Ulyana eventually cried herself to sleep beside Ivan.
Sometime during the night she had curled up carefully against his side, one hand still holding onto his as if letting go would somehow make things worse. The steady beeping of the machines beside the bed became the only thing grounding her enough to finally drift into an exhausted sleep.
Morning arrived quietly.
Soft sunlight filtered through the curtains when the sound of movement stirred her awake. Ulyana blinked slowly, disoriented at first, before noticing someone standing near Ivan's monitors.
"Doctor Chen," she murmured groggily as she instinctively tried to sit up straighter.
The older man looked over at her kindly. "You can stay," he assured gently. "I'm mostly taking notes. He won't have any medication changes until this afternoon."
Ulyana relaxed slightly and pushed her hair away from her face. "How is he?"
Doctor Chen continued checking Ivan's vitals calmly before answering.
"All his readings are stable. That's a very good sign." He gave a reassuring nod. "Now the rest is up to him."
Ulyana looked toward Ivan again.
He still hadn't moved.
The sight made her chest ache all over again.
As she shifted slightly on the bed, a dull soreness shot through her ankle. Only then did she realise it had been properly wrapped overnight. Looking down in surprise, she carefully touched the clean bandaging.
Doctor Chen noticed immediately. "Sir Hak treated it before he left this morning," he explained.
Ulyana stilled for a moment. "Oh."
A strange heaviness settled in her chest at the thought of him quietly doing that before leaving again.
Doctor Chen observed her expression briefly but wisely chose not to comment.
"And how are you holding up?" he asked instead.
Ulyana looked down at her brother's hand in hers before forcing a faint smile.
"I'm okay," she answered softly. "How's my Vanya really?"
Doctor Chen's expression gentled.
"He's strong," he said honestly. "And young. Those are both in his favour."
It wasn't a promise, but it was enough for now.
After finishing his notes and adjusting a few things near the monitors, Doctor Chen excused himself quietly, leaving the siblings alone again.
Not long afterward, the door opened once more.
Vadim stepped inside carrying two coffees and looking significantly worse than usual. His eyes were tired and faintly swollen, his hair messy as though he had been running his hands through it all night.
The second he spotted Ulyana awake, he forced a small smile.
"Sis. Morning."
Ulyana sat up slightly. "Morning."
Vadim walked over and handed her one of the coffees before dropping heavily into the chair beside Ivan's bed.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Vadim exhaled deeply and rubbed a hand over his face.
"I want to apologise about last night," he said quietly.
Ulyana frowned faintly. "Vadim—"
"No, seriously." He looked over at her tiredly. "I know it wasn't Hak's fault."
The admission sounded painful for him.
"How was he supposed to know the target would come looking for us specifically?" Vadim continued bitterly. "Let alone… this."
His eyes drifted toward Ivan.
The room fell quiet again.
Vadim swallowed hard before continuing.
"It should've been me."
"Don't say that."
"I'm older," he muttered stubbornly. "I should've been there."
Ulyana could hear the guilt eating him alive beneath every word.
"I'd gone for a piss," he admitted with a hollow laugh that carried no humour whatsoever. "When I came back… Ivan was already unconscious."
His voice tightened visibly.
"That bastard was still hitting him even after he went down."
Ulyana's grip tightened around her coffee cup.
"I started fighting him immediately," Vadim continued. "But he realised I cared more about getting Ivan out than chasing him, so he escaped."
The frustration in his voice cracked at the end. For the first time since childhood, Vadim looked completely helpless.
Ulyana reached over and gently grabbed his hand.
Neither of them noticed Ivan's finger twitch faintly against the blanket beside them.
-
The quiet atmosphere in the room was interrupted by the sound of the door opening once more.
Nikolai stepped inside.
Immediately, both Ulyana and Vadim straightened slightly.
Their grandfather looked composed as always, dressed immaculately despite the exhaustion that had clearly settled over the mansion. Yet something about him felt different this morning.
His expression remained stoic, but his eyes looked tired.
Sad, even. That alone was enough to unsettle the siblings.
"Deda?" Ulyana asked softly. "What's wrong?"
Nikolai's gaze lingered briefly on Ivan before shifting toward them. "Hak has returned to the Volkovs for the time being."
Silence.
Both siblings stared at him in confusion.
Vadim frowned immediately. "What?"
"But I thought…" Ulyana trailed off quietly.
Nikolai folded his hands neatly behind his back before answering.
"Hak was only ever left with us on loan," he explained calmly. "And because it was his own wish."
The room remained completely still as the information settled in.
Ulyana looked genuinely stunned.
In all these years, she had never once considered Hak as belonging anywhere else. He had simply always been there. Beside Nikolai. Beside them. Part of their family, whether anyone openly acknowledged it or not.
"The Volkov faction requested his return temporarily," Nikolai continued. "There is unrest between several groups right now. We need strong alliances."
Vadim leaned back heavily in his chair, still trying to process it. "So he just left?" he muttered.
Nikolai's gaze sharpened slightly. "Do not misunderstand. Hak remains loyal to this family."
The reassurance should have helped.
Instead, it only made Ulyana's chest ache more painfully.
She stayed quiet, though the sadness on her face was impossible to hide completely. Part of her wanted to ask when he would return.
Another part no longer trusted herself to hear the answer.
So she simply waited for Nikolai to continue.
And when he did, the atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
"My children," he said slowly, "there appears to be a new enemy."
The weight behind his words immediately caught their full attention.
Vadim straightened. "What do you mean?"
Nikolai moved closer to Ivan's bedside, his expression hardening again into something colder. More dangerous.
"The attack on Ivan was not random," he said. "Nor was the mole inside Nivasa acting independently."
Ulyana frowned slightly. "You think someone's orchestrating everything?"
"I know they are."
The certainty in his voice made the room feel suddenly colder. Nikolai's eyes darkened faintly as he continued.
"For someone to infiltrate our operations, identify my children, and strike this boldly…" His jaw tightened slightly. "This is not amateur work."
Vadim cursed quietly under his breath.
"Who is it?" he asked.
Nikolai was silent for a moment. "That," he replied calmly, "is what we are about to find out."
The monitors beside Ivan continued their steady beeping as tension slowly filled the room once more. It for the first time in years, the Vasily family began to feel uncertain about what was coming next.
The room had become unbearably tense.
Vadim sat forward with his elbows on his knees, Ulyana remained beside Ivan holding his hand carefully, and Nikolai stood near the window deep in thought as silence settled heavily around them.
Then suddenly, Ivan groaned softly.
Everyone froze.
Ulyana's head snapped toward him first. "Vanya?"
Vadim was already on his feet. "Ivan?"
Another strained sound left him as his brows furrowed weakly. His fingers twitched against the blanket before his eyes slowly began to open.
For a moment, he looked disoriented.
Lost.
Then pain flashed across his face.
"Don't talk, bro," Vadim said immediately, his voice unusually shaky.
Ivan swallowed painfully before struggling to force out a word. "…water."
Ulyana let out a tearful laugh at the sound of his voice.
"Okay, okay—" she hurriedly reached for the glass nearby, carefully helping him take small sips through a straw. The second he swallowed properly, the entire room erupted into movement.
"I'm calling Doctor Chen," Vadim said quickly.
Ulyana was already reaching for the nurse button while Nikolai stepped forward for the first time, his usually unreadable face visibly easing with relief.
Then Ivan weakly lifted his hand. "Wait."
Everyone paused.
Ivan's breathing remained uneven as his eyes slowly moved around the room.Then he spoke again. "Hak."
The room fell silent in confusion.
Vadim frowned. "What?"
Before anyone could question further, the bedroom door suddenly opened.
Hak rushed inside. He looked completely shaken.
The second his eyes landed on Ivan awake, something in his composure broke.
He crossed the room immediately. "Ivan."
Before anyone could react, Hak pulled him carefully into a tight embrace, gripping him like he needed physical proof that he was alive.
"I'm sorry," Hak said hoarsely. "I'm so sorry."
The apology stunned everyone, especially because Hak almost never apologised.
Ivan winced slightly from the movement but still managed a weak laugh. "You look terrible," he muttered faintly.
A breath of relieved laughter escaped Ulyana instantly while Vadim covered his face briefly, overwhelmed enough that he almost started crying again.
"Idiot," Vadim choked out toward his brother. "You scared the hell out of us."
Hak slowly pulled back, though his hand remained firmly on Ivan's shoulder as if he still couldn't quite believe he was conscious.
Ulyana stared at Hak silently. He had come back, despite what Nikolai had said earlier and everything between them. She noticed something she had been too angry to fully see before. Hak looked exhausted, not physically but emotionally.
Like the possibility of losing Ivan had genuinely destroyed him.
Nikolai observed the scene quietly from nearby, his sharp eyes taking in every detail.
Then finally, the old man spoke. "You returned quickly."
Hak straightened immediately, though his gaze briefly flickered toward Ulyana before returning to Nikolai.
"I was still nearby," he answered honestly.
Nikolai gave a slow nod. For once, even he seemed relieved enough to momentarily let the tension ease.
Ivan looked between all of them weakly before muttering,
"…Why is everyone staring at me like I died?"
"You almost did," Vadim replied dryly, though his voice still carried the remnants of panic beneath it.
Ivan weakly rolled his eyes. "Dramatic."
"Vanya," Ulyana whispered tearfully, gripping his hand tighter. "Please don't joke about that."
The softness in her voice immediately wiped the amusement from Ivan's face. He looked toward his younger sister and sighed faintly.
"Sorry."
Not long after, Doctor Chen and several nurses arrived in a rush after finally being allowed into the room. The atmosphere became chaotic again as they checked Ivan thoroughly, adjusting monitors, testing his responsiveness, and asking him questions.
To everyone's relief, Ivan remained stable.
Exhausted and injured, but stable.
By the end of the examination, Doctor Chen finally nodded with visible satisfaction.
"He'll recover," he confirmed. "He'll need monitoring and proper rest, but the worst has passed."
The entire room visibly relaxed.
Even Nikolai.
Once Ivan was cleared to eat, the family remained together in his room instead of separating. Staff brought up breakfast shortly afterward, transforming the once tense sickroom into something almost normal again.
Almost.
Vadim sat beside Ivan complaining that the food looked depressing despite the chefs clearly preparing luxury meals. Ulyana quietly helped Ivan with small things while trying not to cry every five minutes. Ivan, though weak, still managed to tease everyone enough to reassure them he was truly himself again.
Hak remained quieter than the others. He stood near the windows for most of it, watching over the room silently.
Occasionally, his eyes drifted toward Ulyana.
She noticed every single time.
Eventually, Nikolai set down his untouched coffee and the atmosphere shifted once more.
All conversation stopped immediately.
"There are things you need to know," he said calmly.
The siblings straightened instinctively.
Nikolai's gaze briefly landed on Hak before continuing.
"As of this morning, Hak has officially returned to the Volkov faction for the foreseeable future."
The heaviness returned instantly.
Ivan frowned faintly from the bed. "What happened?"
Nikolai folded his hands behind his back.
"Last night, one of Rowan Volkov's company buildings was attacked."
The room went still.
"Several employees were killed during the assault," Nikolai continued coldly. "At the same time, one of their underworld bases was completely wiped out."
Even Vadim lost his usual composure at that.
"How bad?" he asked quietly.
"A handful survived."
Silence followed.
Ulyana slowly looked toward Hak.
His expression had become unreadable again, though tension visibly lined his shoulders.
Nikolai continued speaking.
"This is why Hak is needed there immediately. The Volkovs are preparing for retaliation and internal instability."
"The hit on Nivasa," Ivan muttered slowly, piecing things together despite his exhaustion.
"And the attack on us," Vadim added darkly.
Nikolai nodded once. "They all point toward the same thing."
His gaze sharpened. "A new enemy."
The words settled heavily across the room.
Silvercrown had always been dangerous, but it operated under understood rules. Rivalries existed. Violence existed. Yet there had always been boundaries between the major families. This felt different.
"Who are they?" Ulyana asked quietly.
"That is still unclear," Nikolai admitted. "But whoever they are, they lack understanding of the existing order here. Or perhaps they simply do not care."
His voice hardened further.
"And they have already secured support from the third largest family in Silvercrown."
The room erupted immediately.
"What?!" Vadim snapped.
Ivan cursed under his breath while Ulyana looked genuinely stunned.
If the third family had sided with this unknown force, then this was no longer isolated conflict.
This was becoming war.
Nikolai's expression remained grim.
"They are targeting both legitimate businesses and underworld operations simultaneously," he explained. "That level of coordination requires resources, intelligence, and patience."
"Meaning this has been planned for a while," Hak finally spoke.
Nikolai nodded once. "Yes."
The silence afterward felt suffocating.
Because for the first time in years, the Vasily family had encountered something far more dangerous than ordinary rivals, someone willing to destroy the balance of Silvercrown completely.