Page 130 of Beautiful Agony

"Some things are unforgivable, Caroline." My voice stays steady despite the storm of emotions inside me. "What Nathan did—what he was planning to do—crosses a line that can never be uncrossed."

"You keep saying that." Caroline's fingers drum against her coffee cup. "But you haven't explained what he supposedly was planning that was so terrible."

I take a deep breath, steeling myself. "Nathan was going to sell me to them."

"What?" Caroline's face twists in disbelief. "That's ridiculous. Nathan would never?—"

“Wouldn’t he?” My hands tighten around hers.

Caroline shakes her head violently. “This isn’t true.”

"I've seen them, Caroline." My voice remains steady. "I've seen what they do to women." My voice cracks. "I've seen the shipping containers they stuff women into. I've heard the screams. I’ve watched them murder a girl just to make a point.”

Caroline's face has gone pale, but there's still that stubborn denial in her eyes.

"These aren't stories I'm making up." I lean forward. "I was there. I survived it. And Nathan?" I swallow hard. "He knew exactly what kind of monsters they were when he planned to hand me over to them."

"You're lying." Caroline's voice breaks. "Nathan wasn't like that. He promised me—" She chokes back a sob. "He promised to help me start my own business. Said he'd invest in my dreams."

My heart stops. Those words. Those exact words.

"Let me guess." The bitterness rises in my throat. "He told you that the timing wasn't quite right yet. That you just needed to be patient a little longer."

Caroline's eyes widen. "How did you?—"

"Because he told me the same thing." My eyes drill into hers. "For two years, he dangled my dream of having my own fashion start-up in front of me. Always promising that the next deal would be the one to give me his all. That soon I'd have everything I wanted. Everything I deserved.”

"That's different." Caroline shakes her head. "What we had was real. He was going to help me open my own accounting firm. We hadplans."

"Plans." The word tastes like ash in my mouth. "Did he tell you that you were special? That you understood him in ways no one else could?"

Caroline's silence is all the answer I need.

"Did he say that once everything falls in place, you two could finally be together properly?" My voice grows softer. "That all the sneaking around was just temporary?"

Tears stream down Caroline's face. "You don't know what we had."

"I do." My heart aches for her—for both of us. "Because before you, he used those same promises to keep me hoping. To keep me believing. To keep mecompliant."

"No." Caroline's hands ball into fists. "What we had was different. Helovedme."

"The way he loved me?" I ask gently. "The way he probably loved whoever came before me? And the way he would've loved whoever comes after you?"

"Prove it." She yanks her hands from mine, anger flashing in her eyes. "Prove to me that you're not lying."

My fingers are steady as I reach into my purse.

I'd spent hours searching through Vadim's office in Pankration for his list—the same one I'd first discovered in his suit jacket at Mrs. Klossner's. The memory of finding it feels like a lifetime ago, back when I thought Vadim was just another wealthy businessman trying to buy out small businesses.

I'd finally found it tucked away in his desk drawer, right next to the bible that held all the evidence of Nathan and Kirsan's crimes.

Now, I slide the paper across the table to Caroline.

"Look at these boutiques." My voice stays steady. "The SKU numbers, the prices. Do any of them seem familiar?"

Caroline's eyes scan the page, her brow furrowing. "I…" Her fingers trace over the numbers. "Yes..."

Her hands start shaking as she continues reading. I see the moment recognition hits—her face drains of color as she spots names and numbers she must have typed herself, working late nights at Nathan's behest.

---