Chapter 5 - The Partner
Victor Sokolov was Mikhail’s oldest business partner.
They had built Volkov International together after arriving in America with little money and enormous ambition. Mikhail handled contracts and operations. Victor managed political connections and investors.
To the public, they were inseparable.
Privately, they had not trusted each other for years.
Mikhail met Victor in the company’s glass conference room the next morning.
Victor appeared concerned when told about Anton.
“You think someone used the boy to threaten you?”
“I think someone wanted access to Misha.”
Victor shook his head. “Terrible. After what happened to Irina, you should increase security.”
Mikhail watched him carefully.
Very few people knew the hotel cameras had failed.
Victor knew.
Mikhail had not told him.
That afternoon, Misha returned to the diner.
He carried a small metal object in his pocket.
“Elena, I found this in my jacket after the storm.”
It was a silver flash drive.
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“Did you show your father?”
Misha shook his head. “Natalia said Papa was too busy.”
Elena immediately called Mikhail.
He arrived within twenty minutes.
The flash drive contained financial records, hidden bank transfers, and copies of falsified safety reports connected to several Volkov construction projects.
The documents made it appear that Mikhail had approved every illegal transaction.
“I did not authorize these,” he said.
“Can you prove that?” Elena asked.
“Not easily.”
One folder contained information about the hotel event where Misha disappeared. Anton had apparently placed the flash drive in Misha’s jacket before leading him outside.
“He was trying to get the evidence to me,” Mikhail realized.
“Then why abandon Misha in the storm?”
“He may not have intended to. Someone could have followed them.”
Elena looked at the transaction records.
A name appeared repeatedly.
N. Orlov.
“Natalia?” she asked.
Mikhail’s face became unreadable.
When he returned home, he confronted his fiancée.
Natalia denied everything.
“My father’s companies work with dozens of banks,” she said. “Someone used my initials.”
“Misha said you told him I was too busy to see what he found.”
“He brings home stones, receipts, broken toys. How could I know this mattered?”
Mikhail looked at the woman he had planned to marry.
For the first time, he saw not elegance and loyalty but impatience whenever Misha entered the room.
“You never wanted him,” Mikhail said.
Natalia’s expression hardened.
May you like
“I wanted a future with you. Not a life built around your grief and a child who reminds you of another woman.”
The engagement ended that night.
