Chapter 9: The Villain Watches
227 Words
Viktor Volkov leaned back in his leather chair, eyes fixed on the glowing screen before him. The security footage paused on a single frame—Ariella’s face, tense but defiant.
“So,” he murmured, lifting his glass. “The girl survived.”
His assistant stood rigid beside him. “Yes, sir. Lucien is with her.”
That made Viktor smile.
“Of course he is,” he said calmly. “Lucien never learned when to let go.”
He rose slowly, walking closer to the screen, studying her as though she were a chess piece already placed on the board. “She looks stronger than her file suggested.”
“Should we retrieve her?” the assistant asked.
Viktor shook his head. “Not yet. Fear ripens people. I want her to feel hunted first.”
He turned sharply. “And Lucien?”
The smile vanished.
“I want him to watch,” Viktor said coldly. “Watch her suffer the way he watched his family die.”
The assistant swallowed. “And if he interferes?”
Viktor’s eyes hardened. “He will. That’s the point.”
He raised his glass once more, the ice clinking softly.
“Prepare the first move,” he said. “Let them know this is far from over.”
The screen went dark.
But the game had only just begun.
- Writer
