Nikita

[NIKITA]

"I'm sorry, Natalya," Nikita managed to get out when Natalya seemed to have come down. They were already at the entrance of the Pavlenko mansion, and he honestly never thought Natalya would be this devastated.

How was he supposed to tell her that she was the very reason he had turned like this on this particular day?

How could he tell her that he couldn't handle her betrayal, and that is why he had stepped on the gas more than he should have?

How was Nikita supposed to make Nataya understand that, according to him, all of this was purely her fault?

There was just no way to tell her that without breaking her. It just didn't make sense, and he needed to come to terms with that.

Nikita knew there would come the point when he would have to ask Natalya those questions, and while today didn't seem to be an ideal time, he could tell that if he didn't say anything, Natalya would always be worried and thinking he wanted to take his life.

Of course, he wanted to do that, but just not today. Maybe when he finally had the last straw, but right now, he still had hope, which is why as he watched the older woman in pajamas open the door to his home, Nikita had made up his mind.

"I just don't understand why you would do that. It breaks my heart to see you like this. Your parents wouldn't like you like this, and not even Raisa would let you get to the point. Why did you try and live for one Nikita—" Natalya said, but Nikita just stared at her, having his own internal monologue.

'But they aren't here, Natalya. They left me, and they all didn't even say goodbye. Everyone I loved passed away in the crash, and now everyone thinks I'm this damaged little boy who needs to be looked out for.

'No one cares what happened to me, and you don't either, so quit pretending like you do okay! I heard what you said to your daughter. You wanted this to happen, so why the fuċk would you be here pretending like its fuċkɨnġ Christmas too?

'Why would you pretend like everything is okay when clearly nothing is okay? Nothing is okay! Nothing.' This is what Nikita wanted to say.

He wanted to lash out at Natalya and make her understand that it wasn't okay that she toyed with his feelings and trust. He wanted to make her give him an explanation because only then would he be okay.

He wanted to do so many things and make Natalya understand that somehow she was part of his pain, but Nikita didn't.

"I'm okay, Natalya, don't worry too much about me. You know I love you more than life itself. And I'm sorry I worried you," Nikita said truthfully. He had not intended to worry Natalya, but then so many things had happened, and the line between good and evil had gotten blurry somehow.

"Don't do that again, please master Pavlenko," Natalya said, recovering her stance, and Nikita couldn't help but smile at that.

Even though he had made her worry, she had lashed out at him, cared for him, and now, she was back to calling him master. Oh, the irony, but then such was the life they lived anyway.

"Where's Samantha?" Nikita asked Natalya like he didn't already know where the woman was. He wanted to see whether Natalya would lie to him or she would tell him the truth.

"Oh, that child. She told me she was going back to St Petersburgh the day you left, but then I just saw her causing chaos at the hospital. I don't know what came over her, and the worst part of it all is that she hadn't even told me where she was going or what she was going to do.

"I know I'm just her stepmother and all, but the more she keeps going AWOL on me, the more I think I don't have a place in her life. She'll just pop up someday with another apology.

"I should be used to it by now, but it still hurts like the first time," Natalya said, and Nikita's heart broke a little for her.

What if she was telling the truth?

What if he had misheard their conversation all this time and blamed everything on Natalya when her daughter was the main issue here? He had seen Natalya live with them for years and never heard of her daughter, let alone a stepdaughter.

Maybe that was also why they never saw Samantha, right?

"I'm sorry about that—"

"No, I should be apologizing for the chaos she caused at the hospital that made you even resign. I will understand if you don't want me here anymore, and I will accept my fate—" Natalya began.

"No, it's okay. However, could you tell me more about her?" Nikita asked as he sat in a position that he was sure the footage would project to the facility he was holding Samantha. He wanted her to see what her mother said about her.

Kyle and his team were also zooming in on Natalya's face, with Dave ready to see if she was lying to them to get their sympathy. Her daughter was a psycho, and there was no denying that. They just wanted to confirm if Natalya would lie about her.

They would know because they had the experts on this.

Nikita looked up at the CCTV cameras and nodded, a sign to the Rostova legion and Jacob to focus on what the woman beside him would say.

"Oh, that beautiful rebel? Well, I first knew her eight years ago, when she introduced herself as one of the children my husband had borne out of wedlock. I wasn't sure what she wanted because it was clear I was a maid and in no control of my husband's properties.

"She just introduced herself and then left like it didn't mean anything. I never thought I would see her until a month ago when she showed up and started asking questions about you and the accident.

"I wasn't sure what she wanted because the media was already over the place doing their thing to make them money, but Ar—Samantha was determined. I told her I didn't want anything to do with her fiasco because, well, I value loyalty.

"She just went away and told me to watch and wait. I didn't know she would go all crazy on you. Then again, I can't really reprimand her because I genuinely don't know her that well. We have interacted bȧrėly, just twice.

"She's a crazy piece of work, that much I know.. I just hope she backs off from all of this because, like I told her, I won't be of any use to her in her ploys with you," Natalya said as if she meant it.