"When you bury truth in silence, it returns screaming—with blood on its hands."_Unknown
"Are you going to tell her?" Anton asked quietly, his voice heavy with implication.
Levi sat at his desk, removing his gloves slowly. "No," he said simply. "It would not be easy for her to accept." He glanced toward the door. "Tell every staff member and everyone in the house—they are not to mention her family. If they dare defy me…" He did not need to finish the sentence.
Archie had transferred every last asset back to Maeve's name. His family was now utterly bankrupt. But that was not where Levi stopped.
He had made sure the world knew the truth—or at least, enough of it. Word had spread like wildfire that the Johnsons had stolen from Maeve, using her name while treating her like a slave in their home. He had left out the part about murder.
Prison would have been too easy a punishment.
Now their name was ruined. Dragged through the mud. No one wanted to be associated with them.
---
Maeve was surprised when Katya came knocking on her bedroom door with an unexpected offer.
"Come shopping with me," Katya said, flipping her dark hair over one shoulder. "You're coming, no arguments. I know someone who can get us the new Versace heels. They just dropped, and they are almost gone."
In her room, Noelle gave Maeve a confused look. "She's suddenly friendly?" she whispered. "That's... weird."
"I know," Maeve said quietly. "But it would be rude to refuse."
"Maybe Levi told her to be nice to you," Noelle offered. "Honestly, that is the only reason I can think of for her sudden... burst of kindness."
Maeve was not so sure. She doubted Levi cared that much about her.
She dressed simply, in a cream-colored button-up blouse and a flowing, floral maxi skirt. Her hair was tied back in a messy bun. When they went downstairs, Katya was already waiting—clad in a red Lululemon jacket and dramatic black leggings that flared at the bottom. She smiled sweetly, as if the past hadn't happened.
They left together.
The mall was unlike anything Maeve had ever seen—grand, extravagant, luxurious. She could hardly breathe in the overwhelming beauty of it all. Katya moved like a whirlwind, dragging them from store to store, shopping like a woman possessed. Noelle, arms aching from carrying bags, was grateful when Katya finally suggested they take a break.
"Rest here," Katya said. "I will return the bags to the car and pop into the restroom."
Maeve and Noelle sat on the bench, exhausted. They had been there for three hours.
---
Mikhail returned to Levi's study with important news.
"We found something," he said. "One of our allies accessed old files related to the researchers Vadim had dealings with. They found a flash drive hidden in a box of old evidence."
Levi straightened, eyes narrowing. "Go on."
Mikhail nodded. "We are going to go through its contents, but that is not all. We uncovered something else—something you will want to see regarding the researchers." He handed Levi a file.
Inside were photographs. A woman with striking blonde hair and heterochromatic eyes—one blue, one gray. She looked eerily familiar. Beside her, a man with bronze-colored hair and russet eyes. Levi stared at the names printed below the photos.
Alexander and Evangeline Johnson.
His breath caught.
---
Thirty minutes passed. Still no sign of Katya.
Maeve and Noelle walked toward the car park to look for her.
That was when it happened.
A sharp, brutal blow struck Maeve's head. The world spun. An enormous man loomed above her, wielding a bloodied bat. Noelle screamed and lunged, only to be shoved violently to the pavement. Two more men closed in. A gunshot rang out, and Noelle shrieked as pain ripped through her thigh. She collapsed, sobbing in agony.
Maeve could barely move. Her vision blurred. Her body refused to respond. She was scooped up and thrown into a black SUV like a sack of flour.
The last thing she felt was a cloth pressed over her face—white, soaked with something sweet and suffocating.
Then—
darkness.