Mafia Bloodlines

Chapter 36

Ulyana's pov

The last two years have been eventful for the Novikovs. Faina went missing, it was as if she was wiped off the face of the universe, Faina Bhukari just ceased to exist from one day to the next. It hurt to lose my twin, everyone suffered even Valentino although he wouldn't admit it. Valentino started racing more which meant he would be hardly home.

Luca drinks , a lot, he practically sleeps inside of that vodka bottle of his. Nikolai acts like nothing happened like Faina never existed, I think he is just hurt that she just vanished. If it wasn't for Ivan and Mama this family would have long fallen apart. Zakhar is still his bubbly and talkative self. Yuri changed, he is not the sweet little brother I met when I first came here. I think that change has to do with his mother's death.
Everyone except Zakhar and Yuri know that Papa killed Klara.

Papa had divorced Klara and he got back together with Mama. Although they both claim they only decide to fix things after Papa divorced Klara, Luca and Nikolai swear that Mama and Papa were screwing each other, before the divorce. They just made things official after it.
Fast forward, Klara bombed Mama's car and luckily that day her assistant was driving it to pick her up, it is still a shame that she died but I'm glad it wasn't Mama. Papa looked into it, realised it was his ex-wife, and he sort of had someone put a bomb inside of her body with surgery. We were all quite shocked, well I speak for myself when I say I didn't know Vladimir Novikov was that ruthless.

" Okay we are all here, Ulyana what is the news you wanted to share with us?" Zakhar asked, impatiently.

" Calm down little brother, it is actually good news and bad news. So the good news is, when I was modelling in Tokyo I bumped into Faina. She is alive and well it seems." I say, hesitating to give the bad news.

" What? Baby are you certain it was her? I mean we have been looking for her for two years with no luck." Mama asked still in disbelief.

" It's her, I would recognise her in a crowd of a million people. The bad news is I think she wants nothing to do with any of us." I say, not being able to hide the sadness in my tone.

" Oh come on maybe they were threatening her. She wouldn't just abandon us, she loved us, well some of us. " Yuri says, gesturing to Papa when he speaks of the people Faina doesn't love. Each day I am more certain that Yuri suspects the truth.

" I wish that was the case. But I stood there and begged her to come home with me, she refused, she walked away with her guards. I think she is someone really powerful now." I say, replaying the events in my head.

" Now that we are certain that she is alive, we will find her and bring her back home. Our family will be complete, no matter what." Papa declares. I knew he meant every word of it.

Ambrose's pov

The weight of Agape's death settled over me like a suffocating fog, thick and inescapable. My mind was a battlefield of contradiction ,grief, rage, confusion. I still couldn't believe my princess was dead. But as the shock began to dull, something else took its place.

Doubt.

Something wasn't right.

I stood in the dimly lit hospital corridor, my fists clenched at my sides as I replayed every detail. The machines. The suddenness.

Tobias returned, his expression grim. "Doctor Reynolds confirmed it. Agape's machines were turned off manually. " His voice was quiet but sharp, cutting through the haze clouding my mind. "It wasn't a system failure. Someone did this, Ambrose."

I turned to him slowly. "Did the cameras manage to catch who was in the room?" I asked

Tobias hesitated, his jaw tightening.

"Tell me," I demanded, my voice cold.

He exhaled. "Only one person. Mrs Faina."
The name alone felt like a dagger twisting in my chest. What was Tobias saying to me. Faina did this? She wouldn't ,would she?
I moved before I could think, my body on autopilot as I stormed down the hall. My heart pounded against my ribs, my breath short and sharp.

Faina was in Agape's hospital room, sitting on the edge of the bed where our daughter had once been. Her head was bowed, fingers gripping the fabric of the sheets like she could still feel Agape's warmth in them.

She looked up as I entered, and whatever she saw in my face made her freeze.

"You were the only one in the room," I said, my voice like steel.

She frowned, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Ambrose, what....."

"You were alone with her, no one else was here beside you." I cut her off.

"The machines didn't fail. They were turned off. You were the only one there. So tell me, what did you do?"

Shock flickered across her face, and then, hurt. "What are you saying?" She asked.

"I'm saying, that Agape wasn't supposed to die. That I did everything, everything to save her. And yet, the moment I get back with the heart, she's gone? Things like this don't just happen, Fain machines don't just fail." My hands ,clenched.

"Explain to me, Faina how the machines were turned off yet you were the only one who had access to the room." Tears welled in her eyes, but I refused to let them shake me. My daughter was dead, her tears were the last of my concerns right now.

"You think I did this? You think I would....." she whispered with her voice cracking.

"Who else, Faina?" I snapped.

"Who else was there? Who else could have done it?"

Her face crumpled. "No... no, Ambrose, you have to believe me. I would never hurt Agape. She was our daughter."

"But she's gone!" My voice thundered in the small room, reverberating off the walls. "And someone made sure of it."

Her breathing was uneven, her entire body trembling. "I didn't touch those machines. I swear on everything, Ambrose. I loved her. I....."

"Then why were you standing there like you already knew?" My voice was lower now, colder. "Like you weren't surprised she was gone?"

The accusation made her recoil as if I had struck her.

"Because she was tired!" she sobbed. "She looked at me, Ambrose, and I knew. I felt it. She was slipping away, and I couldn't do anything. And now you're standing here, accusing me of killing her? How could you.."

"Because I don't know what to believe anymore! I'm not your favourite person in the world, I have given you enough reason to damn me for a lifetime, you have tried to kill me, why wouldn't you kill my daughter?" I roared, my chest heaving.

Silence hung between us, thick with betrayal.

Then, I turned away. The sight of her, the sound of her sobs, made the anger in my veins burn hotter.

"Take your things," I said, voice devoid of emotion.

"Your passport. Your clothes. Everything. I want you out of Greece by the end of today before I change my mind and murder you myself and believe me I am capable of a lot of things Faina." I threatened. I may have even meant it. Right now I have lost everything I have cared about, my life and clearly my wife now.

She gasped, taking a step back as if I had struck her.

"Ambrose, let's talk about this." She pleaded. Why wasn't she jumping for joy, this was all she even wanted, her freedom. The irony, she screws me over and I reward her.

"Go, Faina." I roared. I was losing my cool. If she didn't leave I don't think I could hold back. I'm angry, I am a volcano waiting to erupt.

Her tears fell freely now, her entire body shaking. But she didn't argue. Maybe she knew there was nothing left to say.I didn't watch her leave.I couldn't. Because if I did, I might see the woman I once loved. And right now, all I could see was a stranger. What happened to us Faina?