She'd assumed I was weak, that I'd break under pressure and come crawling back to her for salvation.
Instead, she's given me a master class in strategic warfare, showing me exactly how to identify vulnerabilities and exploit them without mercy.
Now I'll use those lessons against her.
"There's something else," I say, turning back to Yuri.
"The employees she placed in my company? I want to use them."
"How?"
"They're expecting to report back to her, right? Weekly updates on my activities, my emotional state, my plans?"
"According to the intercepts, yes."
"Then we give them information to report. False information that makes her think her plan is working perfectly while we systematically dismantle everything she's built."
Yuri's smile becomes genuinely predatory.
"Feed her exactly what she wants to hear while positioning our own pieces on the board."
"Exactly. She thinks she knows me, thinks she can predict my responses. We use that arrogance against her."
I feel something awakening in my chest—a feral and primal hunger for power.
This isn't just about survival anymore.
This is about proving that I'm stronger, smarter, and more ruthless than the woman who tried to destroy me.
My mother wanted to teach me about weakness and dependence.
Instead, she's taught me about strategy, about the value of patience, about the importance of understanding your enemy completely before you strike.
She's created her own destruction, and I'm going to help her finish the job.
"When do we start?" I ask.
Yuri's answer is immediate. "Now."
24
YURI
The safe house sits empty and waiting in one of St. Petersburg's quieter districts, a place I've maintained for years but rarely used.
Three bedrooms, a kitchen stocked with basics, and enough security to keep us invisible while we plan our next moves against Viktoria.
More importantly, it's a place where we can exist without the constant presence of guards, surveillance, and my empire listening in on every conversation.
Inessa’s fingers trail along furniture as if testing whether any of this is real.
She was silent for most of the drive here, processing everything we uncovered in the war room.
The scope of her mother's betrayal would break most people, but she's still standing, still thinking, still planning.
I admire that strength even as I recognize the cost it's taking on her.
"How long will we stay?" she asks, settling onto the couch in the main room.
