Page 40 of Sweet Deception (Savage Vow #2)

She yanked her hand from mine, clawing at her hair, pulling it wildly. Her sobs were gut-wrenching, shaking the entire room.

“They killed her... they did...” she gasped, her voice breaking. “You couldn’t even protect our daughter. You let them kill her!”

“Anna...”

“Don’t you dare say my name!” She dug her nails into her scalp, her eyes wide, frenzied.

“Is my daughter really gone? Forever?”

I couldn’t speak. My throat burned, my fists clenched at my sides. I had underestimated my grandmother’s cruelty, and now it had cost me everything.

She will die for this.

Anna shoved me away. “Get away from me!”

I reached for her. “Babe, you need me now more than ever.”

“No, I don’t.” Her eyes were red-rimmed, wild. “You could have protected her if you wanted to. But you didn’t.”

Her voice turned bitter. “Something wasn’t right. The labor had been too hard. The doctors kept saying I needed surgery, but I felt her moving. What if... what if they did something to me?”

“What if the nurses delivering me worked for your grandmother? You knew how much power your family holds in Russia. You knew. Yet you let them kill our daughter.”

The way she looked at me, like she was seeing me for the first time, sent a sharp pain through my chest.

She wasn’t the naive woman I had married.

She wasn’t blind to our world anymore.

“Don’t say that, babe.” My voice was raw. “I wanted her as much as you did. We prepared for her arrival together.”

Her face twisted with agony. “I imagined what it would feel like to breastfeed my baby. Now, I have swollen breasts filled with milk for a child who isn’t here to drink it. Because she was killed by your evil family.”

“I had men at the hospital. Trusted men. I made sure of it. Or at least, I thought I did. But I hadn’t accounted for how deep my grandmother’s control ran. She didn’t bribe the doctors, she owned them. She hadn’t just infiltrated my security, she had always been one step ahead.”

She wiped her face and spoke in a voice devoid of warmth. “Can you give me some space? Please. Don’t come back anytime soon.”

“Anna... please.”

“Just get out.”

I stepped out, but I didn’t leave. I leaned against the door, listening to the sound of her sobs, her pain carving deep, bloody wounds into my soul.

I was drowning in fury.

The next few hours, the next few days, would be a bloodbath.

For now, I just needed her to heal. Even just a little.

I stood there for a long time, lost in my own torment. The silence eventually settled, but when I cracked the door open, my stomach twisted into a knot.

Anna was lying on the floor, her eyes wide open, lifeless.

“Anna...”

She didn’t move. Didn’t blink.

Her sobs faded into silence. A long, empty silence. Then she laughed, soft, broken. A laugh with no joy left in it. When she finally looked up, her eyes were hollow. Dead. ‘I want a divorce, Gleb.’”

My heart stopped.

“No,” I whispered. “That’s not the answer.”

She laughed, a soft, broken sound. “I can’t stay here. Not with you. Not with your family. I’ll suffocate, Gleb. Every time I close my eyes, I’ll see her. I’ll hear her. I need to go.”

“But leaving me won’t heal you.”

“Not immediately,” she admitted. “But over time, it will.”

She wiped her face. “I need to get away from this life. I’m not cut out for it. My family is evil. Your family is worse. I won’t survive this.”

My chest was caving in. “Anna, I...”

She cut me off. “Bring me divorce papers tomorrow.”

“You can hate me. You can blame me. But I won’t let you leave. Not now. Not like this.”

Her cold, bitter smile cut me deeper than any knife. “You never really wanted her, Gleb.”

I flinched. “That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it? You weren’t prepared for this baby. You told me to get rid of her. You were afraid she’d be killed, and she was. You were right. And I was stupid.”

Her voice cracked. “I should have listened to you.”

“I swear to you, Anna, they will pay. Every last one of them. But you and I, we’re not over.”

I dropped to my knees in front of her. “Don’t shut me out, Anna. Please. I know I failed you, but let me make it right.”

She cupped my cheek, tears falling freely.

“You’re a good man, Gleb.” Her lips brushed mine, soft and lingering. A goodbye kiss.

“I should have told you before. I should have known before. I love you, Anna. And I won’t let this be the end.”

She laughed bitterly. “You do?”

“I do.”

Her expression turned icy. “I wish that were enough.”

“Do you still love me?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

She scoffed. “Nonsense. I will always love you, Gleb Romanov.” She paused. “And that’s exactly why I need to leave.”

Then she stood and picked up our daughter’s still body.

“Little girl,” she sobbed, cradling her against her chest. “We talked, didn’t we? You promised to stay strong. Why did you leave me?”

Her body trembled with silent sobs, “you should have fought to stay alive...” she squeezed her eyes so bad, tears trickling painfully out of her swollen eyes .

I had to look away. I couldn’t bear it.

I wanted to hold her. To stay. But I couldn’t. Not when the people who did this were still breathing.

I turned to leave. But before I did, I looked at her one last time. “I will fix this, Anna. Even if it kills me.”

I stormed out of the room, my rage burning through my veins, my path set.

Grandma would die for this.

I should have killed her the first time. I thought sparing her would keep the balance. That family meant something. But she had made her choice. Now, I’d make mine.