Chapter 3 - The Secret Nadia's Mother Died Protecting
The break-in changed everything.
Dragan moved Nadia and Mila into a protected townhouse that same night.
Nadia resisted.
“I cannot accept this.”
“You can.”
“This is too much.”
“Someone broke into your home.”
“They didn't take anything.”
“That you know of.”
Nadia crossed her arms.
“I don't need a bodyguard.”
Dario, standing nearby, looked almost amused.
Dragan didn't.
“This isn't about what you need.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Keeping you alive.”
The bluntness silenced her.
Mila sat nearby watching them.
She signed something.
Nadia looked at her and laughed softly.
“She says you sound angry.”
Dario coughed to hide a smile.
Dragan glanced at Mila.
“I'm not angry.”
Mila signed again.
Nadia translated.
“She says your face disagrees.”
For a moment, the room became lighter.
Dragan almost smiled.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
“Send it.”
A moment later, an image arrived.
It showed the inside of Nadia's apartment.
A drawer had been emptied.
But nothing valuable had been taken.
Dragan zoomed in.
A photograph lay on the floor.
It was Nadia's mother.
On the back, someone had written one word.
KOVAC.
Nadia saw it.
“What does that mean?”
Dragan remained silent.
“Tell me.”
He finally did.
“My father knew your mother.”
Nadia stared.
“Your father?”
“Petar Kovac.”
“What did he have to do with her?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
He took a breath.
“I was seventeen when your mother came to my father's office.”
Nadia froze.
“What did she want?”
“She wanted protection.”
“From whom?”
“Someone inside the Hawthorne organization.”
Nadia looked at him.
“Hawthorne?”
“Yes.”
She looked toward Theodore.
He was standing by the window.
He had heard everything.
“Is it true?” Nadia asked.
Theodore's face was pale.
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
“You knew my mother?”
Theodore nodded.
“She worked for a company that supplied materials to one of our factories.”
“Why did she come to your house?”
“She discovered money was being diverted.”
“By whom?”
“I never knew.”
Nadia stepped closer.
“You never knew?”
“I suspected.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Theodore looked down.
“Your mother came to me because she believed she had evidence.”
“What happened?”
“Before she could give it to me, the fire occurred.”
“And you survived.”
“Yes.”
“My mother didn't.”
Theodore closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Nadia’s voice shook.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I went there to meet her.”
“And then?”
“A group of men arrived.”
“Who?”
“I never saw all their faces.”
Nadia looked at Dragan.
He answered instead.
“Because his records were altered.”
Theodore nodded.
“Someone erased the men from the security logs.”
Nadia understood.
Someone powerful had controlled the investigation.
Someone who knew how to bury evidence.
“Who?”
Dragan said, “We're getting closer.”
He turned toward Dario.
“Did you retrieve the old ledger?”
Dario nodded.
“Partially.”
“What ledger?”
Nadia asked.
Dragan opened a leather case.
Inside was a damaged notebook.
“The financial records from the factory.”
Nadia stared.
“My mother’s handwriting.”
The pages contained numbers.
Names.
Dates.
She recognized one surname.
Merrill.
Clarissa's family.
Nadia looked up.
“Clarissa?”
Dragan's eyes darkened.
“Her father owned the factory.”
Nadia felt sick.
“That means—”
“Clarissa may know more than she's admitted.”
Theodore stood abruptly.
“Impossible.”
Dragan looked at him.
“Nothing is impossible anymore.”
A few hours later, Clarissa arrived at the townhouse unexpectedly.
Dragan was waiting.
“You shouldn't be here.”
She smiled.
“I wanted to see Nadia.”
“No.”
“I am concerned about her.”
“No.”
Clarissa's smile hardened.
“You can't keep me away.”
“I can.”
She looked past him.
“Is Nadia inside?”
“Yes.”
“Then she'll want to see me.”
Nadia appeared in the hallway.
She stopped when she saw Clarissa.
Clarissa smiled.
“I wanted to apologize.”
Nadia said nothing.
Clarissa stepped closer.
“I was cruel.”
Dragan watched silently.
Clarissa reached for Nadia's hair.
Nadia flinched.
Clarissa stopped.
“I only wanted to teach you confidence.”
Nadia looked at her.
“You cut my hair.”
“It will grow back.”
“You embarrassed me.”
“I said I was sorry.”
Nadia stared into Clarissa's eyes.
Then asked one question.
“Did your father know my mother?”
Clarissa froze.
Only for a second.
But Dragan saw it.
Nadia saw it too.
“Yes,” Clarissa said finally.
“What did he do?”
“Business.”
“My mother died.”
Clarissa sighed.
“I don't know anything about it.”
“You're lying.”
Clarissa’s face changed.
“You really think a maid can accuse me of lying?”
Nadia stood straighter.
“Yes.”
Clarissa laughed.
“You're becoming difficult.”
Dragan stepped forward.
“You should leave.”
Clarissa turned to him.
“Do you really care about her?”
He answered without hesitation.
“Yes.”
Clarissa's eyes flashed.
“That is a mistake.”
Dragan said nothing.
Clarissa left.
Outside, she entered a waiting car.
Her driver looked at her.
“Did she know?”
Clarissa stared out the window.
“She knows enough.”
“Should we proceed?”
Clarissa's jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
That night, Nadia could not sleep.
She stood in the kitchen drinking water when Dragan entered.
“You should rest.”
“I can't.”
He leaned against the counter.
“Your mother?”
Nadia nodded.
“She used to sing while she worked.”
“Do you remember?”
“Every note.”
She smiled sadly.
“I forgot the words years ago.”
Dragan was silent.
Nadia looked at him.
“Tell me about your father.”
Dragan's expression became distant.
“He was dangerous.”
“You loved him?”
“I feared him.”
Nadia understood.
“That’s why you became different.”
Dragan looked at her.
“How?”
“You don't hurt people just because you can.”
He lowered his eyes.
“My father taught me power meant ownership.”
“And you disagreed.”
“Yes.”
Nadia smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Silence settled between them.
Then Dragan said something unexpected.
“When I saw Clarissa holding those scissors, I remembered a woman who once told me something.”
“What?”
“Power means nothing unless you know when not to use it.”
“Your mother?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“Yours.”
Nadia stared.
“My mother knew your father.”
“Yes.”
“She knew you too?”
“She met me once.”
Nadia's heart pounded.
“What did she say?”
Dragan looked at her.
“She asked me to help protect her daughters.”
“Both of us?”
“Yes.”
“You've been protecting us?”
“From a distance.”
Nadia felt tears appear.
“Why never tell me?”
“Because your mother made me promise.”
“What was the promise?”
“Wait until you were strong enough to hear the truth.”
Nadia laughed through her tears.
“I don't know if I'm strong enough.”
Dragan stepped closer.
“You are.”
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Mila entered the kitchen.
She looked from one to the other.
She smiled.
Nadia immediately realized they were standing too close.
“Mila—”
Her sister signed.
You like him.
Nadia's face turned red.
Dragan looked amused.
“I don't speak sign language.”
Mila smiled.
Nadia translated reluctantly.
“She says…”
Mila interrupted with another gesture.
Nadia sighed.
“She says you're blushing.”
Dragan finally smiled.
A real smile.
It was the first time Nadia had seen it.
And it frightened her more than his reputation ever had.
Because danger was easy to recognize.
Kindness was not.
The next morning, Dario brought urgent news.
“The ledger is incomplete.”
“How much?”
“Enough to identify the original payments.”
“Where are the missing pages?”
Dario looked at Nadia.
“We think they are with her mother.”
Nadia frowned.
“She has been dead eleven years.”
Dario nodded.
“Exactly.”
Then he placed another photograph on the table.
It showed the inside of Nadia's childhood home.
A wooden sewing machine.
A mirror.
And behind the mirror—
A hidden compartment.
Nadia whispered.
“That house hasn't been touched in eleven years.”
May you like
Dragan looked at her.
“Then we go there tonight.”
