Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Refused to Be Afraid
The threat changed Nadia.
Before, fear had been something she carried quietly.
Now she was angry.
Clarissa had targeted her sister.
Her father.
Her home.
Her mother’s memory.
Nadia sat in the safe room while Dragan paced.
“You cannot stay here.”
“I know.”
“We move tonight.”
“I know.”
He stopped.
“You're angry.”
“Yes.”
“That makes you reckless.”
“No.”
Nadia stood.
“It makes me awake.”
He studied her.
“I've spent seven years being invisible.”
She walked toward him.
“I cleaned rooms where people discussed my life as though I wasn't there.”
She touched the scar on her wrist.
“I learned not to answer back.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“I am not doing that anymore.”
Dragan nodded slowly.
“Good.”
Dario entered.
“We traced the shooter.”
“Where?”
“A penthouse registered to one of Clarissa's shell companies.”
Dragan's expression hardened.
“Then we're going.”
Nadia stepped forward.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“You just said you wanted me awake.”
“That doesn't mean I want you in danger.”
“You don't get to choose.”
Dragan looked at her.
He knew she was right.
“Stay behind me.”
She smiled.
“I can do that.”
They entered the penthouse after midnight.
It was luxurious.
Expensive.
And filled with evidence.
Photographs of Nadia.
Photographs of Mila.
Photographs of Dragan.
A wall contained documents about the factory fire.
Another contained Clarissa's notes.
Nadia read one.
“Subject remains emotionally attached to memory of mother.”
Another.
“Use sister as leverage.”
Nadia's hands shook.
Clarissa had studied her.
Not as a woman.
As a weakness.
Dragan saw her expression.
“We're taking all of it.”
Dario photographed everything.
Then Nadia noticed something.
A framed magazine cover.
Clarissa on the cover.
Headline:
THE WOMAN WHO BUILT KIND BEAUTY FROM NOTHING.
Nadia remembered her mother's letter.
Do not trust the Hawthorne who smiles the brightest.
Clarissa had built her entire public image on compassion.
Maybe that was the point.
Behind the wall, Dario found a hidden compartment.
Inside was a ledger.
Not the original.
A copy.
It contained payments to shell companies.
One name appeared again and again.
Viktor Soren.
Then another.
Theodore Hawthorne.
Nadia stared.
Theodore had been involved.
Dragan noticed.
“He wasn't innocent.”
“He knew.”
“Looks like it.”
Nadia felt betrayed.
Theodore had paid for Mila's surgery.
He had shown her kindness.
Maybe it had all been manipulation.
But Dragan shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because the payments began after the fire.”
Nadia frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“He may have been trying to repair what he could.”
Nadia looked at the ledger again.
One line showed a recurring payment.
To an account bearing Mila's hospital name.
Theodore had secretly paid for her treatment.
Not from the Hawthorne care budget.
From a private account linked to his personal fortune.
Nadia's eyes filled.
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“But he never told me.”
“He may have been ashamed.”
Nadia sat down.
She could not decide whether to forgive him.
That night, Theodore came to see her.
He entered without guards.
“I owe you the truth.”
Nadia said nothing.
“I knew your mother.”
“Yes.”
“I knew the factory was being used.”
“Yes.”
“I tried to stop it.”
“Did you?”
“I failed.”
Nadia's eyes filled.
“You could have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That if I told you everything, they would come for you.”
Nadia laughed bitterly.
“They came anyway.”
Theodore lowered his head.
“I know.”
She watched him.
“You paid for Mila.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it was the only thing I could still do.”
Nadia's anger softened.
“But you lied.”
“Yes.”
“Then don't ask me to trust you yet.”
“I won't.”
He left.
Nadia looked at Dragan.
“You're not going to defend him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because truth isn't something you decorate.”
She smiled faintly.
“That may be the smartest thing you've ever said.”
He looked at her.
“I say intelligent things.”
“You threaten people.”
“That too.”
She laughed.
Later, Dragan found Nadia on the balcony.
The city lights reflected in her eyes.
“You should sleep.”
“I'm tired of sleeping.”
He stood beside her.
“What are you afraid of?”
Nadia hesitated.
“Being happy.”
He looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because every time I love something, it gets taken away.”
Dragan's expression softened.
“That doesn't mean love causes loss.”
“It feels like it does.”
“Then let me prove you wrong.”
She looked at him.
“How?”
“I won't ask you to trust me blindly.”
He took her hand.
“I'll give you reasons.”
Nadia looked down at their joined hands.
She didn't pull away.
He kissed her forehead.
Nothing more.
It was gentle.
Safe.
Then Dario entered.
“Boss.”
Dragan turned.
“What?”
“We found Viktor.”
Nadia looked up.
“Where?”
Dario handed over an address.
“An old Hawthorne property.”
Dragan recognized it.
The same estate where Clarissa had once humiliated Nadia.
The greenhouse.
Dragan's eyes hardened.
“She brought Viktor there.”
Nadia stood.
“No.”
Dragan looked at her.
“What?”
“If she's there, she's going to my mother’s things.”
“What things?”
Nadia remembered the hidden room.
The braid.
The locket.
The old records.
“There may be one last document.”
“What?”
“My mother's original ledger.”
Dragan nodded.
“Then tonight we finish this.”
They returned to the estate.
The greenhouse was dark.
Clarissa stood among the orchids.
Viktor stood beside her.
And in his hand was a box.
Nadia recognized it.
Her mother's box.
Clarissa smiled.
“You came.”
Nadia stepped forward.
“You killed her.”
Clarissa shook her head.
“I didn't.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you hid it.”
Clarissa smiled.
“Because your mother was foolish.”
Nadia's voice became quiet.
“You cut my hair because you wanted me afraid.”
“No.”
Clarissa tilted her head.
“I cut your hair because I knew it was the one thing you loved that couldn't be replaced.”
Nadia stared.
“You're sick.”
Clarissa laughed.
“No. I'm powerful.”
Dragan stepped beside Nadia.
Clarissa looked at him.
“And you.”
Her smile faded.
“You always ruin everything.”
Dragan said nothing.
Viktor raised a weapon.
“Give me the ledger.”
Nadia looked at the box.
Then smiled.
“You already have it.”
Clarissa frowned.
Nadia held up a small flash drive.
“The original isn't in the box.”
Clarissa's expression changed.
“Where?”
“Already transmitted.”
Dragan smiled.
Dario's team entered.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Viktor looked around.
May you like
Nadia had planned ahead.
For the first time, Clarissa looked afraid.
