Chapter 5 - MIKHAIL MADE ONE MISTAKE
Mikhail’s mistake was not the coffee.
It was the pharmacy.
Investigators reviewed everything after the attempted poisoning.
Security.
Finances.
Communications.
Purchases.
Medical records obtained through proper warrants and consent where required.
They discovered Mikhail had contacted a concierge pharmacy several weeks before Alexei’s collapse.
He asked whether the pharmacy stocked emergency medication related to severe allergic reactions.
The pharmacist remembered because Mikhail’s question seemed strangely specific for someone who was not the patient.
His attorney argued he was checking for Alexei.
Possible.
Then investigators found a deleted message from Mikhail to Irina:
If he gets sick during restructuring week, everything pauses. I only need time.
Not:
Kill him.
Not:
Poison him.
But troubling.
Then another message.
He always drinks the coffee first.
That one was worse.
Combined with hallway evidence, the forged message, financial motive, and laboratory findings, the case hardened.
Mikhail was arrested.
Not by Alexei’s men.
By law enforcement.
Alexei watched the news from his office.
No celebration.
No order for retaliation.
Nothing.
Sophie walked in carrying a drawing.
Two stick figures.
One very tall.
One tiny.
“What is that?”
“You and me.”
Alexei pointed.
“Why am I blue?”
“You almost died.”
Apparently blue meant hospital.
Alexei nodded solemnly.
“Reasonable.”
Then Sophie pointed at the tiny figure.
“I saved you.”
Maria opened her mouth.
Alexei beat her to it.
“You noticed something important.”
“The doctors saved me.”
Sophie frowned.
“That’s what Mommy says.”
“Your mother is right.”
Maria looked at him.
Something in her chest changed.
Not romance.
Respect.
Mikhail eventually faced prosecution for conduct supported by the evidence, including attempted homicide-related charges and financial crimes.
Irina entered a cooperation agreement on offenses tied to falsified internal communications, concealment, and financial misconduct.
She lost her executive role.
Dmitri did not intervene.
No family exemption.
Alexei did something even harder.
He opened the books wider.
Independent auditors reviewed Petrov companies far beyond the attempted attack.
They found legacy misconduct Alexei had inherited.
Some he knew about.
Some he should have known about.
He could have buried it.
Instead, he cooperated.
Divested high-risk businesses.
Closed entities that could not survive legitimate scrutiny.
Paid penalties where appropriate.
Several longtime associates left.
Profit dropped.
The company survived.
May you like
The myth weakened.
That was intentional.
