The news spread like wildfire.
Within hours, social media erupted with headlines: "Medical Heir Exposed in International Scandal,""Ashborne Clinic Shut Down Amid Criminal Investigation," and "Interpol Nabs Former Surgeon Turned Rogue Scientist."
But Larissa didn't care about any of that.
All she cared about was the man standing silently at the edge of the safehouse balcony, staring into the foggy Swiss morning like he wasn't sure if he was still alive.
Lukyan hadn't spoken much since the raid. The bruises along his jaw were fading, but the silence around him had grown heavier. And Larissa knew what that silence meant.
Guilt.
She stepped out onto the balcony, wrapping her shawl tighter around her shoulders. "They said Dmitri's refusing to talk."
Lukyan didn't turn. "He always was a coward when things didn't go his way."
"You stopped him," she said softly. "You saved us."
"No," he murmured. "I delayed him. There will always be men like him. Men with power and no conscience."
She moved closer. "And there will always be men like you. Who fight them."
He finally looked at her. And for a second—just one—she saw the cracks beneath the surface. The exhaustion. The pain. The question he still hadn't asked.
Are you still leaving?
Larissa wished she had an answer. But even now, with Dmitri behind bars and the threat gone… her heart was a battlefield.
She reached out, brushing her fingers against his arm. "You're not alone in this, Lukyan."
His jaw clenched. "But you will be. In two years. Or sooner."
"I—"
"Don't," he said quietly. "Don't lie to me."
Larissa flinched. But instead of pulling away, she stood her ground.
"I don't know what I want anymore."
That admission, whispered like a confession, shattered something between them.
Lukyan turned fully toward her, his voice raw. "Then stay. Stay until you do."
She blinked. "That's not fair."
"I don't care about fair. I care about you. I care about Roman, and Nikolai, and Alina. I care about the life we've built, even if it wasn't supposed to be real."
Larissa's breath caught.
Because that was the truth, wasn't it? Somewhere along the line, the fake smiles, the staged photos, the contract—it had all blurred into something that felt real. Too real.
"I'm scared," she admitted.
"I am too."
They stood there, the chill biting through the fog, neither of them ready to move. Because the next step might mean everything… or nothing.
Later that night
The children had returned to the estate. Everything was quiet. Too quiet.
Larissa sat alone in the master bedroom, staring at the corner of the closet she'd once secretly packed. The suitcase was still there. Still half-full.
A reminder of the promise she'd made to herself.
To leave.
To be free.
But now?
Now she wasn't sure what freedom meant.
Her phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number:
We're watching.
Her blood ran cold.
She stared at it, heart pounding, when another ping followed:
You think this ends with Dmitri? You have no idea what he started.
She rushed to lock the door, pulse racing. Her instincts kicked in. Screenshots. Security logs. Emergency protocols.
Then she ran to Lukyan's study.
He was there, typing furiously on his tablet, but when he saw her face, he stood immediately. "What is it?"
She handed him the phone.
He read the messages, face going pale. "These numbers are encrypted. Military-grade. They've already wiped the trace."
"Lukyan—what does it mean?"
"It means Dmitri wasn't the end," he said quietly. "He was the beginning."