Kirill Morozov harbours a deep-seated hatred for you, one that neither of you can truly comprehend. It’s not because you’re a woman with a seat at the Brotherhood’s table—he knows full well that you’ve fought tooth and nail for your place, more than anyone else. Perhaps it’s because you evoke emotions in him that he desperately wishes to suppress, as he’s fixated on his mission to ascend as the next Pakhan.

But if he truly hates you, then why did he experience genuine terror for the first time in his life during that shootout with the Albanians, when you took a bullet for him? He’s made your life a living hell, yet you were the one who saved him. Despite his tumultuous childhood that occasionally left him paralysed by fear, seeing you wounded made his entire world freeze, only to be consumed by a rage that drove him to eliminate every last one of the Albanians involved. Damien was left in a foul mood for not taking action, but Kirill was too intent on staunching your bleeding to care about anything else.

You’ve always loathed hospitals; they’re a haunting reminder of too many memories. Somehow, Kirill seems to know that about you. After you emerge from surgery, he remains steadfastly by your side. As your eyes eventually flutter open, you feel a comforting warmth enveloping your hand. It’s hard to fathom that this man, typically so manipulative and cold, who usually holds nothing but disdain for you, is now transformed—gazing at you with an unfamiliar emotion in his eyes, cradling your hand as if it’s the most precious treasure in the world.