Page 131 of Beautiful Agony

"I processed these invoices." Her voice comes out barely above a whisper. "Nathan said they were high-end fashion acquisitions. Private collections." She looks up at me, horror dawning in her eyes. "I remember that the prices were insane for some of the items. Nathan told me that they were just exclusive pieces, and told me to not ask too many questions. I mean, almost eight hundred thousand for a dress?"

"Because these aren't prices for clothes." My stomach churns. "They're prices for people. Each SKU is a woman or girl beingsold through these boutiques. Nathan helped set up the financial arrangements. And there are far more than what’s on this list."

Caroline's eyes start blinking fiercely as she stares at the numbers. Her breath comes in short, sharp gasps.

"Oh God." She presses her hand to her mouth. "I helped him process all of these." Her eyes dart wildly around the coffee shop. "I helped him do this. All those women..."

I watch her carefully as the full weight of her unwitting complicity crashes down on her. Her perfectly composed façade crumbles completely, shock and horror etching deep lines across her face. Her indignation and confidence are gone, replaced by the haunted look of someone as broken as I felt that night when I caught them together.

Her mascara runs in black rivulets down her cheeks as she looks up at me with desperate eyes.

"Tell me..." She swallows hard. "Did your husband kill him?"

The question hangs between us. I think about Vadim, sitting in a cell right now and waiting for me to fix this. I think about all the times he's protected me, all the monsters he's slain to keep me safe.

"I can tell you what you think you want to hear,” I say slowly, reaching for Vadim’s words with my voice. "But it won't change anything. It won't undo what he did. It won't erase your part in it, however unknowing. And it certainly won't bring him back."

"But—"

"Caroline, listen to me." I lean forward, my voice dropping lower. "Of all the people in this world, only Vadim has been fighting these monsters for years. He's saved thousands."

As I speak, I think of Polina. Of the horrors she endured at Pyotr's hands. Of being forced to watch her little brother be murdered in front of her. Of the decades of trauma that she carried as a result of it.

The same evil that stole her life nearly claimed mine through Nathan.

"I understand your need for vengeance. Trust me, I do." My hands cradle my belly protectively. "But if you pursue this, you'll be condemning thousands of girls to a fate worse than death."

Caroline's lips quiver as she stares at the list. "Your husband killed Nathan," she mutters, but her voice lacks conviction. "I have to do the right thing."

"The right thing?" I ask softly. "I could also do the right thing and tell Captain Rutledge everything you just told me. About how you helped Nathan process these transactions. About how you were complicit in his involvement with human trafficking. I can put you away forever with a few words, just like how you can put away Vadim forever with the same.”

Her head snaps up, her eyes widening. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"No." I meet her gaze steadily. "I'm doing exactly what you're doing—choosing what truth to tell." I reach across the table and take her trembling hands in mine. "Nathan doesn't deserve your grief, your pity, or your loyalty. Don't follow him into the grave he dug for himself."

Her shoulders slump. The fight drains from her completely.

As I watch her crumble, I can practically hear Vadim's voice in my head.

Like a true pakhan's wife, he would say with that proud look on his face.You know how to wield power and influence without being corrupted by them.

The thought steadies me. Gives me strength.

"Here's what's going to happen." I lean forward, keeping my voice low but firm. "You're going to go to Captain Rutledge right now and tell him you were mistaken. You're going to admit to him that grief clouded your judgment and made you see conspiracies where there were none."

My hand tightens around hers across the table—not in comfort this time, but in warning.

"And then you're going to disappear from our lives completely." I squeeze her fingers. “If you don't, then you will learn that there are consequences for aiding and abetting human trafficking. Consequences that both of us know you are not willing or able to face."

The words roll off my tongue with surprising ease. Not because I enjoy saying them, but because I have to say them.

"Do we understand each other?"

Caroline nods weakly, tears still streaming down her face.

“Good.” I release her hand and stand up, gathering my things. As I do, I catch my reflection in the window. For a moment, I barely recognize myself.

But then I feel Larina kick, and I remember exactly who I am: Vadim's wife, a future mother, and someone who will do whatever it takes to keep her family whole.

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