Every caneéfully worded–line reinforced the same conclusion.
A tragiccaɛccident. A vehicle that lost control. Two people killed on impact. No foul play. No one to blame.
Nothining that would give two grieving children a reason to ask questions.
Nothing that would make them wonder whether their parents might have survived.
Manchabsolutely nothing that could ever lead them back to Cassandra Volkov.
Damien dowered the report and closed the folder, his expression turning dangerously cold.
Wiktor hadn’t simply covered up Cassandra’s involvement. He had created different versions of the same titragedy for different people, giving each of them exactly enough information to keep them from looking Bany deeper.
“But I honestly don’t believe he knew who those people were.”
KKen’s voice drew Damien’s attention away from the documents.
He frowned and looked up.
“What do you mean?”
Ken reached for another folder, opened it, and placed it in front of Damien.
The first thing Damien saw was a family portrait.
Malia and Julian stood together with their children between them. Maya looked no older than twelve or thirteen, while Jaime couldn’t have been more than two or three.
All four of them were smiling.
There was nothing extravagant about the photograph. No indication of wealth, power, or the royal blood running through Malia’s veins. They looked like any other family, dressed simply and standing close together, their happiness evident in the easy smiles on their faces.
The hardness in Damien’s expression softened as his eyes settled on Maya.
She was so young.
Happy.
Her arm was wrapped around her little brother, who stood pressed against her side with a wide smile on
his face.
Ken allowed him to look at the photograph before speaking.
“Malia Lockwood was an incredibly intelligent and resourceful woman she wanted a simpler life, and she and Julian made sure their family It from. They stayed well beneath the radar.”
‘se
Ken glanced at the photograph. +25 Points “Even with all the Lockwoods‘ power and resources, they spent years unable to find her. That should tell you how good Malia was at disappearing when she didn’t want to be found.” Damien looked back at him “Outside the Lockwood circle, very few people would have known who Malia was, much less recognized her on sight. To Viktor, they were most likely nothing more than two ordinary people whose deaths threatened to destroy his daughter’s life.” The softness that had briefly entered Damien’s expression disappeared. “So even now,” Ken continued, “I don’t believe Viktor understands exactly whose lives he destroyed when he chose to cover up what happened that night.” His eyes hardened. “He has no idea whose family he destroyed. He has no idea what line he crossed.” Ken held Damien’s eyes. “And he certainly has no idea how heavy the consequences of protecting his daughter are about to become.” Damien’s grip tightened around the photo, a murderous darkness settling into his eyes. “Then this gives me one more reason to make sure he finally pays for everything he’s done.” Ken studied him briefly, his fingers tapping slowly against the desk. “I have no doubt you will.” He rose from his chair and walked toward the window, slipping his hands into his pockets as he stared out into the darkness. A few seconds of silence passed before Ken spoke again without even bothering to look back. “But Viktor’s manipulation didn’t end with rewriting what happened that night. What he did went far beyond just covering up his daughter’s involvement.” A cold sense of unease settled in Damien’s gut as he immediately caught the implication behind Ken’s words. “What do you mean by far beyond covering up Cassandra’s involvement?” Ken finally turned from the window and met his eyes. “It means Viktor didn’t just manipulate the truth behind Maya and Jaime’s parents‘ dea manipulated what happened to their lives afterward.” Damien shot to his feet, the chair scraping sharply against the floor behind him. “What did you just say?!” +25 Points Ken’s words had just opened an entirely different layer to Viktor’s manipulation, one that extended far beyond anything Damien had imagined. Ken gestured toward the folder on the desk. “Turn to the next page.” Damien picked up the folder and did as Ken instructed, his brows immediately pulling together as he found pages of bank transfers made to different accounts. Several were for five hundred thousand dollars, others for three hundred thousand, and a handful for one hundred thousand. But one transaction immediately stood out from the rest. Two million dollars. Damien’s eyes lingered on the figure before he continued through the remaining pages and noticed a different pattern. Ten thousand dollars had been transferred to the same recipient every month for four consecutive years, always for the exact same amount. His forehead creased as he looked up. “What are these? What am I looking at?” Ken released a heavy breath before walking back toward the desk and stopping across from Damien. “Most of them are payments Viktor made to keep people quiet. Detectives. Officials. Anyone who needed enough incentive to forget what they saw, alter what they knew, or stop asking questions.” Damien stared down at the transactions, disgust twisting through him. “That’s it?” His voice turned cold. “That’s all it took for them to shut their mouths and bury the truth? A few hundred thousand dollars?” He looked up at Ken. i “These were people who were supposed to do their fucking jobs, and Viktor threw somě chump change at them and they just looked the other way?” His expression darkened. “That’s fucking insulting.” Something shifted in Ken’s expression. “If you think that’s insulting, you’re going to hate where the two million went.” Damien’s attention immediately returned to the transaction that had stood out from all the others. Unlike the recurring payments, there was only one transfer for two million dollars, and the date showed it had been made only days after the accident. “Where?” Ken held his eyes. “Julian’s family.” Chaot #44tly Crchestrated Lie Xamien’s baadsnapped up. +25 Points: Julian Thompson’s family? How is that possible? According to Maya, after the accident, they wanted othinggoaldo with her or Jaime. Not a single one of them even attendedtheeffuneral.” enretressed a heavy sigh. Add that,” he said, pointing toward the folder in Damien’s hands, “is exactly the reason why.” Ide returned to his chair and sat down. Niktor sent someone to them after the accident. They were offeree two million dollars in exchange for staying away from Maya and Jaime and cutting whatever remaining ties they had to them.” Damien stared at him in disbelief before his expression twisted with disgust. *Fucking parasites! They took two million dollars to turn the backs on their own blood?” His grip tightened around the folder before he slammeddittdown on the table. He dragged a hand over his face in frustration and began pacing back and forth. Every part of him wanted to punch something, to breakkssomething, just to release the anger burning through him, but he forced himself to hold back This wasn’t his territory, and no matter how furiouss he was, he wasn’t about to disrespect Ken in his own nome. ‘No wonder they wanted nothing to do with Maya and Jaime. Viktor had already made sure their pockets were full enough to forget they even existed!!” 344 Comments LUCK DRAW >. Vote Thenjiwe Mofokeng