Page 145 of His Forced Bride

They're wondering what I'm doing here, whether I'm strong enough to handle the things they will discuss, but they don’t know me.

They're about to find out.

Yuri introduces me simply as his wife, but there's something in his tone that communicates my new status clearly.

This isn't a social courtesy or a gesture to keep me occupied.

This is a statement that I'm now part of the decision-making process.

The men grunt in acknowledgement, but I do notice a few of them stand straighter and stop looking me squarely in the eye.

The conference room is spartan but functional, dominated by a large table covered in documents and photographs.

I take the seat Yuri indicates, directly to his right, and meet each man's gaze steadily as they settle around the table.

Displacing Oleg wasn't my idea, but the men shift downward without complaint or even so much as a scowl.

"Gentlemen," Yuri begins, "we have a problem."

As he outlines my mother's legal maneuvering, I watch the faces around the table.

These are men who've spent their lives solving problems through violence and intimidation.

The idea of fighting battles in courtrooms with judges and injunctions clearly frustrates them.

"Why not just eliminate her?" asks one man I don't recognize.

"Make it look accidental. Problem solved."

"Because she's anticipated that response," I say before Yuri can answer.

"She's positioned herself as a concerned mother fighting to save her daughter from an abusive marriage. If she dies mysteriously now, especially while these legal proceedings are active, it only validates her claims and gives her allies more ammunition to use against us."

The man who'd suggested killing my mother stares at me with new interest.

"So, what do you propose?"

I look at Yuri, and he nods almost imperceptibly, giving me permission to continue, acknowledgment that this is my area of expertise.

I lean forward, feeling the familiar excitement of strategic planning.

"We give her exactly what she thinks she wants, then use it to hang her."

The room falls silent as I outline my idea.

Let my mother think she's winning.

Allow the legal proceedings to move forward while we quietly gather evidence of her criminal activities.

Then, at the moment of her apparent victory, we release everything simultaneously—to law enforcement, to the media, to every judge and official she's bribed.

It will be faster than trying to turn her network against her.

"She'll be destroyed professionally and personally," I continue.

"Her criminal network will abandon her to save themselves. The judges she's bribed will throw her under the bus to protect their own careers. And when she's completely isolated, discredited, and powerless—then we finish her."

The silence that follows is thoughtful rather than skeptical.