Chapter 5 - Stefan Kidnapped Me to Force Viktor to Hand Over His Empire—But I Discovered the Real Reason He Wanted Me AliveThree days later, I was taken.
It happened in daylight.
Outside the grocery store.
A van pulled up.
Two men.
A cloth over my head.
A sharp chemical smell.
Then darkness.
When I woke, my hands were tied.
I was in an old warehouse.
Stefan sat across from me.
“You have become a problem.”
I glared.
“Let me go.”
“You've changed my brother.”
“Good.”
He smiled.
“I don't think you understand what that means.”
“I understand enough.”
“You made him care.”
“He already cared.”
“Not like this.”
He leaned closer.
“He was supposed to remain cold.”
I laughed.
“You're insane.”
“Yes.”
He stood.
“You know what makes people dangerous?”
“What?”
“Hope.”
I stared.
“Viktor had none.”
“Then he has it now.”
Stefan looked angry.
“You.”
I swallowed.
“Why me?”
“Because you are the only person he will die for.”
I stared.
“I barely know him.”
“Your heart disagrees.”
I said nothing.
He smiled.
“That's the interesting part.”
Meanwhile, Viktor tore Chicago apart looking for me.
He found my car.
My phone.
My jacket.
Then he found the warehouse.
He came alone.
Stefan expected that.
He was waiting.
The confrontation was brutal.
I heard shouting.
Gunfire.
Then Viktor burst through the door.
“Amelia.”
I cried.
He ran to me.
Cut the restraints.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He touched my face.
“You scared me.”
“You scared me too.”
He pulled me into his arms.
For one second, the world stopped.
Then Stefan appeared behind us.
He was smiling.
“You see?”
Viktor turned.
“I was right.”
“About what?”
“You love her.”
Viktor froze.
Stefan laughed.
“That makes you weak.”
Viktor stepped forward.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“It makes me human.”
Stefan raised his weapon.
The shot never came.
Lucia had followed Viktor.
She stepped forward.
“Uncle Stefan.”
Everyone stopped.
She held a photograph.
“Mom knows.”
Stefan's face changed.
“What did she tell you?”
“That you killed Grandpa.”
Silence.
Stefan lowered his weapon.
Then he ran.
Viktor's security caught him.
He was arrested.
But his confession revealed something bigger.
He hadn't killed Viktor's father.
He had been covering for someone.
Viktor's mother.
And she was still alive.
We found her in a private nursing facility.
She confessed.
She had helped destroy the family.
She believed Viktor was too emotional to lead.
She wanted Stefan in control.
She ordered Isabella's disappearance.
She separated Lucia from the family.
She had manipulated Misha.
And she had paid people to monitor me.
“Why me?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“Because you reminded Viktor of his father.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Your grandmother.”
“My grandmother?”
“She once helped my husband.”
I stared.
“What did she do?”
“She hid evidence.”
Evidence of what?
The original Volkov inheritance agreement.
It had been hidden in Magnolia Diner.
My heart stopped.
“The diner?”
She nodded.
A hidden compartment beneath Booth Three.
We rushed there.
I removed the seat.
Nothing.
Then I remembered my grandmother always told me:
“Never remove the old wood.”
I found the loose board.
Inside—
a metal box.
Documents.
Photographs.
A letter.
And the original trust.
It named Viktor's children as beneficiaries.
It also named one person as guardian if Viktor died.
My name.
AMELIA HAYES.
I stared.
“What?”
Viktor read it.
His expression became stunned.
“My father knew your grandmother.”
“She saved him.”
“And he trusted her.”
“Why me?”
The letter answered.
Because her family has never been corrupted by power.
I felt tears.
The diner wasn't dying because nobody cared.
It had been protected.
My grandmother had hidden this for decades.
Viktor looked at me.
“You had no idea.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Neither did I.”
May you like
Then he took my hand.
“Maybe this is why I found you.”
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