Larissa hadn't driven alone at night in years.
The black SUV cut through the snowy countryside like a whisper, headlights slicing through the mist. The town Dmitri had once funded—Solnyshka—lay beyond the pine-studded hills, forgotten on most maps but not by those who had something to hide.
She gripped the wheel tighter as she passed the last sign of civilization. Gas station lights dimmed behind her. The road stretched ahead, a long and winding trail into the unknown.
What am I doing?
The question echoed in her skull.
She should have told someone—Lukyan, at the very least. But part of her didn't trust him anymore. Not completely. Not after the truth he had buried for so long.
The address Elena had sent led to a rundown building near the edge of the woods. A crumbling church, long abandoned, its windows shattered and walls laced with ivy and frost. The bell tower leaned, crooked and broken.
Larissa parked and stepped out. Snow crunched under her boots.
The door creaked open before she even knocked.
Elena stood inside, arms folded, her eyes still as sharp and haunted as they were the night they met.
"You came."
"I want the truth," Larissa said.
Elena stepped aside, motioning her in. "Then brace yourself."
The interior was colder than outside. Larissa could see her breath. Candlelight flickered over dozens of papers tacked to the peeling walls—photos, notes, medical records. Names. Faces. Diagrams.
Larissa moved closer. Her eyes widened.
"You kept everything," she whispered.
"I escaped before they could burn the rest," Elena said. "I was the assistant. No one ever notices the assistant."
She pointed to a folder. "That girl you asked about? Anastasiya? She wasn't the only one."
Larissa opened the folder slowly.
Inside were six names. Six girls. Ages ranging from fifteen to nineteen. All with the same diagnosis: "Cognitive reconditioning experiment—Subject Class C."
"They tested neural mapping on them. Tried to overwrite memory, control behavior. Sometimes they succeeded. Sometimes the girls died." Elena's voice turned to steel. "Your husband was part of that."
"No," Larissa breathed. "He said he didn't know."
"He didn't know at first. But he stayed."
Elena held out a photo. It was grainy, taken from an overhead camera. Lukyan stood in a white coat, back to the lens. A girl lay unconscious on the table beneath him.
"He's no saint, Larissa. He built his empire on silence."
Tears pricked Larissa's eyes. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because you're the only one he might still listen to. And because Dmitri—he's not done."
Larissa froze. "What do you mean?"
"He's trying again. With a new method. And I think he's using your children's foundation to fund it."
Her knees went weak. "No."
"Yes." Elena stepped closer. "You need to stop him. And you need to choose—is Lukyan your ally or your enemy?"
Larissa looked down at the photo.
At the man she had married. The man she might still love.
She had thought she could survive ten years of coldness.
But this—this was fire.
And fire destroyed everything.
Back at the Volkov Estate…
Lukyan stood in front of the nursery, watching Nikolai sleep.
He hadn't told Larissa what he'd found in Dmitri's old financial records—large sums funneled into biotech companies posing as charities. A new program listed under a false name: Project Echo.
And the donation came from their shared foundation.
Larissa's name was on the papers.
He didn't believe she was involved. But someone wanted it to look that way. Someone wanted to turn them against each other.
He picked up his phone.
No answer.
She still wasn't back.
He went cold all over.
Hours Later
Larissa returned before dawn, exhausted and frozen to the bone. She expected Lukyan to be asleep.
He wasn't.
He stood in the foyer, shirt half-buttoned, eyes dark with rage and worry.
"Where the hell have you been?" he asked.
"I went to meet Elena."
His jaw tightened. "Alone?"
"She had answers. Things you didn't tell me."
Silence.
Then, softly: "What did she show you?"
"Proof. That you knew more than you said. That you let it happen."
Lukyan flinched like she'd slapped him.
"I didn't let it happen," he growled. "I couldn't stop it. I tried—"
"But not hard enough!" she snapped.
The air between them sizzled, fragile and dangerous.
"She said Dmitri is using the foundation," Larissa continued. "That my name is tied to it."
His expression cracked. "I found the same thing last night."
She blinked. "You knew?"
"I was going to tell you today."
Her voice trembled. "We have to stop him."
"We will," he said. "Together."
She stepped back. "Don't say that like it fixes anything."
Lukyan reached for her, but she moved out of reach.
"I loved the version of you I thought I married," she said. "But I don't know who you really are anymore."
He stared at her, and for the first time, she saw true fear in his eyes.
"I'll show you," he said softly. "I'll burn down everything I built to keep you safe. Just… don't walk away yet."