Page 67 of Forbidden Bratva Virgin

She moved aside, and they pushed me inside the house, grabbing my hair and yanking me through the dusty, empty space toward a chair positioned at the corner with ropes dangling on the rim. “Tie this bitch up!” she barked at the men and glared at me like she couldn’t wait to kill me. “You really have no shame, do you? Breaking apart something that wasn’t yours to begin with.”

Guilt twisted in my chest. I knew this day was coming, when I had to face the reality of the betrayal against her. I just didn’t know it would be today. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I never meant for things to spiral like this. But how could I fight something that had already taken root in my heart?

The men pinned me to the chair, harshly wrapping the ropes around my body, spiraling the twines so hard that I struggled to breathe.

“I didn’t—” I swallowed hard, choosing my words carefully. My life was hanging in the balance; one wrong word and I was done for. “Listen, I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be. I’ve been where you are right now; I know what the rage is. I’ve felt it. So, I get it. But I promise, I never set out to ruin anything. It was Miron who came to me. He’s the one who—”

I barely had time to react before the sharp sting of her palm cracked across my cheek. My head snapped to the side, pain blooming across my skin, burning.

“Don’t you dare,” Alina hissed. “Don’t you dare make it sound like you were powerless in this. You’re a fucking woman! Talk like a woman who knows she had the fucking voice to say no. He came to you, and so what? You accepted him, melted in his arms, and charmed him enough to call off his engagement?”

Oh, crap.Miron called off the engagement.

Tears pricked at my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I wasn’t powerless, but I also wasn’t the villain she saw me as. I had fought against this feeling, denied it, and buried it beneath guilt. But Miron—he had pulled me under anyway, and I let him.

So she was right; I accepted him, melted into his arms. But I didn’t charm him; he charmed me. Swept me off my feet in the craziest way and made me fall hard.

And even sitting here, knowing that she could be the last person I would ever see, I felt no regret.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, not because I thought it would fix anything but because it was the only thing I had left to give.

Chapter 25 – Miron

I never thought I would feel this way, Not truly. Not in the way that seeped into your bones and unfurled like the first breath of dawn after a night that seemed endless.

Speeding down the highway, a stupid grin sat on my lips, my mind already springing up Hazel’s different reactions when I told her I called off my engagement to Alina. I already dunked myself in thoughts of what would happen next and knew it would end with one of us on top of the other.

For so long, I carried my life like a weight, dragging my past behind me, certain that some people were simply not meant for joy. ThatIwas not meant for joy. I had accepted the cage, convinced myself the bars were safety, that silence was peace.

But then—this.

I remembered the conversation Hazel and I had about being happy, and at the time, I couldn’t even identify the feeling.

The windows were rolled down, the wind blowing against my skin, warm and alive. I watched the sun dipping low, spilling gold over everything it touched. Laughter—fucking mine—broke the air. It sounded strange, very unfamiliar, yet right.

Happy?

I was fucking elated.

I felt it now, the lightness, the space between my ribs no longer tight with old ghosts. This freedom. And it was not just escape, not just the absence of chains, but the presence of something complex. The quiet knowledge that thePakhanallowed this. That happiness was not for specific people, but something I could claim.

And for the first time, I did.

On the passenger’s chair, my phone vibrated, and I snatched it—somehow thinking Hazel was the one on the other end. But it was Damir. I swiped at the screen and placed the phone on my ear.

“You can say whatever shit you want now. I’m in such a good fucking mood, I can condone it.”

“That means you haven’t heard.”

“Heard what? That thePakhanknows about Hazel? That I called off the engagement? That he gave me his blessing? Is that what you were going to say, Damir? Ah, I didn’t only hear it; I gave the announcement.” I laughed into the speaker.

If someone else saw me right now, they wouldn’t hesitate to believe I was high. But Damir was stone-cold quiet, and it completely wiped the smile off my face. Something was wrong.

“Damir….”

“Boss. It’s Hazel. She’s been taken.”

A cold heaviness settled in my chest, and the world didn’t seem so bright anymore. “What do you mean, taken?” I asked, my voice low and fighting to stay in control. But inside, a storm brewed.

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