Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO USED A CHILD
Z
Anya did not meet Ksenia alone. With legal advice, she agreed to hear her statement through investigators. Ksenia appeared on a secure video connection, stripped of her glamour, her hair tied back and her expression hollow.
"I learned about Maksim from the charity files," she said. "I knew you couldn't risk losing the surgery funding. I used it to make you obey me."
Anya's hands went cold. "You threatened my son because I tried to help Boris."
Ksenia nodded. "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Boris recognized Markov. He'd seen the harbor documents. Markov said if the old man kept talking, everything would collapse."
Ksenia claimed she had initially agreed to forge a pension authorization to cover gambling debts and protect her family's business interests. Then Markov pressured her to help transfer the harbor deed. Her statement was self-serving and would need corroboration, but it matched several financial records.
"You could have told Nikolai," Anya said.
"I thought he'd destroy me."
"So you destroyed someone weaker first."
Ksenia lowered her eyes. She had no answer.
The interview ended. Anya sat motionless for a long time. She had imagined confronting Ksenia would feel satisfying. Instead, she felt exhausted. Nothing Ksenia said could restore Boris's stolen months or erase the fear she'd planted around Maksim.
Nikolai met Anya afterward. "What do you need?"
"For her to face the law," Anya said. "And for you never to use my son's care as a favor I owe you."
"Agreed."
"And I need to know whether the work you do will put us in danger again."
Nikolai looked away. He had begun cooperating with investigators and divesting operations tied to the old syndicate. But he could not promise an instant transformation.
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"I can promise the truth," he said. "And I can promise I'm changing what I can control."
Anya nodded. It was not a romantic answer. It was the first honest one he could give.
