Chapter 11 - THE DEAD PATRIARCH
Konstantin Sokolov had been declared dead ten years earlier.
Roman had buried an empty coffin.
Valentina had cried before senators, billionaires and cameras.
Now his voice filled the chapel.
Calm.
Deep.
Alive.
Daniel stared at the speaker.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
Konstantin laughed.
“Death is useful.”
“People stop looking.”
Maya looked at the transfer monitor.
Ninety-nine percent.
The number did not move.
Konstantin continued.
“I froze the transfer.”
“You have something I want.”
“What?”
Daniel asked.
“My son.”
Maya’s eyes narrowed.
“You want Roman?”
“I want Roman to choose.”
“Between what?”
“His empire and the truth.”
Viktor searched behind the relay.
“There’s no transmitter.”
“The signal is coming through the estate wiring.”
Daniel looked toward the chapel doors.
“Roman doesn’t know his father is alive.”
“He will soon,” Konstantin said.
The doors opened.
Roman entered with Julian.
Blood covered Roman’s sleeve.
Sarah was with them.
Maya ran to her.
Sarah dropped to her knees and held her tightly.
Daniel stood several feet away.
Sarah looked up.
Their eyes met.
She reached one hand toward him.
Daniel crossed the distance.
The three of them held each other in the ruined chapel.
For one moment, the war disappeared.
Then Konstantin spoke again.
“Beautiful.”
Roman stopped.
His face emptied.
“Father?”
A screen above the altar turned on.
Konstantin Sokolov appeared.
He sat in a dark room.
He looked older.
But unmistakably alive.
Roman stared at him.
“I watched them bury you.”
“You watched them bury a story.”
Valentina appeared beside Konstantin.
Her silver gown was stained with dust.
Roman’s voice became low.
“You served him.”
Valentina lifted her chin.
“I built with him.”
“You lied to me my entire life.”
“We prepared you.”
“For what?”
“To inherit the Crown.”
Julian moved toward the chapel wall.
Roman noticed.
“Stay.”
Julian stopped.
Konstantin looked at Maya.
“The girl has opened the ledger.”
“She has proven useful.”
Roman stepped in front of her family.
“She is not part of this.”
“She became part of it before she was born.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“What does that mean?”
Konstantin smiled.
“Tell them, Sarah.”
Everyone looked at her.
Sarah’s grip tightened around Maya.
“I don’t know what he means.”
“Yes, you do,” Konstantin said.
“You know why Maya can unlock more than Daniel’s files.”
Maya looked at her mother.
“Mom?”
Sarah shook her head.
Konstantin pressed something offscreen.
A medical file appeared above the altar.
MAYA VANCE.
PATERNAL DNA MATCH: DANIEL VANCE.
SECONDARY BLOODLINE MATCH: SOKOLOV.
Roman stared at the screen.
Daniel went still.
Maya looked between them.
Sarah’s face collapsed.
Roman whispered.
“What did you do?”
Sarah stood.
“I did nothing.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then why does Maya share Sokolov DNA?”
Sarah began crying.
“Because Daniel’s mother was a Sokolov.”
Daniel stared at her.
“My mother was an orphan.”
“No.”
Konstantin smiled.
“She was my sister.”
The chapel fell silent.
Maya looked at Roman.
That made them family.
Konstantin leaned closer to the camera.
“Maya is the last living key to both bloodlines.”
“And now she belongs to me.”
The chapel doors slammed shut.
Gas poured from the vents.
Again.
But this time, Sarah smiled.
She reached beneath her dress and pressed a hidden switch.
The gas stopped.
Konstantin’s smile vanished.
Sarah looked directly at the camera.
May you like
“You planted the phone.”
“But I rewired your trap.”
