Page 66 of Forced By the Obsessed Bratva

I barely had enough time to come up with a better plan. The second I heard the truth about Yulia’s death, I knew I couldn’t spend another second under the same roof as him. I’d be too horrified to even sleep next to him.

The apartment I planned to hide away in sat on the edge of the city. It was a small guest apartment I’d go to whenever I needed to clear my head. Only Yulia knew about this place.

There were no cameras or anything Matvey could track me on. No one recognized me there aside from the landlord, who only knocked when he wanted to get his rent. It was the perfect place.

But the closer I got, the harder my stomach churned. My head wouldn’t stop spinning with so many thoughts.

Yulia.

Matvey.

The baby.

And then Matvey again. His voice was a constant echo in my mind, and that sad look he gave me haunted me like a ghost. Every mile away from him felt like tearing out a chunk of myself with my own hands.

I wanted to scream and sob until my chest collapsed in on itself, but I swallowed it all the way down.

One breath. And then another.

I had to survive first.

When I arrived at the apartment, the sky was a pale pink, the dawn stretching its fingers along the horizon as if searching for me.

I pulled around the corner, just in case.

The hallway was still. Dusty. Smelled of rust and decaying wood.

The key was stuck in the lock, and for a second I thought it wouldn’t turn. But then it clicked, and I went inside.

It was cold here. The air was still, thick with the scent of wet walls and age-old paint. But it was quiet and peaceful.

Dropping the bag onto the floor. I kicked off my shoes and walked around the edges of the apartment like an animal in a cage, fingers tracing over scratched-up furniture and chipped countertops, trying to will this into being.

That I was free.

That I was safe.

My hand drifted to my stomach instinctively in a small, protective curve.

The child I hadn’t planned. Hadn’t wanted.

But now—

A flood of dizziness hit me, and the air was knocked from my body. My head spun, and I gripped the edge of the table, air trapped in my throat.

A blast of pain shot hot behind my eyes, and I collapsed to my knees, almost crashing sideways into the chair next to me but managing to evade it at the last second.

I hit the floor with a dull thud, and I lay there stunned, my hands flying to my stomach in a blind rush of panic.

Please…no. No, no, no.

Not now.

Not after all of this.

Not after I’d come this far.

A sob clawed its way up my throat as I hugged myself tight, one hand clutched over my stomach, the other grasping the wooden table leg as if I could cling to it to stay put.