Page 159 of Deceitful Vows

Our exchange had a witness, and his verdict is starkly contradicting since he offers the third standpoint all great stories need.

“You can’t let her guilt-trip you into stepping back, especially since I don’t believe her fiancé fathered her unborn child.” Ano locks his eyes with mine before he adds another hair-raising dip in the rollercoaster I’ve been riding for the past several months. “I’m reasonably sure that’s on me.”

64

ANDRIK

The agitation keeping my skin slicked with sweat clears away when I receive a text message.

Anoushka:

Zakhar wanted to say good luck.

Anoushka’s thumb finds its way into almost every photograph, but even with its inclusion, I can’t miss Zak’s big grin in the image she forwarded with her message.

He’s wearing a blue hospital gown, and an ugly hairnet keeps his trademark light-brown locks off his face. He’s trying to portray excitement, as to no doubt Anoushka’s request, but I can tell he is scared.

You’re not the only one, Zak.

Today is the day we were waiting for. Zakhar is about to get a new heart. He’s prepped and ready for surgery in a hospital eight hundred miles from my location. All he needs to get better is for me to say the vows I’ve been dreading all month.

Love, honor, and obey.

Could there be three lesser respected words when it comes to this marriage? Fraudulent, immoral, and corrupt seem far more fitting.

When my father signals that it is time for the wedding to begin, I send Anoushka a message to say I will commence travels to the hospital minutes after I’ve exchanged vows. My helicopter is on the roof of the hotel, waiting for me.

Me:

Don’t let them take him in until I’ve returned.

I hit send before I can tack on the words I refuse to speak:I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity of saying what could possibly be a final goodbye.

There are no guarantees that Zak will survive his operation, but we’re meant to be thinking positively.

It is a hard fucking feat when you feel like your life won’t stop circling the toilet.

Apfftvibrates my lips when Anoushka replies with a thumbs-up. As quickly as my annoyance surfaced, it clears away. Anoushka’s thumb still features in her next image, and so does my little brother.

Mikhail looks like hell. His skin is scaly, his beard is unkempt, and his eyes are sunken, yet he still looks more alive than Zakhar’s whitening expression.

That shows he proved right when he chose his location today.

Just like I did when I let Arabella live.

My father straightens my suit jacket when I reach the end of the altar before fiddling with the white rose the wedding planner pinned on in a hurry. I pull away before signaling for the quartet to commence playing the song Dina selected for Arabella to walk down the aisle.

The quicker this is over, the sooner my son will have a new heart.

As I twist to face the people filling the pews the event company donned with thousands of roses and hydrangeas, my eyes instantly land on one face. It isn’t hard to spot her in a crowd. She is the most beautiful in the room, and the most feared.

She could ruin everything with two little words.I object.

She won’t, though, right? I don’t approve of the approach Arabella used to scare her away, but a ruse of an absentee father will be the most effective. Zoya is unaware of her lineage because she was raised without a father’s influence. To her, he is a shadow. A nightwalker. Someone who only ever comes out when it’s dark. She’s never seen his face.

Well, she has. She just doesn’t know it.

In case Arabella’s delivery wasn’t convincing enough, I permitted Konstantine to release some information Maksim’s team would have never stumbled onto even if they were looking into me. I know they are—that’s all part of the plan—but if they don’t interfere in Zakhar’s procedure today, I have no issue with them using anything they unearth.

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