Is this destiny?

"Did you consider the option that they will torture me, and I will tell them everything about the Lebedevs?", Sarah asked Ivan angrily.

Ivan snorted. "What do you know? Names of the Elders? Location of our main base? They know that already. You joined a month ago, and you didn\'t focus on the Lebedev family at all. You have no idea where our training facilities are, or where we keep our merchandise, or what business we are involved with. You are clueless about our allies, transportation routes, which government officials are under our control… There is nothing you could tell them that would be damaging to the Lebedev family. They would take your ignorance as your defiance and you would end up dead and things would go back to normal."

Sarah couldn\'t deny her ignorance. Since she entered the Lebedev family, her focus was on getting Aiden back and then they started this infiltration mission into the Voronin family, leaving anything related to the Lebedevs to Konstantin, JoAnna, Sophia, and other Elders. However, she has Eve who can find for Sarah any information, but Ivan does not know that, and Sarah will keep it that way.

Sarah decided to focus on a few points behind her coming to talk to Ivan. She does not have much time to chat randomly.

"Do you know if anyone else from the Lebedev family sold information to Voronins?"

Ivan looked at Sarah like she asked something silly. "With the right motivation, people will talk."

"Your motivation was to get me out of the way.", Sarah concluded, and Ivan nodded in response.

Sarah puffed her cheeks. This means that anyone can sell information, however, the fact that Ivan didn\'t mention any names, tells her that he does not know anyone specifically.

She thought of trying a different approach.

"Is there anyone who would never do business with the Voronins?"

"Vasily was the only one who avoided Voronins at any cost.", Ivan responded.

"Did Elders and others who have access to sensitive information trade it with other organizations?", Sarah continued probing.

"You talk like the world is black and white.", Ivan said mockingly. "If Vasily is here, he would tell you that the world is made out of shades of grays, and when two organizations have goals which align, they will collaborate. If you always refuse to yield, eventually you will accumulate enough enemies that can take you down."

"Vasily refused to yield to Voronins.", Sarah reminded Ivan of his words from a minute ago.

Ivan\'s eyes flashed in pride. "Vasily was always special, above all others. He knew how to stand tall and attack the right spots before enemies managed to force him into a position to defend. You don\'t have that, and you never will."

Sarah decided to move on to the next topic.

"Three years ago, when Aiden and I were in your custody after getting shot. Did you authorize for Aiden to be injected with medication to put him in a coma?"

"Yes.", Ivan responded without hesitation.

Sarah swallowed hard. "Did Vasily know about it?"

"No."

Sarah was relieved and saddened at the same time and for the thousandth time that day, she cursed herself for her prejudice against Vasily.

She took in a deep breath to calm down her emotions before asking: "Why did you act behind his back?"

"Vasily was feeding his idea that you are perfect to be the Grand Elder. He spoke about your achievements and the kids in your house while spouting some nonsense about loyalty, and no matter what I said, he wouldn\'t listen.", Ivan exhaled in frustration. "Vasily was always making smart decisions, except when it came to you. It got much worse after he saw your fight with Aiden in the back of the LA Medical Center. He made up his mind to step out of the shadows and get close to you, and I was aware of how the only way to prevent that from happening is to make you hate the Lebedevs. I knew that just how you are Vasily\'s weakness, Aiden is yours and I made a call."

"If you wanted to hurt me through Aiden, why didn\'t you kill him? Why put him in a coma?", Sarah asked.

Ivan glared at Sarah. "Killing him is one sharp pain for you, and I needed to ensure it goes deep enough. With every day that Aiden was in a coma, your hatred toward Vasily and the Lebedev family grew. Just as I suspected, Milena went into a rage and destroyed a number of facilities that belonged to Vasily, sending a clear message that he needs to stay away. After that, Vasily decided to hold back on getting close to you."

Sarah was shocked. Ivan plotted behind Vasily\'s back to harm Aiden only to keep Sarah and Vasily from getting close? What else did Ivan do? Sarah was not sure she wants to know.

"You hate me so much?"

Ivan spat on the ground, a few inches away from Sarah\'s left foot. "I can\'t find words strong enough to describe how much I hate you. You don\'t deserve your position. You don\'t deserve to be here."

"I see. If I am not worthy to be the Grand Elder, who is?"

"Vasily.", Ivan responded.

"He was never interested in that position."

"Because he cared more about you! But without you in the picture, it was only a matter of time before he took over."

Sarah observed Ivan\'s unreasonable hate and voiced her thoughts: "You are jealous of me."

"Vasily was obsessed with you. Everything was about you and no one else existed. I was by his side for two decades, doing whatever he asked, and I accepted punishment whenever I messed up, but you… in Vasily\'s eyes, you were perfect."

Sarah had nothing else to ask. She stood up to walk away.

Sarah paused at the door when she heard Ivan ask: "Is Vasily really gone?"

Sarah exhaled. "Yeah, he is."

She didn\'t give him a chance to ask anything else, as she walked out without looking back.

Ivan stared at the closed door for some time before curling up on the bed and dissolving into sobs.

Sarah stood in the hallway and took deep breaths while fighting to calm down the storm of emotions that raged inside her.

She was dejected that Ivan\'s hatred for her ended up hurting Aiden, and sad that Ivan confirmed how Vasily thought highly of her, and her heart ached at the fact that she will not get a chance to fix the huge mistake of pushing Vasily away repeatedly.

Sarah remembered Ivan\'s words about how Vasily wanted her to be the Grand Elder because of her achievements and kids, and it confirmed that Vasily craved for a place where he would be accepted… a place he would call home. And she denied it to him.

"Sarah?"

JoAnna\'s voice reached Sarah through the fog of her thoughts.

"What happened?", JoAnna asked.

"I spoke to Ivan and confirmed that he hates me. That was the reason why he put Aiden in a coma three years ago. Ivan wanted me to suffer and hate Lebedevs so that I don\'t come here and don\'t get close to Vasily. And since I arrived here, Ivan was looking for a way to get rid of me. Getting Voronins to kill me was his way of removing Vasily\'s weakness."

JoAnna stepped closer and hugged Sarah. She knew that it must be hard for Sarah to hear all this.

"I\'m sorry…", JoAnna said and inched away. "There are fifteen minutes until the meeting with Konstantin, and the boys are busy. How about I give you a quick checkup?"

Sarah saw that JoAnna is looking at her belly. "OK. Just the baby. I want to make sure the baby is fine."

"What about you?", JoAnna asked.

Sarah exhaled. "I am not fine. But I will be, one day…"

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