SOMEWHERE IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA
The Smirnov Mansion
[Around 6:00 am; 10:00 pm going by the Chicagoan time]
"Birdie?" Haisley called, tapping on her daughter's door. "It's almost time for your lectures, honey. Come downstairs." She paused, listening closely for a response but none came through. "Birdie?" She darted her narrowed gaze going thoughtful for a moment then widened her eyes as if suddenly realizing something. Ferociously, her hand found the door's handle and flung it open.
"Birdie! Birdie! Birdie!" she hollered relentlessly, pacing to her bed. "Birdie?" she called with a tinge of relief when she found her bulging blanket like it was covering someone then went on to raise it but found no one – she wasn't in bed. The anticipation she had on her faded instantly.
"Birdie!" She cried out desperately this time. "Birdie, where are you?!!" Apprehension already overrode her mood as she made way to search the bathroom.
"Bird… Aaahhhhh!!!" The gruesome sight lying in wait seized her words, letting out a shriek instead. The said Birdie was lying lifeless on the bathroom floor, getting soaked in her blood seeping through the deep cut on her wrist, and a small knife was lying next to it. She slit herself again. That was the second time in one month.
"Birdie!" Haisley yelled, zooming past the distance between them. Unmindful of getting stained with blood, she sat comfortably I'm the bloody pool and took Birdie in her arms. Eagerly, she reached for her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief afterward. She was still alive; she didn't arrive late this time either.
Moments on…
Haisley had called the family doctor over and now Birdie was sleeping in bed while she headed to her husband's office in his room. The couple slept separately.
She wasn't even halfway in yet when he halted her steps.
"If you are here to inform me of your daughter's umpteenth attempt to take her life, save yourself the stress," he bashed. Of course like Daniil, he ruled this place and nothing stayed hidden from him no matter what. He already knew what went down but as usual, he couldn't care less. Daniil was the replica of Vladimir, inheriting all his physical features except that his father's eyes appeared even more fiery and frightening, and silver strands were already intruding his long brown ombre hair.
And yeah, it was the 'second time in one month ' but the umpteenth time in Birdie's lifetime. Each time, her mom was there to save the day. She was suffering from major depressive disorder and was very suicidal. She'd gone through countless therapists to help her condition but it only ever got worse as the urge to end her life was getting stronger.
"I have a lot on my plate already," he concluded, dumping the iPad he was holding on the center table between them when she neared him.
Carefully, she picked it up and looked at it. She gave no precise emotions away, extending the iPad to no one in particular, knowing one of his uniformed men in black-and-white corporate outfits standing in the room with them would take it from her.
"Ty obeshchal ostavit' yego v pokoye, (You promised to leave him alone,)" she switched to Russian sounding really low and dejected in contrast to what her impassive face implied.
"YA khotel. No opyat' zhe, zachem mne eto? YA vlozhil milliardy v yego blagopoluchiye, vlozhil svoi dragotsennyye resursy v to, chtoby sdelat' yego luchshe. Chto ya poluchil vzamen? Razvratnyy dikiy zver', otkazavshiysya ot prirucheniya I ostayushchiysya nepreklonnym! (I wanted to. But then again, why should I? I invested billions in his wellbeing and pumped my precious resources into making him better. What did I get in return? A depraved wild beast who has refused to be tamed, remaining unyielding!)" He reviled harshly.
"Ty obeshchal, Vladimir! (You promised, Vladimir!)" Haisley snapped at long last. "YA otpravil yego tuda, podal'she ot tebya, chtoby ty mog imet' mir v svoyem dome. Pochemu vy reshili zagnat' yego v ugol tam? (I sent him over there, far away from you so you could have peace in your home. Why have you chosen to have him cornered back there?)"
"Chtoby ya mog obresti pokoy? (So I could have peace?)" he scoffed. "S odnoy storony — doch'-samoubiytsa, a s drugoy — beshenaya sobaka. O kakom mire ty tyavkayesh'?!! Kak ya mogu obresti pokoy, kogda tvoi deti prevrashchayut moyu zhizn' v ad!! (On one hand is a suicidal daughter, and on the other is a mad dog. What peace are you yapping about?!! How am I supposed to have peace when your children are making my life a living hell!!)"
"Vy prodolzhayete nazyvat' ikh MOIMI det'mi. Oni NASHI, Vladimir. (You keep calling them MY children. They are OURS, Vladimir.)"
"Okh, izbav' menya ot etoy yerundy! (Oh save me the bullshit!)" he waved off at once. "Ne obmanyvay sebya, Kheysli. Ty vedesh' sebya tak, budto ne znayesh', otkuda vzyalis' eti bol'nyye geny. (Don't delude yourself, Haisley. You act like you don't know where these sicko genes came from.)"
"Ne! (Don't!)" she yelled firmly as if she knew the next bullet he was going to throw.
"Pochemu? Boish'sya, chto tebe napomnyat o tvoyey sumasshedshey materi? (Why? Are you afraid of being reminded of your mad mother?)"
"Moya mat' ne zlilas', Vladimir! (My mother was not mad, Vladimir!)" she wailed in agony.
"Togda kak vy ob"yasnite, chto ona khladnokrovno ubila svoikh roditeley??!! (Then how do you explain her murdering her own parents in cold blood??!!)" he roared, dragging down several degrees, and his feet around the table, to her. "Tvoya mat' byla sumasshedshey, Kheysli, (Your mother was insane, Haisley,)" he continued, reducing his tone to a shivering whisper. "Vy dolzhny byt' blagodarny, chto ya spas vas iz chetyrekh sten zaklyucheniya I vernul k zhizni. Vmesto etogo ty zaplatil mne ptitsey, kotoraya vse vremya khochet uletet' na druguyu storonu, I beshenoy sobakoy za syna na drugom kontse. (You should be grateful I rescued you from the four walls of confinement and brought you to life. Instead, you paid me with a bird who keeps wanting to fly away to the other side, and a mad dog for a son on the other end.)"
Dead silence…
She raised her teary gaze to him now standing within arm's length. "Yesli by vy potratili stol'ko zhe vremeni na Berdi, kak vy dumayete, ona by poluchilas' takoy? Vse, chto ty kogda-libo delal, eto pryatal yeye za spinoy Daniila, boyas', chto ona povredit tvoyey reputatsii. V kontse kontsov, tebya volnovalo tol'ko eto, a ne nashi deti, Vladimir. (If only you invested as much time in Birdie, do you think she'd turn out this way? All you ever did was hide her behind Daniil, afraid she'd hurt your reputation. In the end, you only cared about that and not our kids, Vladimir.)" Her voice cracked, forcing back the tears.
"O, pozhaluysta. (Oh please.)" He shrugged, averting his gaze. "Vy luchshe vsekh znayete, kak mnogo ya dal etim detyam. YA dal im zhizn', o kotoroy drugiye deti mogli tol'ko mechtat'. YA predostavil im maksimal'nuyu roskosh', dav im vse, chto mog predlozhit' mir, (You of all people know how much I gave these kids. I gave them lives other kids would only dream about. I provided them with maximum luxury, giving them all the world could offer,)" he highlighted with raised shoulders and a smug look on his face while making hand gestures.
"Ty poseyal mezhdu nimi nenavist', (You bred hatred between them,)" she added then noticed the crinkle that crept in between his eyebrows. "Yesli by vy tol'ko ne dumali, chto Daniil — luchshiy variant sokhranit' vashe naslediye I polnost'yu isklyuchit' yeye iz polya zreniya. Yesli by tol'ko vy ne zastavlyali yeye chuvstvovat' sebya nikchemnoy, vse vremya nakachivaya svoyu energiyu tol'ko na Daniila, potomu chto vy verili, kak rebenok muzhskogo pola, on mog by predlozhit' bol'she. Yesli by ty tol'ko proyavlyal k ney stol'ko zaboty. Yesli by vy tol'ko proyavili k nim ravnoye vnimaniye. Ty dovel Berdi do togo sostoyaniya, v kotorom ona seychas nakhoditsya, Vladimir! (If only you didn't think Daniil was the better option to foster your legacy and leave her completely out of the picture. If only you didn't make her feel worthless all the while pumping your energy into Daniil alone because you believed as a male kid, he'd have more to offer. If only you showed her as much care. If only you showed them equal attention. You drove Birdie into the state she's in today, Vladimir!)" Haisley listed cautiously until the last sentence where she scolded him instead. He was really trampling on her patience.
He did nothing but engage her silently for a while, locking eyes with her. Everything she said was true but still… his ego would never let him acknowledge any of it. "YA biznesmen, Kheysli. Vy ne ozhidayete, chto ya budu investirovat' svoi den'gi v ubytochnyye predpriyatiya. (I am a businessman, Haisley. You don't expect me to invest my money in unprofitable ventures.)"
"Eto ne opravdyvayet togo, chto vy otnosites' k nim kak k aktivam I rugayetes' na nikh iz-za nekotorykh osobennostey. (Doesn't justify you treating them as assets and swearing at them because of a few peculiarities.)"
"Deystvitel'no, nekotoryye osobennosti (A few peculiarities indeed,)" he uttered faintly and scoffed. "Perestan' vinit' menya za sil'nyye geny tvoyey materi, (Stop blaming me for your mother's strong genes,)" he remarked with every shred of sarcasm, rediverting the venomous arrows.
Haisley sucked in air with shut eyes like she was having a hard struggle with keeping calm. "Moya mat' bolela, Vladimir, (My mother was sick, Vladimir,)" she croaked.
"Eto ne menyayet togo fakta, chto ona byla ubiytsey, a ya spas tvoyu zadnitsu iz adskoy yamy. (Doesn't change the fact she was a murderer and I saved your ass from the pit of hell,)" he retorted derisively. "Mne ochen' zhal', no vash syn prodolzhayet prizhimat' menya k stene. U menya net drugogo vybora, krome kak ispravit' yego chuvstva. I tol'ko ty mozhesh' pomoch' mne dobit'sya etogo. (I'm sorry but your son keeps pushing me to the wall. I have no choice but to correct his senses. And only you can help me achieve that.)"
"Take her away," listing his head to one side, he ordered grimly and turned around to back her instead.
"What are you doing? Let me go! What are you planning to do?!" Haisley panicked when two guys appeared behind her and seized her hands. "Let me go! Vladimir I'm begging you to stop!!!" she cried out painfully, getting dragged away all to no avail.
"Svyazhites' s Andreyem," he told one of his men standing the closest to him at the time, in Russian.
****
BACK IN CHICAGO
~~Daniil's POV~~
I already dropped Ashley off. Unable to concentrate after what happened earlier, I only thought to sink into my sheets when I got home and drown my anxiety in a good night's rest. If I ever got one. I was still yet to comprehend why Ashley had not left my mind yet. This whole thing felt weird and confusing.
"We're here boss," Knox's voice halted my thoughts. I hadn't even realized when the car stopped and now he was standing behind my door, holding it open for me to alight.
"Oh…yeah," I stuttered and got down.
With Jason and Knox trailing behind me closely, I walked into the house.
Shock further impaled my reasoning when the doors to the living room slid open, paving the path between US. I almost forgot about this guy, getting intoxicated with the freedom his absence earned me. The look in his eyes had changed. And it was more alarming than upsetting. What worse timing for him to show up!
With a smile shrouded with enigma, he bowed slightly with his hands crossed in front of him. "Welcome home, young master."
I fisted my hands beside me, irked by the audacity that radiated his eyes at the time he held firmly to my gaze even before greeting me. And now, his smile was more upsetting.
I heard a snigger behind me before Jason went on to say: "Welcome home, big brother."