Chapter 101
She approached one side of the wall with a knife. There was a large photo of herself when she was at the Russian National Ballet prominently displayed.
Slice.
The photo that had been horizontally stretched across the wall tore apart. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.
As she was cutting several times, someone grabbed her wrist from behind.
“Karlena.”
In an instant, her body was turned around, and she hit the wall with the torn photo on it. Karlena looked at Owen with sunken eyes, smiling.
“Oh, this.”
“Where’s Sarin?”
“You shouldn’t ask me that, Owen. You sent her away. So you should be prepared for all the consequences.”
A strand of pain crossed his golden eyes. Karlena was the one who knew that pain best. Sometimes, you could see it in Nikolai’s eyes when he lost his sons.
That’s why she couldn’t forgive him. To fully transfer the pain Nikolai experienced from losing his sons to her daughter.
…When it could have been stopped.
Everyone could have prevented that child from getting on that plane, yet they took her away from her.
Owen took the knife from her hand. He couldn’t possibly resist his strength. Karlena gracefully smiled, waiting for his next move.
The blade touched under her chin.
“You didn’t survive being raised like this.”
“Have you looked for the river? She seemed like a pitiful child. It seems she fell into the river because the boat was shaking. It was hard for me to even move my own body, let alone help her.”
Owen dropped the knife to the floor as he looked at her shining eyes. He covered his face with one hand and suppressed the distant feeling for a moment.
Karlena slowly bent down to pick up the knife he dropped. Then she finished tearing the photo. Her youthful face was torn apart. She swung her hand back, not looking at Owen.
“My father’s fool, you finish what you started.”
Owen looked at her slender back. His eyes, shining through his covered face, were complicated.
“Tell me what you want. There must be conditions for negotiation.”
“Conditions.”
The tip of the knife tapped on the shredded piece of the photo. Karlena already knew the answer as she said it slowly.
“Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of the woman for you to work? I just did what you wanted.”
“Karlena.”
There was a torn photo hanging behind Karlena. She was loved by no one. The important thing was that even her own son, Kirill, had no meaning. She was such a woman that even if Sarin were still alive, there would be no hesitation in handling her after the job was done.
The hostage, now useless, had no value to Karlena.
If Owen had held a hostage, he would have handled it the same way. That was how they were taught.
So he held back Nikolai’s disposal. He was afraid that after Nikolai’s death, Sarin would become useless.
“That’s why you lose precious things. Even if you die, you should have kept it by your side. Then you would have breathed your last breath together.”
“I chose to live with her.”
“You were kind and affectionate. Ah, so you let her go. Because you were afraid of being exposed as a devil. You were afraid that your kind heart would grow cold.”
Karlena smiled kindly.
Owen, who had been thinking about which side to gamble on for a moment, smiled at her.
“You have no intention of telling me.”
“There’s no need to say or compromise on something that’s already dead.”
It was pointless.
Karlena, the variable, made him hesitate. She would have been the happiest woman if Nikolai died. But that joy meant Sarin’s usefulness was over.
“Karlena, if I find even a strand of Sarin’s hair with a scratch.”
It had to go according to plan.
He couldn’t wait any longer. Belov was already anxious. Variables couldn’t be predicted. To him, the only variable was never seeing Sarin again. The thought made him nauseous.
“Your dead child and the one she loved so much will be found and torn apart.”
Her smiling face froze faintly. Owen bowed to Nikolai’s daughter.
As he reached for the door handle to leave, he stopped, as if something occurred to him.
“Oh, I heard that Kirill has a piece of what you’ve been looking for. You’d better prepare for the second funeral.”
At the mention of his funeral, Karlena bit her lip tightly. But her lips didn’t open until the end.
Owen left the room. His smile vanished from his lips as soon as he left.
Yuri, waiting around the corner, followed after him.
“Search all flights and trains to Moscow within 4 to 5 days.”
“She was sent by train?”
“Not in Russia.”
Karlena was a woman who couldn’t hide her screams or the wavering coldness in her face when the story of the dead child came up. However, she showed a composed demeanor even when it came to her son’s story.
Owen was convinced when he saw that. Sarin wasn’t here.
Karlena hadn’t harmed her, but she had taken her to a place where no one could harm her.
To smuggle someone to a place where no one could reach, they had to use trains and planes that connected countries.
Owen could tell that Sarin was still alive. But merely threatening her life wasn’t enough to get Karlena to talk. The only thing that could shake her was the dead child. And Kirill, whom the child loved.
Even Owen’s threat to destroy everything didn’t faze Karlena, who stood there with a calm face.
Alive.
Owen decided to believe it.
“We’ll need to find the person who provided the IDs and passports. They must be someone who’s never made a mistake. Look for those with no criminal records and long experience in this field.”
Yuri nodded. It would take time, but they could find out to that extent.
Even if he trusted Owen’s intuition, there was no evidence anywhere that Sarin was alive. Still, silently agreeing with his story, Karlena thought it was necessary for Owen to handle the remaining tasks.
They had come too far already.
If they stopped here, everyone would die.
They commemorated their dead son’s birthday every year. In spring, people were busy going back and forth in the garden, which was in full bloom. People in black decorated the garden with flowers and prepared for the party. It was a big event where everyone who had a connection with Nikolai gathered.
Belov was also scheduled to attend at night. It had been a long time since the event had changed from their dead son’s birthday to a gathering for Nikolai’s people to socialize.
The glass Owen touched was quickly stained with fingerprints.
His grim face stared outside for a long time.
***
Karlena brushed off the security guard’s hand holding her shoulder.
Even though she didn’t agree with Nikolai’s words, she ultimately acted according to his wishes. But just because she didn’t respond to his call even once, he resorted to using force on her like this.
The security guard who held Karlena to prevent her from getting hurt dragged her down to the basement of the mansion. Then he pushed Karlena into the room where they could watch the footage.
An old black and white footage was playing on the entire wall screen. Young Karlena was standing awkwardly in a ballet costume, and her dead brothers were teasing her with laughter.
Destroying her entire life, Nikolai was enjoying watching Karlena’s childhood. Karlena’s eyes sank coldly.
“Always my pride and called the pearl of Russia.”
It was the place her father had made for her. Karlena approached Nikolai. The room was filled with the sound of the projector and the sound of her younger self crying.
“Father.”
“Don’t let me lose you too.”
How far did her usefulness go?
Because her father wanted it, she married Belov and had two sons, enduring a hellish marriage. Under his consent, she lost everything she loved as if being washed away by the sea.
It wasn’t a life that wanted so much.
“Are you seeing a woman?”
Nikolai asked, looking at his daughter with affectionate eyes, even if he was driven to madness.
“She’s dead. As you wished, Father.”
“I can’t believe that. Then Owen wouldn’t have dared to threaten me while looking for her.”
Even if Eden City sank, there had to be only two people left in the empty city. The two people who were destined to die were in Eden City.
Nikolai showed no mercy to himself. Once he stepped back, there would be no chance to move forward. He had to step back forever and give them what they wanted.
He couldn’t forgive Owen for threatening to sink his lifelong wish and the woman he was looking for.
Seemingly weakened, he had entrusted Owen with Eden City’s affairs for too long. He believed that Owen would ascend higher and have more than him, so he wouldn’t betray him before that.
He still didn’t understand.
What made him turn his back?
“You brought her because she had some usefulness.”
Karlena opened her mouth, looking at Nikolai’s face, which was filled with betrayal.
“I gave you everything. I fulfilled everything you wanted!”
“That’s because you were also attached for similar reasons. It was just that our interests didn’t align. Father, who killed his sons and lost his sons, will never understand me for the rest of his life.”
“How dare you try to teach me.”
