Rejected: A love story

Chapter 167: Threat

Viktoria sat at the big desk, staring at her laptop, but she couldn’t focus on the screen. Across the room, Mateo was on the sofa. The only sound was the tap-tap-tap of his fingers on his tablet.

Then, her phone buzzed. It was Nikolai.

She waited a few seconds to stop her hands from shaking, then she wiped her eyes and tried to sound normal.

"Kolya," she said, using his nickname. "You’re calling late. Isn’t it midnight in Russia?"

"I couldn’t sleep without hearing your voice," Nikolai said. His voice was deep and warm. "How is America? Did you finish the deal with Nathan Keith yet?"

Viktoria bit her lip. Nathan hadn’t signed anything, he had called her a liar and kicked her out.

"The city is just busy, Nikolai," she said. She looked up at the ceiling so she wouldn’t cry. "And the meetings are... slow. Americans do things differently."

"Is there a problem?" Nikolai asked. His voice got serious. He wasn’t just a husband anymore; he was a businessman. "Vika, if he is being difficult about the shipping routes, tell him we don’t need him. We have other people in New York who want our help."

"No, it’s not that," she lied. The lie felt heavy in her chest. "It’s just small things. Nathan wants to check everything twice. He asked for some changes to the North Wing plans. He wants to check the cold-storage times again. It will take a few more days."

"A few days?" Nikolai sighed. She heard him pour a drink. "I wanted you home by Friday. The house is too quiet and my mother keeps asking when Mateo is coming back."

"We’ll be home soon, I promise," she whispered. "It’s just work, Nikolai. Big deals take time."

"I don’t like you being there alone," Nikolai said softly. "I have a bad feeling about this. Are you sure you don’t want me to fly there? I can be at the airport in three hours. We can finish this together."

"No!" she said, way too fast. She calmed herself down. "No, honey. You have that big meeting in Moscow on Thursday. You need to be there. I can handle this, I’m fine."

There was a long silence. Nikolai was good at knowing when people were hiding things. Viktoria held her breath.

"Vika," he said gently. "You sound tired. Is he being mean to you? Because if Nathan Keith is being rude, I don’t care how rich he is. I will come there and teach him a lesson."

"He’s just a sad man, Nikolai," she said, thinking of the hate in Nathan’s eyes. "He’s confused. But I’m okay. I’m Viktoria Volkova. I don’t break."

"I know you don’t," Nikolai laughed, and the tension went away a little. "You are the strongest person I know. Just don’t work too hard. Remember, we are doing this for Mateo. Is he awake?"

Viktoria looked at the sofa. Mateo was watching her. He knew it was his dad.

"He’s right here," she said and waved him over. "Come here, Mateo. Talk to Papa."

Mateo ran over and grabbed the phone. He was so happy.

"Papa!" he shouted in Russian. "Is there snow at home yet?"

"Not yet, little wolf," Nikolai told him. "But it’s getting cold. When you get back, we will go fishing on the ice. Have you been a good boy? Are you taking care of Mama?"

Mateo’s face turned sad as he remembered the office. "I tried, Papa. But we didn’t see the nice uncle today. Mama said he was too busy. He didn’t show me his gold pens."

Viktoria felt like someone had stabbed her heart, she gently rubbed Mateo’s hair.

"Don’t worry about the pens," Nikolai said. "When you get home, I’ll buy you the best pens in the world. Just look after your mother, okay?"

"I will, Papa. I gave her a big hug," Mateo said. "But Papa... can we come home tomorrow? The people here have mean eyes. I don’t like that big building."

Viktoria felt a chill. Even the boy knew something was wrong.

Nikolai’s voice got sharp again. "What do you mean ’mean eyes,’ Mateo?"

Viktoria quickly took the phone back, giving Mateo a fake smile. "He’s just tired, Kolya. He misses his bed. It’s been a long day."

"Okay," Nikolai said, but he sounded suspicious.

Nikolai sounded annoyed now. "I don’t like you being over there alone with these people, Viktoria. If he’s pushing you, I can be there by tomorrow morning. I’ll sit across from him and we’ll see how much he wants to talk about ’adjustments’ then."

"No, Nikolai, stay there," she said quickly. "Everything is fine. Mateo is having a great time, and I’ve got it all under control. It’s just a little bit of back-and-forth. I’ll call you the second it’s done."

"Fine," he sighed. "I just miss you. The house is way too quiet. Hope my little champion is enjoying his stay in America?"

Viktoria looked over at Mateo. The boy looked so small and sad. "He’s okay. He’s a bit tired today. He keeps asking about his ’kind Uncle Nathan’

He really liked him before we had to leave the office."

"Well, tell him I miss him," Nikolai said. "And Viktoria? I love you. Don’t let that man stress you out. If the deal isn’t right, we walk away. We have everything we need right here."

"I love you too, Nikolai. I’ll talk to you soon," she whispered.

She hung up and felt like she couldn’t breathe. The weight of the lie was crushing her. She had never kept secrets from her husband, but she had to protect him.

"Mummy?" Mateo’s small voice broke the silence. He had wandered over and was pulling at her hand. "I didn’t see my kind Uncle. Is he mad at me?"

"No, baby. He’s just busy," she said, pulling him into her lap.

She looked at her son’s face. Nathan was wrong. Mateo was Nikolai’s son. She remembered the day he was born—the pain, the joy, the way Nikolai had cried when he held him for the first time. There was no scam.

But then she looked at her laptop. If she was just a normal woman from Russia, why did someone go to so much trouble to forge those photos? And why did Nathan look at her like he had seen a ghost?

Viktoria realized she couldn’t just sit here and cry. She had to find out who was behind this before it destroyed her marriage and her life.

Viktoria waited until Mateo was fast asleep. She sat by the window, watching the city lights, her heart still racing. She knew she couldn’t wait for Nathan to change his mind. She needed those files.

She picked up her phone and dialed a number she had saved a few days ago. It rang three times before a hesitant voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Alex, it’s Viktoria," she said quietly.

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end. "Viktoria? You shouldn’t be calling me. If Nathan sees your name on my phone, I’m finished."

"I know I’m asking for a lot," she said, her voice steady but desperate. "But you saw those photos. You know me, Alex. You’ve worked with me for weeks. Do I really look like a professional criminal to you?"

Alex stayed silent for a long time. She could hear him pacing in what sounded like his kitchen. "The photos looked real, Viktoria. The bank transfers, the dates... everything matched."

"Because someone made sure they matched!" she hissed. "I need to see them again. I need a copy of that file. If I can see the digital details, maybe I can find out who sent it. Please, Alex. I have a husband and a son. My whole life is in Russia. I can’t let Nathan destroy it over a lie."

"Viktoria, listen to me," Alex whispered, his voice shaking. "Mr. Nathan will kill me if he finds out I’m helping you. He’s in a dark place. He’s convinced himself you’re a ghost coming back to haunt him. He’s not thinking straight."

"Then help him see the truth," she pleaded. "You’re the only one who can get into that system. Send me the file. Just one email. I’ll make sure it can’t be traced back to you."

She heard Alex groan. "I must be crazy. I’ve worked for this man for five years..."

"And you know he’s making a mistake," she added.

"Fine," Alex snapped, though he sounded more scared than angry. "I’m at my home laptop. I mirrored the drive before I left the office. I’ll send it to an encrypted link. But Viktoria? If this gets out, I’m not just fired. Nathan Keith will make sure I never work in this country again."

"Thank you, Alex. I won’t forget this," she said.

Two minutes later, her laptop chimed. A new email; no subject...it looked suspicious but she opened it, and the screen filled with the images that had ruined her day. She stared at the woman in the Zurich coffee shop. The hair was the same, the coat was the same, but as she zoomed in, she noticed something.

The woman in the photo was wearing a ring—a small, blue sapphire. Viktoria looked at her own hands. She only ever wore her gold wedding band from Nikolai.

She began to dig deeper into the file properties, looking for the "metadata"—the hidden information that shows when and where a photo was actually taken. Her eyes widened as she found a string of code. The file hadn’t been sent from Russia or Switzerland.

It had been uploaded to Nathan’s server from a local IP address. Someone inside the city—maybe even inside the building—had planted it.

Just as she was about to trace the address, a message popped up on her screen. It was an anonymous chat invite.

"You should have stayed in fucking Russia, Fiona."

Viktoria’s while body went cold.