulb overhead.
Didn't matter. I'd get used to it. Eventually, news about Dante and Vera wouldn't hurt anymore.
I looked down and placed one hand lightly on my abdomen.
Still flat. Nothing showing. But I knew. A tiny life was hiding there, escaped with me from that gilded cage.
"Just the two of us now," I whispered to that flatness.
I looked around this broken-down room. No money. No home. No love. No one. I'd never had less than I did right now.
But strangely, in this moment, that stone that'd been crushing my chest for twenty-some years suddenly vanished.
I'd lived twenty-some years, and this was the first time I tasted this.
It was called freedom.