Page 117 of Twisted Pact

“Love and compatibility aren’t the same thing. I loved your father. I still do in some ways, but loving him meant watching him walk into danger repeatedly while I sat home terrified that he wouldn’t come back. That’s not a sustainable way to live.”

“Yet you expect me to just abandon Alexei? To walk away from the father of my child because you couldn’t handle the stress?”

The quiet on the other end stretches so long I wonder if the connection dropped.

“You’re pregnant,” she finally whispers. Not a question. A statement.

I close my eyes. “Papa told you?”

“He mentioned you were dealing with health complications. I assumed it was stress-related, but pregnancy makes more sense given the timeline.”

“How did you know the timeline?”

“Because I pay attention to everything involving my daughters. Even when you won’t speak to me.Especiallywhen you won’t speak to me.” Her voice softens. “How far along?”

“About nine weeks.”

“And how are you feeling? Any morning sickness? Fatigue?”

The mundane questions catch me off-guard. After the harsh words about Papa and the life he chose, suddenly she’s asking about pregnancy symptoms like we’re having a normal mother-daughter conversation.

“Some nausea. Dr. Orlov is monitoring my blood pressure because it’s been elevated.”

“Elevated blood pressure at nine weeks isn’t normal. That’s stress, Mila. Your body is telling you something important.”

“My body is adjusting to pregnancy in difficult circumstances. That’s all.”

“Or your body is responding the way mine did. The way it always does when gentle people try to survive in violent environments.”

I open my eyes and blow out a long breath through pursed lips. “I’m not you.”

“No. You’re stronger than I ever was, and more capable of setting boundaries. But that doesn’t make you immune to the same patterns that destroyed my health.”

“What do you want from me?” I snap. Acknowledgment that you were right to leave? Permission to feel good about abandoning your family?”

“I want you to consider whether the life you’re building will sustain you long-term. Whether love for Alexei is enough to overcome constant danger and threat. Whether you’re willing to raise a child in an environment where violence is inevitable.”

“Those aren’t questions with simple answers.”

“No, they’re not. But they’re questions you need to ask yourself before you’re so deeply committed that leaving becomes impossible.”

I stand and start taking more laps around the room. “You’re assuming I want to leave. Or that I’m looking for permission or validation to walk away.”

“Are you?”

“No. I’m looking for my mother to support my choices instead of questioning them.”

“Even if those choices are leading you down the exact path that nearly killed me?”

“My path is different from yours.”

“How? You’re pregnant with a criminal’s baby and living in hiding because enemies want to use you as leverage. Dealing with health complications caused by stress that your body can’t process. That sounds identical to my experience twenty-three years ago.”

The comparison makes anger flare in my chest. “The difference is thatI’mnot running. I’m not abandoning everyone who needs me because the situation got difficult.”

“You think I ran because things got difficult?” Her voice rises with frustration. “I left because staying meant dying. My body was shutting down from panic attacks. Watching your father come home bloody one more time would have pushed me past any ability to recover.”

“And you couldn’t have told me that? Couldn’t have explained before you just disappeared?”