King of the Empire ✓| #2 |

31 - Three weeks

She continued. "Once we're there, I'm going to find the diary," another frown made its way to my face.

"Diary? You mean... Your mother's?" She sighed and nodded. "Sorry, it's just overwhelming," she gave me a faint smile, letting Matteo's features shine like the daylight. She was almost the spitting image of her father.

"It's okay. It's not every day you have to go through an escape plan," I chuckled before nodding.

"True."

"I know it's been kept there since Tyler was instructed to take it there," I mentally cursed out Tyler, still unable to believe he was like this all along.

"Can I ask you something?" She looked quite annoyed I'd interrupted but nodded anyway. "Was Tyler always working for Vlad?" She shook her head no.

"Not until a few months ago."

"Do you know why he'd joined?" She shrugged as she twisted a piece of the duvet in her hand.

"I assume it had something to do with you. But no one knows. I doubt Vlad knows." I nodded before I looked away from her.

If he had actually betrayed me over the fact I'd chosen Liamover him, he was a piece of shit. One that lost any brain cells in one damn night. I regretted the time I lost spending with him. But I couldn't go back and change anything. What I could do was hurt him.

"As I'll do that, you'll go to one of my good friends in downtown New York and grab the keys to his place," she said before looking down at the duvet. "It's a deserted place that will serve us good after we come back," I nodded as she brought her eyes back up. "We'll leave with him back to Moscow and then we'll strike. And I can tell you know how to do it," I frowned as my eyes looked over to the nightstand on my side of the bed.

"You-"

"Yes, Celeste. I found your journal. And I completely agree with your ways of torture. Just..." she walked over to me before placing her hands on my shoulders, "Think about the other three. You can't leave behind actual suspects."

I had thought of Elijah. He has abused women in the past and wanted to do the same with me. He was the actual clone of Vlad in some aspects. He had the same goals, pretty similar morals and the same sense of humour. At least that was what my father had told me.

"Are you okay?" Valentina asked, bringing me away from another thought. I looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, as much as I can be, why?" She frowned as her eyes looked down at my stomach.

"You're holding your hand on your stomach," I followed her eyes and found my hand on my lower stomach. I frowned, wondering how that could've happened. I didn't even notice. "It looked like you were pressing down on it so I thought you must be in pain," I smiled faintly at her.

"I'm fin-" As if I just got slammed by something, I realised what I hadn't thought about at all since I died.

"What?" She asked as her hand touched my forearm for comfort.

"My..." I sucked in a breath before I sat down on the bed, breathing heavily. "My child," I whispered as everything dawned on me.

"Your what?" She walked over to me and sat down right beside me before wrapping an arm around me. "Child?" I nodded slowly.

I must have lost it, right? There shouldn't have been any way that it had survived. But they would've known. The doctor would've told Vlad I was pregnant.

"Did... did the doctor say anything regarding my ovaries?" She shook her head slowly as she stared at me.

"I don't recall. But I would've caught on to that kind of information if it was said," I breathed out a small bit of relief.