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“Before we proceed with the meeting, I’d like a word with you in private.”
His lawyer gave him a warning look, but Vassi said anyway, “It’s okay. I’ll call you back once she’s done.”
When his lawyer left, he asked abruptly, “What do you have to say?”
“I have photos of you and Seri together. You can sue me for it, of course, but by the time you win in court, everything about the two of you will be out in the open, and the news will be spun the way I wrote it.”
“What do you want in return?”
Her lip curled. “Don’t worry. I’m done with my obsession over you. But what I want still has something to do with you.”
When she finished telling him what she wanted, he said simply, “You are insane.”
“True. But I don’t mind as long as it allows me to call the shots. Like not.” She came to her feet. “You have until tomorrow to decide.”
When Daniela left, his lawyer came back, demanding, “What happened?”
“Nothing just yet.”
“That’s too damn cryptic.”
“I need to speak to my sister first. And then…I’ll know.” Taking his phone out, he tried calling Seri and when she didn’t answer, he sent her a text message.
Vassi: I just want to know if you’re okay.
Seri: I am.
Vassi: I’m glad.
She didn’t reply after it.
Vassi: I love you.
Seri: If you really do – if I ever meant anything to you, let me just be your sister.
And there was his answer.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you excited to go home?” Misha asked her with a smile.
She nodded. “Uh huh.” Once Fyodor was done with the paperwork, she could finally go home.
And this time, she would really go home, with the boys. As for Vassi, he had moved out, and that wasn’t something she should be guilty about. It was his choice, she told herself, and she hadn’t asked him to do it.
The door to her room opened, but instead of Fyodor coming back, it was Sergei, dressed in another one of his conservative-looking suits.
“Hello, baby.” He kissed her cheek.
“Hi and, err, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“Nothing’s more important than seeing you come back home safe and sound.”
“Oh.” She smiled up at him, but when Sergei didn’t smile back, she asked worriedly, “Is something wrong?”
“No.” He ruffled her hair. “I just didn’t think I’d be seeing you smile again.”
Fyodor came back then, and he, too, did a double take at seeing his eldest son. “Sergei. I didn’t think you’d be here.”
“Am I that much of a workaholic?”
Misha, Seri, and Fyodor said right away, “Yes.”
Sergei scowled. “Forget I asked. But for the record – I am not a workaholic. I simply knew early on what I enjoy doing the most.” Before anyone could rebut him, he changed the subject swiftly, saying, “Shall we go now?”
As they took the private elevator going down, Sergei informed them about the crowd of paparazzi waiting outside the hospital.
“I doubt it’s me they’re waiting for,” Seri said. “I’m currently nothing more than an unemployed voice actress.”
“Unless they’re from the Wall Street Journal, I doubt it’s me either.”
“Same here,” Fyodor answered.
Everyone looked at Misha.
The middle Grachyov brother blinked. “Did you all suddenly go crazy? Why would the press be interested in me?”
Seri smirked. “Your photo recently went viral with Max, remember?”
Misha shook his head. “That was an unfortunate anomaly.” The elevator doors opened then, and stepping out, he said, “I doubt it’s any of us, actually. It’s probably another celebrity.”
Seri and her family went out, all of them expecting to be ignored except for a few cursory glances, but the opposite happened.
The crowd surged towards them, and the boys instinctively closed around her when they realized what was happening.
Everyone started shouting questions at her, and when Seri realized what they were saying—-
No.
It couldn’t be true.
“Mr. Grachyov, are you going to use all your billions to defend your son from the charges against him?”
“Do you believe the allegations against your brother are true, Sergei?”
“How do you feel this will affect your career, Misha, considering you’re in the running for this year’s Rayburn Prize?”
“Seri, do you believe your older stepbrother raped your costar Daniela Martin?”
When Seri and the boys finally made it to the limousine, the silence inside was tense and heavy.
“Did any of you know about this?” she whispered.
Fyodor shook his head. “No. I had no idea.”
Sergei and Misha were looking at each other.
“Sergei? Misha?”
“He told me about Martin. All I know is she’s bad news—-” Misha’s voice turned sharp. “And even without Vassi telling me anything, I know he didn’t do it.” He looked at Seri. “You know this too, don’t you?”
Seri didn’t answer.
Misha swore under his breath. “Seri. Surely you can’t be that blind?”
She looked away from her brothers, muttering, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
****
A month passed, and while none of them heard from Vassi, everyone was unable to stop hearing about Daniela Martin. She was the talk of the town, making the rounds on all the morning shows as she spoke of her ordeal.
