Page 22 of His Forced Bride
My eyes snap open.
"What conflicts of interest?"
"He wouldn't say. But when I pressed, his secretary mentioned that all our corporate accounts have been frozen pending resolution of the issue."
The room tilts sideways.
I grip the edge of my desk, feeling the polished wood beneath my palms, using the physical sensation to anchor myself.
Yuri's people have been busy.
While I was sketching funeral dresses and drowning in grief, he was systematically dismantling my ability to fight back.
"What? This is my company. I don't understand."
My mind is reeling.
Just because my father died does not mean I can't keep my business functioning.
I've been on my own for more than two years now.
This is ludicrous.
"I don't know. The secretary just said all assets are frozen until the matter is resolved through proper legal channels."
Proper legal channels controlled by judges who can be bought, lawyers who know which way the wind blows, bureaucrats who understand the difference between a signature and a death sentence.
Yuri has played this game for decades.
I'm a child fumbling with weapons I don't understand.
Alina retreats, leaving me alone with the magnitude of my situation.
I pull up our financial accounts on my computer, but every screen shows the same message,Account access restricted pending legal review.
My business bank accounts, my personal savings, the emergency funds I set aside for exactly this type of crisis—all of it beyond my reach.
The rage builds slowly, starting as a low burn in my chest and spreading outward until my hands shake with it.
I spent three years clawing my way up from a girl with a sewing machine to a designer whose work has graced international runways.
I fought for every contract, every client, every square foot of this showroom.
And now a man I barely know is stealing it all because he has more guns and fewer scruples.
I grab the crystal paperweight from my desk—a gift from Batya when I signed my first major deal.
The weight feels good in my palm, and for a moment, I imagine hurling it at Yuri's face, watching his blood splatter across one of those expensive suits.
But my eyes prick with tears and my shaking hand drops the damn thing, and it falls to the concrete and shatters, ripping one more thing from my life that Batya gave me.
I jump back, startled, and let the tears pour from my eyes.
"Inessa! Are you hurt?"
I stare at the glittering fragments scattered around my feet.
Each piece catches the light differently, creating tiny rainbows among the destruction.
