Chapter 29
Hazel
A sharp, blunt pain throbbed at the back of my skull as I clawed my way out of the darkness.
My nostrils burned with the acrid stench of chemicals, mixed with the heavy rust and salty sea air around me. I tried to lift my hand to cover my mouth.
But my hand wouldn't move.
I was tied up?
My eyes shot open.
I was strapped to a rusted metal chair. Not just my hands—my feet were bound to the front legs with thick, coarse rope.
What the hell happened? Why was I tied up?
I struggled to remember everything before I blacked out.
I'd followed Valentina's escape route, hidden in the food delivery truck leaving Gromov Manor. The van drove for about an hour.
Then it stopped. I was about to bolt when the back doors flew open from outside.
What greeted me wasn't freedom—it was two burly men in black masks.
No words. They jumped in, grabbed my shoulders. One pulled out a cloth soaked in that same chemical stench and clamped it over my nose and mouth.
I had no chance to fight. Within seconds, everything went black.
I rolled my stiff neck, scanning my surroundings.
Rust-covered steel beams overhead. A few barely functioning industrial floodlights cast sickly yellow light. The air was damp, and the dull thud of waves against concrete walls echoed from outside.
An abandoned industrial shipyard warehouse. Had to be.
Twenty feet away, two figures stood at the edge of a floodlight's glow, arguing.
"This is completely off plan!"
A woman's voice. Even twisted with rage, I recognized it instantly.
Valentina Rossi.
Facing her was a tall, elderly man in an expensive black suit. His hair was completely white but meticulously groomed.
Even from behind, I could feel the crushing authority of someone used to controlling life and death.
"Watch your tone, Valentina." The man's voice was old but calm. "In this world, only I decide what the plan is."
"Father!" Valentina stepped forward, staring him down. "Why not just kill Hazel? Stage it as an accident during her escape—a car crash, gang crossfire! With her dead, I can use the Rossi family's resources to take her place! That's the perfect ending!"
The words hit me like a freight train.
Father.
Valentina called this man father.
But I'd seen Valentina's family photo. This man definitely wasn't her father in that picture.
Valentina was someone else's daughter.
"Foolish."
The man turned, pacing across the warehouse. His footsteps echoed heavily.
"I learned what Viktor was capable of twenty years ago.
He's a cold-blooded thug, but he's also unexpectedly loyal.
" The man's voice dripped with mockery and hatred.
"You think killing Hazel means you can replace her?
You think Viktor's heart is some vacancy any woman with gun connections can fill?
Dream on. If you could've replaced her, you would've succeeded ten years ago. "
The man approached Valentina, jabbing her shoulder.
"Kill him. Physically eliminate Viktor Gromov—that's the only solution. I've waited too damn long for this day." Twisted bloodlust erupted in his voice.
"But—" Valentina tried to speak, but he cut her off.
"Don't tell me you actually have feelings for Viktor.
Once we finish this job, once Viktor dies in this shipyard, I'll control every money-laundering channel and arms route on the West Coast. Then I'll publicly acknowledge you, restore you and your mother to your rightful place in the Moretti family.
You'll have ten times the wealth and power you have now. As for Viktor—he dies."
With that promise, Valentina finally relented.
"I understand, Father."
The man nodded, satisfied, pulling out his phone.
"It's time."
I knew who he was calling.
Sure enough, he called Viktor, using me as bait to lure him here alone.
And I finally understood who this man was. The enemy Anya and Viktor had mentioned—Adam Moretti.
There was blood debt between them. Once Viktor walked in, Adam wouldn't let him walk out alive.
I had to do something. I couldn't just sit here waiting to die. I couldn't be the bait that got Viktor killed.
I started struggling frantically, throwing all my strength into my wrists, searching for any slack in the rough rope.
Whoever tied me up—maybe they got sloppy, maybe something shifted during transport—but the rope around my wrists wasn't tied that tight.
Adam and Valentina seemed completely unaware I'd woken up. This was my only chance.
I twisted my arms, searching for an angle to slip free.
But luck wasn't on my side.
As the call ended, Valentina turned and saw me struggling.
She strode over, that familiar, vicious smile spreading across her face.
"You're awake." Valentina stood over me, looking down.
"You better let me go!" I lifted my head, meeting her eyes. "Or Viktor will never let you walk away from this!"
Valentina laughed coldly.
She raised her right hand without hesitation.
A brutal slap cracked across my left cheek.
For a woman who'd just had surgery, Valentina hit like a freight train.
She put everything into it. Just one blow sent searing pain burning across my face.
My cheek slammed against my teeth, splitting instantly. The metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth.
Before I could turn my head—
Valentina backhanded me across my right cheek.
"Shut the hell up!" Valentina grabbed my chin, forcing my head up, her nails digging into my flesh. "Your only value now is sitting here like bait, waiting for Viktor to walk into his grave."
I swallowed the pain, spitting blood and saliva onto the ground beside me.
"Why?" I gasped, voice raw. "Why hurt Viktor? Didn't you love him all these years?"
At those words, Valentina released my chin and straightened, letting out a bone-chilling laugh.
"Love?" Valentina's eyes filled with insane obsession and venomous hatred. "Yes. I did love him once. I loved him for twenty years. Even with the hatred between us, I refused every arranged marriage for him. I was willing to throw away every shred of pride, beg him to let me stay by his side."
Valentina suddenly bent down, her face inches from mine, her breath hot on my skin.
"But what did he do?" Valentina's voice turned shrill with rage. "He never saw me. He'd rather choose some ugly slum rat like you than me."
Valentina's features twisted completely. Her hands clenched into fists.
"Background, beauty—I beat you ten thousand times over. I loved him for years. But he still chose you. Turned me into high society's laughingstock. Now I'd give anything to put a bullet in his skull myself!"
I stared at this madwoman, ice crawling up my spine. Love turned to hate had twisted Valentina into a complete psychopath.
A horrifying thought flashed through my mind.
"So..." My eyes widened in disbelief. "When you fell down those stairs... it wasn't an accident. You threw yourself down on purpose? Just to kill the baby you claimed was his?"
Valentina's madness faded into cold mockery.
"That baby wasn't Viktor's." Valentina's tone was light, like discussing something worthless. "I got knocked up by some nobody musician on the East Coast after too many drinks. I never planned to keep it. Since that little bastard was getting flushed anyway, why not use it for maximum value?"
Valentina smiled at my shock.
"See? Such a profitable trade. I used a worthless piece of meat to destroy the trust between you. And you walked right into the trap."
My whole body shook.
Fear and revulsion made breathing difficult.
This woman had no moral bottom line. She'd use her own body without hesitation, murder her own unborn child, weaponize her own womb to get what she wanted.
She was pure evil.
Just then, Adam Moretti finished talking with a subordinate and strode over.
"Viktor's on his way." Adam shoved his phone in his suit pocket, bloodlust gleaming in his eyes. "About twenty minutes out."
Twenty minutes.
The longest, most desperate twenty minutes of my life.
Facing this twisted father and daughter, I just hoped Viktor wouldn't come.
But I knew better.
He would come.
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, tires screeched outside the warehouse.
Soon, the rusted metal door was shoved open from outside.
With the screech of grinding hinges, sunlight poured through, casting a long shadow across the floor.
Viktor walked in.
He really came alone. His hands were empty—no weapons, no backup.
Viktor's eyes swept the warehouse until they found me tied to that iron chair.
In that instant, our gazes collided.
This was the first time we'd truly looked at each other since Valentina's fall, since all those painful misunderstandings and mutual torture.
In this cold warehouse reeking of motor oil, surrounded by hidden guns aimed from every direction.
His eyes held no trace of that old indifference or anger. Only pure focus, heartbreak, and a tenderness that could drown me.
Tears broke free, streaming down my face.
I looked at his empty hands, his defenseless body. My heart tore apart.
You idiot. You knew this was a death trap. You knew I ran.
Why did you come?
Viktor didn't answer my silent scream. He just gave me a look that said "trust me." Then his gaze shifted to Valentina standing beside me.
Even Viktor showed a flicker of surprise.
"Surprise, Viktor." Valentina smiled at Viktor with twisted victory.
Adam Moretti stepped from the shadows.
"Allow me to introduce—Valentina, my biological daughter. Top secret, by the way—even old Rossi doesn't know. Your so-called protection plan brought my daughter right into your manor like a treasure. Pretty funny, actually."
Viktor stood still. He looked at Valentina coldly, showing no betrayal or anger. Just indifference.
"What a shock." Viktor's voice held no trace of panic. "Like they say, apples don't fall far from the tree."
Valentina's smile froze.
Embarrassment and humiliation crawled across her face. No matter how viciously she'd spoken earlier.
Her reaction now proved she wasn't as hateful as she claimed. Some love still lingered.
"Thanks for the compliment," Adam answered for his daughter.
Then Adam walked behind me, grabbed my hair with his dry, powerful hand, and wrenched my head back.
A cold gun barrel pressed against my temple.
"Don't touch her!" Viktor's roar was terrifying.
"Using a pregnant woman as a hostage—even I find it a bit cruel. But don't call me despicable, Viktor. You know I've never underestimated you, no matter how much I hate you."
Adam laughed coldly.
"Such a short time, yet you infiltrated my organization, found all my intel and secrets. You're impressive. Much better than your dead father."
Viktor stared at Adam.
"Let her go. You want West Coast territory? Take it all. Money-laundering channels? They're yours. Let her go. Come at me."
"Territory? Laundering channels? You think I give a damn about that garbage?" Adam's gun hand trembled violently, the barrel bruising my temple. "Ten years ago, you blew my son's brains out! You killed my only legitimate heir! You destroyed my hope with your own hands!"
Adam's voice echoed through the empty warehouse, dripping with horrifying hatred.
"I've waited ten years for this day! Every single day I swore I'd make you pay!"
Adam's left hand pulled a sharp black military combat knife from his tactical belt.
He swung hard, throwing it toward Viktor.
The metal blade skidded across concrete with a harsh screech, stopping precisely at Viktor's boot.
"Pick up that knife." Adam flicked off the safety on the gun pressed to my temple, his finger on the trigger, delivering his final death sentence. "Use it to cut your own throat. Kill yourself."
Adam's eyes filled with sick anticipation.
"You die. I let the woman go. Otherwise, I pull this trigger right now and blow her brains out."
I shook my head frantically. Tears blurred my vision. I opened my mouth to scream at Viktor to run.
But Adam's hand crushed my throat. I couldn't make a sound.
Viktor stood there.
He looked down at the sharp black blade at his feet.
Then, slowly, Viktor bent down.
As I watched in despair—
He picked up the knife.