Bed behind him 86_Bound by Lies, Trapped by Desire

Chapter 86 

 Elena’s POV

 My throat clogged up as my eyes dropped in the DNA reports scattered across the floor. My knees buckled before even realized it, my body linking to the rug in a slow copse, hands shaking as I reached In the top page.

 The words blurred for a second, my vision swimming as forced myself to breathe,

 Paternity Analysis: 99.98% match–Subject A: Sergel Morozov, Subject B. Evelina Morozov (now legally registered as Elena Kovalyova

 My heart stuttered. I braced one hand against the floor and used the other to flip through the remaining sheets, desperate, frantic almost, like the truth might disappear if I didn’t verify itst mough.

 And then I saw the photograph.

 It was old, but clear enough that I froze the moment Iid eyes on it. A woman–tall, willowy, and heartbreakingly beautiful. Her features were sharp yet soft, like someone carved out of porcin and breathed life into. She had a narrow jawline, high cheekbones, and long hair that tumbled over her shoulders in dark, effortless waves.

 My breath caught.

 Oh god, Theresemnce was… uncanny.

 It was like staring into a minor. Same bone structure. Same mouth. Even the slight tilt of the head–familiar, instinctual. Her hair was the same thickness and texture as mine, the color identical in hue. The only difference was the eyes. Hers were a stormy grey. Mine weren’t

 But that didn’t matter. She was my biological mother. There was no doubt.

 So that’s how he knew.

 I swallowed hard. I’d always wondered how Niki recognized me so easily. I mean, sure, there was some resemnce between me and Sergei We shared simr eyes–sharp, pale green–but beyond that? It had never felt like enough to justify his certainty

 But this? 

 If Niki had seen this woman before, if she had ever meant anything to him–even in passing–it would’ve been enough. He had endetic memory so his mind was like a camera, snapping and cataloguing every detail with relentless rity. One look at me, and he would have made the connection instantly

 A fresh wave of nausea hit me.

 Then my gaze fell to the ultrasound pictures tucked neatly between the pages. There were three of them, each with a date stamped on the side, and a small printed name at the top corner.

 Patient Name: Evelina Morozov

 Gestation: 11 weeks. Fetus developing normally.

 I stared at it in stunned silence.

 That was supposed to be me. That clump of shadows and pixted grain on the ultrasound screen. That was the start of me

 Except it wasn’t. Not really. I wasn’t Evelina. I was Elena. Elena Kovalyova. And my mother–my real mother–was standing in the same room, watching me, waiting

 Waiting for me to say something.

 My head jerked up slowly, eyes meeting hers. Her expression was tight, grief swimming in her gaze. Beatrix, My mother. The woman who’d raised me,

 Chapter BG

 tomforted me, held mo her every scraped knee and heartbreak.

 She was trembling. And I realized then I wasn’t the only one whose world had been shattered.

 I stood up with the documents still clutched in my hand, forcing my legs to cooperate even though they felt like paper. “Mom… I’m sorry”

 My voice cracked.

 Beatrix’s mouth tightened. “Sorry for what?” she asked, but it wasn’t a question. It was an usation, “knew something was off You’ve been acting strange since this morning. But I never imagined this–this. Her voice splintered near the end “How could you hide something like this from me? You’ve nover kept secrets from me before.”

 if only that were true.

 Guilt stabbed through me like a hot from

 “Sorry, Mom,” I whispered internally, but I didn’t say it out loud. There are so many things I’ve hidden from you.

 I gripped the papers tighter, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I didn’t know how to tell you,” I said finally, my voice quiet. “Everything happened so fast. I only found outst night, I needed time to process it before 1–before I dragged you into this too.”

 Beatrix’s breath hitched. She stared at me for another long moment, eyes scanning my face like she was trying to read between the lines. Then she exhaled, long and weary. “Tell me everything” she said. “Start from the beginning

 I hesitated. Then looked toward Sorgel.

 He was seated again, his elbows on the arms of the chair, watching my mother like she was a scientific anomaly. His gaze didn’t flicker when I red at him. Just calm, Elinical observation. Like this was all part of an experiment and he was waiting to see if the subject would break.

 I didn’t care.

 Hignored him entirely as I reached out and gently tugged Mom toward the couch. She followed without resistance. I knelt in front of her once she sat still clutching her hands.

 I didn’t care that there were three armed men still in the room. That one of them had beaten one of Niki’s men bloody. That Serge’s presence alone was dangerous. The only thing I cared about was her. My mother.

 I bear losing everything. But not her.

 I took a breath. “Last night, at the ga… Sergei showed up. He approached us directly and imed to be my father.”

 ghtly, and she looked over at him. Sergei didn’t even flinch. Just raised a brow.

 Her mouth parted slightly.

 a light squeeze.

 Mom’s Fingers were cold in mine. She hadn’t blinked in a while. I gave her hand a L

 Sho exhaled again, but then her eyes narrowed. “Why did you say Niki was using her?” she asked, her attention shiting sharply to Serpel. Her voice wasn’t trembling now–it was edged with steel.

 My heart jumped at her words,

 Sergei leaned back, folding his hands in hisp like he had all the time in the world. “Exactly that,” he said evenly. “He married her to spite me. One month before their wedding. Niki came to my office with a photograph of her–when she was five. imed she was alive. Said he knew where she was. He offered to give me her location if I agreed to a very… Inconvenient business deal”

 Beatrix didn’t speak. Her throat bobbed, her pice hardening. Then she turned back to me.

 “Is this true?” 

 I opened my mouth–then closed it again.

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 I wanted to deny it. To say it was apgrichlet ve fabricated. That h?ndi want capable of something on or it at the g, in feast of everyone. And the mannery biened in my loan the scid,

 “You don’t have preet,” Haid to Sergei, but even

 d to Sergei, but even I didn’t ballem the wonds.

 He toughed under his breath. “He basically confessed in front of witnesses, and you still dout

 My jaw clenched. Thated that he was right.

 Next to me, Mom’s hand tightened in mine again

 “How could you not tell me this immediately?” she whispered.

 Hooked away, my shoulders curling slightly. “I didn’t know how,” Trumand

 Her voice rose.“What do you mean you didn’t know how? You didn’t even tell me why you and rikai fought in the times, and you just deflected. If I’d known what that bastard had done, I would’ve i

 The weight in my chest grew heavier. I squeezed my eyes shut…

 sed him out the moment he set foot in my bossa?

 But then I opened them again, and I heard myself saying something I hadn’t nned–something even I didn’t expect

 “He had his own reasons, Mom”

 Beatro blinked.

 The room fell silent.

 It wasn’t just a pause. It was a gaping, shuddering vacuum,

 “You’re defending him?” she asked, and her tone was disbelieving. “After everything?”

 Imet her gaze, my voice low. “I’m not defending what he did. I’m just saying…it wasn’t all ck and white. He made a mistake. A terrible one. But he didn’t force me into anything. He didn’t manipte me into staying “Because this wasn’t a true marriage in the first ce. It was a contract, it only started bing realter.

 Mom shook her head. “I never taught you to lose your self–respect in love, Elena.”

 The wordsnded like a stap

 I stiffened. My hands dropped from hers. “I didn’t, Mom”

 “You say that,” she snapped, “but aren’t youing back from his ce right now?”

 The question cracked something inside me. I clenched my fists, the sting of her judgment cutting deeper than I expected.

 I remembered the feel of his breath on my shoulder

 Iswallowed thickly.

 “it’s over,” I said with a hollow, aching finality. The was thest time

 I didn’t even recognize the sound of my own voice.

 Across from me, Beatriz froze.

 Chapter 87

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Bed behind him 86