Dangerous Husbands, Broken Wives [18+]

TWENTY SEVEN: EVER AGAIN

[ANASTASIA]

I know it's a trap.

It has to be.

There was nothing so straightforward when it came to Ivan. For as long as I have known him, he never shied away from lying or buying his way in or out of any situation. He would buy off anyone with money, and if someone wasn't ready to sell their loyalty or compromise their principles, he would use their fear against them to get his work done. But no matter how much someone tried, there was no escaping Ivan once he set his eyes on someone or something.

And right now, I know without a doubt that his vicious eyes are set upon me and my kids. If he has decided to make us the family that can only exist in his fantasy, he will do anything for that to make it happen. He will use every trick in the book to manipulate me and my kids.

And I can't let that happen.

I can't let him win.

Perhaps that's why when he tells me that there's something in his nightstand that I might be interested in, I know exactly what he's trying to do.

Honestly, does he really consider me that stupid that I will willingly walk into his den?

That I will be so desperate to get my hands on whatever he has in that stupid drawer that I'll throw my sanity out of the window and come running after him?

If that's what he thinks, then he hasn't learned anything from that slap I delivered in his office last night. Nothing at all.

Earlier, while working with Lena in the kitchen, I started to worry that I went too far, hitting him and all, but I don't hold any regret anymore. He surely earned that slap in the face. He deserves one now too for still assuming I'm stupid and weak, ready to kneel before him. Asshole.

I roll my eyes and walk back into the kitchen.

"What happened?" Lena asks, looking worried, probably noticing my sour mood. She has already prepared a plate for Tatiana, and now my little girl is chomping on mashed potatoes and Shchi, a cabbage soup with ingredients like meat, mushrooms, or potatoes.

I turn my back to Tati in the dining and breathe out a loud exhale. "The same. Ivan being an asshole."

She sighs, shaking her head.

But I'm not done. "I can't believe he still thinks I'm that naive. That all he has to do is speak two sweet words, and I'll forget everything that he did. You say he has changed, Lena, but I can see through his facade now. In fact, I can't believe I ever fell for his stupid charm. Sometimes I get so angry at myself, for being so stupid and annoyingly oblivious."

Tears threaten to spill over, but I suck them in. I've wasted enough of those on that monster. I'm done crying for him. Or for myself. I'm done. Period.

"It's not your fault, dorogoy," Lena says softly, placing a gentle hand on my upper arm and searching for my gaze. "It never was. You were a good girl, you still are, and that's what attracted him to you. His darkness was drawn to your purity, to your uncorrupted soul. You were like a beacon to him, burning bright with your innocence and kind heart. He wanted you even though he knew he didn't deserve you. And that was his first mistake. He should have left you alone. If he really felt anything for you, he should have never walked into your life, only to turn it upside down."

[dear]

I wish that was true. I wish he had never walked into my life and destroyed me the way he did. I still curse the day when I met him for the first time, feel utterly stupid for falling for a man like him. If I ever got to go back in time and give one piece of advice to my younger self, I'd shake her by the shoulders and yell at her to wake up and open her eyes, so she could see the trap her father and Ivan were laying all around her, so she could take the hint and escape before it was too late.