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“Don’t fret, I will get the wedding sorted right away!”
Was it bad luck to kill your father-in-law before the wedding?
Chapter 5 - Mila
It was a shame for me to be so miserable while sitting in such a luxurious room. But too many nice things at the cost of my freedom didn’t feel worth it. It hadn’t been my choice either.
I grew tired of staring at the ornate walls of my dad’s pricy condo. Fortunately, he didn’t appear very often during our week-long stay. He was likely too busy planning our sham wedding or drawing up whatever else he wanted from Nikolai’s family.
Rather than pushing too hard against it, seeing as everyone involved was working against me, I resolved to accept the situation. At the very least, Nikolai finally knew about Kat, even if he couldn’t look at me for longer than five seconds whenever he dropped by to give Kat something or to speak with her.
I felt like nothing more than a ghost throughout the passing days. Only an observer while others moved in and out of the room. Nikolai came and went as he pleased, mostly without a word. Sometimes his brothers joined them before they left to do whatever it is they do.
By the second day, someone stopped by to swab Kat’s cheek. She had been alarmed by the intrusive procedure, but Nikolai made sure to sit with her, holding her hand with a kind smile on his face.
For a moment, I had completely forgotten about our uncanny situation. For in that moment, he looked like an ordinary, doting father taking care of his child. As if we were the spitting image of a perfect family.
But the moment he cast his cold eyes my way, that illusion shattered immediately. We were anything but.
As a small token of kindness by day four, Ivan’s wife, Reina, had dropped off several photo albums for me to look through. I assumed it was for me to familiarize myself with the family before I joined it, but I didn’t mind. It was something to do.
She wanted to talk, and she seemed genuine about it, but I wasn’t in the mood. Even when I refused to answer her questions to the full extent, Reina’s kind smile didn’t falter, and she looked at me empathetically.
“I know this is sudden and everything must seem so uncertain, but it will all fall into place soon,” Reina had said with a warm hand against my forearm reassuringly. “If you need a friend or anyone to talk to, don’t hesitate. We’re going to be sisters-in-law, Mila. You can trust me.”
I can’t trust anyone,I thought, but I kept it to myself. Instead, I pulled away from her and sat with Kat, distracting myself with the small ray of sunshine in my life.
Reina had said a small goodbye before leaving the room, and Kat waved at her enthusiastically. At that moment, I was glad Kat couldn’t fully grasp the situation. To her, she had a father in her life now, and new people to surround herself with. She had new toys, and a comfortable place to sleep, and that was good enough for her.
Even if I wasn’t willing to entertain Reina, it was nice to be seen as a human for once.
After Reina left, a part of me wished she would come back. She was a gentle face—far different from the Morozov brothers and my father’s goons. I wanted to be near someone who understood the abrasive and uncomfortable world we were a part of thanks to our families, but the rest of me was glad to be alone with Kat.
Everything felt impossible to process fully. It was all moving too quickly for me to catch up.
By day seven, with the albums opened and spread across the king-sized bed, I scanned them all, curious as I took in fragments of Nikolai’s childhood, along with that of every other member of the Morozov family.
The days felt far longer without my phone or internet access, and even if it hurt somewhat to peer into the intimate parts of Nikolai’s life without knowing much about him, it helped to move time along.
There was a small photo of Nikolai and his brothers crushed together with what I could only assume was their mother, all of them wearing huge smiles that reached their eyes, cheeks round and enthusiastic. They all looked incredibly happy, and for a moment, it touched my heart.
It was hard to miss just how much Kat resembled her father, as well as her grandmother. Even without the DNA test, there was no denying how closely she looked like them. She too had the Morozov signature black hair and blue eyes, with the same toothy smile.
Studying their mother, she reminded me of Aunt Maria. She emanated the same warmth and kindness that I had grown to appreciate from my aunt, who filled in that motherly role for me when nobody else could. She was everything to me, and yet, she was gone.
Aunt Maria had likely been tricked into believing my father’s tricks. She was too kind for her own good at times, and blindly trusting. She had been hopeful about her brother’s change, which was evident even as a kid. Aunt Maria wanted him to be better for me and everyone around us, but that transformation seemed unlikely even now.
Now more than ever.
Clenching my fists, my heart longed for my aunt. What I would do to have one last moment with her. To thank her for everything she did for me.
She was dead because of my father’s motives and scheming, and he deserved to pay for it. He was as cruel as I remembered.
There was a rustle of Kat’s toys as she set them back down on the floor and made her way over to the bed, dropping against the mattress that was far too tall for her. “Can I look at the pictures?”
Nodding, I helped her up and sat her on my lap. “Of course you can, sweetie.”
Kat ogled at the pictures, turning the stiff pages along with me once she finished looking at them.
