<b>Chapter 165 </b>


    Niki’s POV.


    It had been three days since Andrey wasst seen. His and Dmitri’s pictures were stered all over the news, their faces staring out from screens and front pages in a way that felt both morbid and performative. The constant barrage of daily calls asking about them, from journalists and business associates alike, had been a nuisance. I had let my men field the calls, answering with vague, nonmittal statements, and I had simply ignored the messages on my private line.


    My own world, however, felt condensed into the few square feet of the screen where I could constantly watch Elena and Haider.


    I had been resisting the urge to call Sergei. After that day, when we had transported Elena to the hospital in his car, there had been an unspoken truce between us. I hadn’t liked it then, and I didn’t like it now. Thest thing I wanted was to feel any sort of kinship with that man.


    My men had searched high and low, scouring the whole of Velhaven and even Maxcester city, but there were still no hints of Andrey. He had vanished into the ether, leaving behind no trace, no ransom note, nothing.


    So there was only one ce I could think of where he might be now, only one man who could have made an enemy disappear with such professional ease. And even though I had no ns to rescue him or anything of the sort, I just wanted to make sure he was dead. I wanted to hear it, to have the certainty in my mind that the man who had caused so much pain to Elena was gone for good. That was the only peace I could find.


    I finally picked up my phone, and dialed Sergei’s number. It rang once, then twice, the silence of the line stretching thin. He picked up on the third ring, a quiet rasping through the speaker. “What a surprise,” he said, the wordsced with a strange, hoarse humor. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”


    I almost rolled my eyes at the dramatics. “Did you kidnap Andrey?” I asked, cutting to the point. The first reaction I got from him was a loud, rattling chuckle, a sound that quickly turned into a violent fit of coughing. The sound was so jarring, that I frowned and pulled the phone away from my ear for a second.


    “Ah… excuse me,” he said, his voice now a little more strained. “It’s just, Andrey isn’t much of a kid, for it to be called kidnapping. I only lured him in… and you know how rats are? They just can’t resist.” He seemed to be in a good mood, the sickly amusement in his voice a chilling thing to hear.


    “Is he still alive?” I asked, my voice t. I needed a simple answer. There was another fit of coughing on the other end, longer this time.


    “Unfortunately for him,” he finally said, his breathing in short bursts. “Yes. He’s breathing.”


    I sighed, a long, weary release of breath. “How are you going to deal with the police? You know the first person of suspicion will be you, right?” I asked. The police weren’t corrupt enough topletely overlook a disappearance like this, not with the media frenzy surrounding it.


    “And that brother of yours,” I added, a hint of something acidic in my voice. “He’s prancing around in the Vetrov estate… acting like the one who went missing was his own father.”


    That was another point of strangeness that I had registered. The news, when it had broken about Dmitri’s sentence, had also targeted Lazar.


    He had been a key figure in Dmitri’s case because of his involvement in Mielle’s assault. However, he had somehow been granted bail with a ridiculously low fine of just a couple of thousand dors, a sum that turned out to have been paid by Andrey himself. Lazar, in turn, had not only epted Andrey’s help but was also doing all of the media interviews now. It was as if he was trying to rece Dmitri, to step into his shoes as the new heir.


    “Brother?” Sergei questioned, his voice hoarse and confused. My frown deepened.


    “Lazar?” I rified.


    He went silent for a moment, and I could hear the faint sound of him shifting. “Ah, right. Him. He can do whatever he wants… not that it would amount to anything. Let him prance around.” He said with another, short cough. The dismissal made me wonder just how low he thought of Lazar. It’s not as though Lazar was a well known person, well, not before these few months. He was only known in Elena’s university due to hisst name and looks.


    Even in the upper circles most people weren’t aware of a brother. Only his second wife and Sergei were well known. With no other kin or even children.


    “Are you really sick? Why didn’t you go see a doctor?” I questioned, the wordsing out before I could stop them.


    09:08 Sat, 23 Aug 4 M


    77%


    “It’s just a simple case of bronchitis. I’ll be fine in a couple of weeks.” He said, a hint of a smile in his voice. “How strange… you asking me about my health was not something in the cards for this year.”


    “I wasn’t the one asking.” I lied, the words leaving my mouth easily. “Elena wanted to know too.” I said truthfully. I knew she was trying not to make things awkward for me. She still thought I hated Sergei, which I did. But my hatred had been tempered, chipped away at by his actions. I still didn’t like the man, and I would never trust him, but the all–consuming fire of my hatred had dulled. And even if I did hate Sergei, I would never try to stop her or me her if she talked to him. He was still her father, and despite everything.


    “Oh, I see,” he said, and I could hear the genuine pleasure in his voice. “How are things going then?” he asked, his tone shifting.


    “You ask as though you don’t already know.” I knew he had his own men, his ownwork of spies. He knew what happened in the hospital.


    “Yes. Unfortunately, my men were just a littlete,” he said with a sigh. “That was a one–time ident though. Andrey is in no shape or form to cause harm to my daughter anymore. He will be too busy harming himself now.”


    The chilling finality of his words made me frown. “You aren’t going to kill him?” I questioned, surprised. I had been so certain of it.


    “No,” he said, a new, more dangerous tone entering his voice. “That will be too easy. He made the mistake of targeting my only daughter and grandson. He doesn’t deserve an easy death.” He said.


    I wasn’t the type to get my own hands dirty, of course. I knew that once you crossed that line, there was no going back, no pretending to be a normal man anymore. But that didn’t mean that I hadn’t seen death countless times. Not to mention, sometimes it was on my own orders. Just like this time with Mkai. Though his case was a little special.


    “As long as he doesn’t get away again or harm Elena, do whatever it takes,” I said, a wave of cold satisfaction washing over me. “As for his assets…” I began.


    “I’m sure you can handle that bit…” Sergei said, a knowing humor in his voice. I hummed in acknowledgment.


    I leaned back in my chair, the phone call now over, and let my gaze drift to therge television screen mounted on the wall in my office. On the screen, a live feed of Elena’s room was ying. Right now, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, a soft, worn book in her hands. Haider was sleeping in the crib beside her. A small smile touched my lips watching them.


    As much as I was curious about Sergei’s n, I also had the patience to wait. A man like that always kept his promises, especially when it came to revenge. However, even then, I hadn’t needed to wait too long. Because just twenty–four hours after that, I watched a news report break across the


    bottom of the screen.


    “Andrey Vetrov, the missing real estate mogul, has been found…” The reporter’s voice was grave. The screen cut to a picture of Andrey lying in a hospital bed, a white sheet covering him up to his neck. The title of the news was an even colder statement. “Andrey Vetrov Found Paralyzed Due to a Freak


    ident.”


    田