Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW WHERE THE MEDICINE WAS
Katherine denied involvement immediately.
She had a plausible reason for being in the study.
She and Alexei were reviewing wedding property agreements.
Romantic.
Then investigators checked her phone.
Nothing obvious.
No Viktor calls.
No hidden transfer.
But one message to an unknown number:
Injector is still lower drawer.
Maria’s stomach dropped.
Katherine claimed she had been texting Alexei’s physician about replacing expired medication.
The number was not his physician.
It was prepaid.
Then another message:
Wednesday confirmed.
That was enough for investigators to look harder.
Katherine finally requested counsel.
Alexei said almost nothing.
Maria recognized the expression.
The betrayal was familiar now.
Katherine had not planned Alexei’s death for inheritance.
Evidence suggested something more complicated.
Her father’s construction company owed millions to a lender connected to Viktor.
Viktor approached Katherine.
He said he only wanted information.
Schedules.
Allergy details.
Security routines.
In exchange, he would forgive part of her father’s debt.
Katherine claimed she never knew he intended to put allergen in the coffee.
Did she believe he wanted to scare Alexei?
That was her claim.
Then why “Wednesday confirmed”?
She knew Alexei would be in the study after an early meeting.
Why provide injector location?
She said Viktor asked where emergency medication was because he “didn’t want anyone actually dying.”
A terrible explanation.
Maybe partially true.
Investigators would decide evidence.
Alexei ended the engagement immediately.
No screaming.
No revenge.
Just:
“You gave a hostile man my medical information.”
Katherine cried.
“I was trying to save my father.”
Alexei’s voice stayed quiet.
“So you risked Sophie’s mother being blamed.”
Katherine looked toward Maria.
There it was.
She knew Maria’s account would be used.
Maybe not the full plan.
Enough.
Maria felt no satisfaction watching the engagement collapse.
Katherine had also been controlled through family debt.
Different scale.
Same disease:
Someone else’s emergency becomes permission to violate another person.
Then Katherine said:
“I thought Viktor would expose old Petrov crimes if Alexei refused.”
Alexei answered:
“He can.”
Everyone turned.
Alexei had already decided.
The old records.
Rafael’s ledger.
Legacy payments.
Everything relevant would go through counsel to authorities.
No more blackmail.
No more family secrets purchased with silence.
Dmitri looked troubled.
“Your father’s name—”
“Is already dead.”
Alexei’s voice hardened.
“I am not spending the rest of my life protecting a dead man’s reputation with living people’s safety.”
Maria thought of Lucia.
Rafael.
Elena.
Carlos.
Everyone who had hidden truth to protect someone.
The cost always reached the next generation.
Then Sophie tugged Alexei’s sleeve.
“Wedding?”
Maria closed her eyes.
Wrong moment.
Alexei crouched.
“No wedding.”
Sophie frowned.
“Why?”
“Grown-up problem.”
She considered.
“Cake still?”
Alexei looked at Maria.
For the first time in days, she laughed.
“Yes, baby. Somewhere in the world, there is still cake.”
Then Katherine left under legal restrictions while the investigation continued.
Six months later, her father’s debt was restructured through lawful channels unrelated to Alexei.
She cooperated.
Consequences followed.
No dramatic disappearance.
Then Viktor eventually entered a plea after evidence tied him to the poisoning attempt, identity misuse, blackmail, and other offenses.
Maria did not attend every hearing.
She had class.
Anatomy.
Clinical skills.
Pharmacology.
She was becoming a nursing student at thirty-four.
Then one afternoon, she returned home to find Sophie holding a real child-sized scrub top.
Gift.
No note.
She knew immediately.
Alexei.
Maria called.
“I said no charity.”
“It cost twenty-two dollars.”
“That is not the point.”
“It is a birthday gift.”
“Sophie’s birthday is next month.”
“I plan ahead.”
She sighed.
Then saw the embroidery.
DR. SOPHIE — MAYBE SOMEDAY.
Maria smiled despite herself.
Then Alexei added:
“There is another reason I called.”
“What?”
The board had completed the historical company review.
Petrov Logistics would formally recognize Rafael Alvarez as a whistleblower whose allegations had been suppressed.
May you like
Maria stopped moving.
Her father’s name was finally being returned to the story.
