Finishing her business at the rival gang's hideout, Alia returned home in her luxury car late at night. Stepping into her drawing-room, she found Viktor standing silently in the dim shadows. This would be their very last time meeting face-to-face.
The sight of Viktor triggered a sudden, vivid rush of memories, playing like a film reel in her mind. A flashback took her back to the exact day before she departed for that secret island, when she had stood face-to-face with her father.
Right before that island mission, her father had called her to him with a grim expression. Looking deeply into her eyes, he had issued a stern warning:
"Alia, my daughter... I know very well that you are currently the crown princess of that royal family. No matter how much respect or fear the outside world holds for you, I haven't forgotten the primary mission behind your path. Your ultimate objective was to kill Viktor, to wipe him off the face of the earth!"
Her father's words echoed in her mind like a haunting refrain. Brought crashing back to the present reality, Alia let out a heavy, suffocating breath as she stared straight at Viktor standing right before her eyes.
The flashback deepened, pulling her back to the remaining moments of that conversation with her father before she left for the island.
Breaking down in tears, a desperate Alia had folded her hands in front of her father and whispered, "Father... why are you saying such things? I can't take this anymore! Feelings of love have grown inside me for Victor, I can't destroy him like this!"
Hearing those words, her father let out a cold laugh that made the room shiver. Glaring at his own daughter with sheer disgust, he had snapped back, "Love? Love has blossomed in your heart for that monster? Have you forgotten who he is? Listen to me very carefully the Viktor you care about so much is not even the real Victor! He is nothing more than a ruthless beast who spares no one, not even his own blood. And the most important thing of all even Victor's own father loathes him; he can't even bear to look at his own son with his own eyes! If his own flesh and blood cannot stand him, what makes you think you can fall in love with him? Very soon, you're going to find out who the real Viktor actually is, and who this masked imposter hiding in his place truly is!"
Caught in the grip of that painful flashback, tears streamed down the corners of Alia's eyes. Hearing such brutal and harsh words from her father made her chest feel like it was about to burst. With a voice choked with heavy sobs, she clutched desperately at her father's hands and cried out in near agony:
"Father, why are you speaking such cruel words?! Why are you pushing me into such a cruel dilemma? Do you have any idea what I'm going through? A blood tie, the person I love if even his own biological father can't bear to look at him with his own eyes, can you even imagine how cursed that person must be? Why do you keep insisting on destroying Viktor, a man whom I have grown to love so deeply, even as it destroys me from within? Why have you turned my life into such a living hell?!"
Breaking through the hazy veil of that painful flashback, Alia snapped back into the harsh reality of the present. Looking at Viktor standing right before her, a lump formed in her throat, choking her with sudden grief.
Staring into her tear-filled eyes with a bewildered expression, Viktor asked in a soft, gentle voice, "What is it, Alia? Why did you suddenly freeze like this while looking at me? Why are there tears in your eyes?"
Unable to hold back her emotions a moment longer at the warmth of his familiar touch, Alia shattered all her hesitation, fear, and distance. She rushed forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Viktor's neck, and broke down completely in his arms. Utterly stunned by her sudden collapse, Victor was completely taken aback; he had no idea what could have possibly happened to make this formidable woman sob uncontrollably into his chest.
As a shocked Viktor raised his hands to gently comfort her, his gaze dropped down to his own hand where their shared symbol, their wedding ring, glittered brightly!
Seeing Alia's tears and the deep agony echoing from the core of her soul, Victor's heart clenched tight. Pushing all his confusion and surprise aside, he pulled Alia even closer, wrapping her tightly within the protective shelter of his arms. Gently stroking her hair with tender care, he whispered in a voice so soft, calm, and reassuring that it felt like a healing balm:
"Shhhhh... hush now, please don't cry anymore... everything is going to be okay. I'm right here, and no one can ever harm you. Don't keep all this heavy pain locked inside your heart anymore. It's going to be alright, just calm down..."
Buried against Victor's chest, Alia's face was soaked with her tears. She clutched even tighter at the fabric of his shirt and sobbed out, "If you ever die... if you ever disappear from my life, what will I do, Victor? I won't be able to survive! How am I supposed to handle this empty world all by myself?"
Viktor startled at her strange and heartbreaking words. Pulling back just enough to place both hands on her shoulders, he looked deep into her tear-filled eyes with a gaze full of intense questioning and mounting anxiety. In a bewildered yet concerned voice, he asked:
"What are you saying, Alia? Why on earth do you keep saying things like this over and over again? What has happened to you tonight? What could possibly be wrong to make you talk like this?"
Choked with sobs, Alia couldn't even meet his gaze. Lowering her head, she stammered through her tears, "I... I don't know, Victor... My chest feels so heavy and hollow, like I'm going to lose you forever..."
Viktor didn't get a chance to ask anything more. Alia's helpless cries and tears melted away every ounce of his hesitation. Without waiting another second, he scooped Alia right up into his arms lifting her effortlessly against his chest just like a precious treasure.
Holding her close, he carried her across the room toward the massive bed, laying her down gently and with the utmost tenderness. Sitting beside her, he began to stroke her hair softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead as he whispered calming, soothing words to lull her to sleep. Lulled by Viktor's comforting touch and his reassuring presence, Alia's heavy eyelids finally fluttered shut, and she drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep right there.
Viktor was utterly bewildered by Alia's strange behavior. He knew very well that Alia occasionally spoke in such erratic ways, and sometimes even angrily threatened to kill him with her own hands. He had never taken those sudden outbursts or fits of anger very seriously.
But today... today, the intense agony and desperate way Alia had been crying felt completely different. This wasn't just a display of anger; it was pure, unadulterated terror of losing him. Even though poor Viktor had no inkling of the massive danger or deep truths hidden behind the scenes, a strange, unaccountable premonition still gripped him. A heavy, chilling sensation clenched tightly at his chest, as if an unseen shadow of impending doom was quietly closing in around them.From the distant minaret of some snow-covered Siberian or ancient Orthodox church, the deep, resonant, and mysterious tolling of a Russian bell"Bong... bong... bong..."—cut through the heavy silence of the night and reached Viktor's ears.
The moment that familiar yet hauntingly out-of-place chime struck him, a bone-chilling shudder rattled the core of Viktor's chest. It was as if some long-buried memory, a forgotten past, or a stark warning suddenly rippled through his subconscious. He didn't know why, but the second those bell tolls hit his ears, his temples throbbed, and an invisible alarm bell started ringing in the back of his mind.
Viktor glanced back for a fraction of a second at Alia's peaceful, sleeping face on the bed. Then, he walked slowly toward the room's window and stood looking out. Outside, a thick blanket of fog wrapped the dark night, and the solemn echoes of that Russian bell cutting through the gloom seemed to drag him toward an unknown and terrifying fate. Viktor's jaw tightened; a heavy, instinctual dread settled in his bones, making him realize that this chime wasn't just a marker of time it was the harbinger of an impending storm crashing into their lives.