Chapter 310: Yelena Orlova

Braelyn’s POV

“Margaret should have killed your mother when she had the chance.”

I was puzzled by her statement. I did not understand what she meant. Who was Margaret? Who was this woman before me?

The only certain thing was that I was in this situation because of my mother. Her cold eyes remained on me, a small smile resting on her face.

“Do you know why you are here?” she asked. Her voice was calm, although her eyes were icy. She held her cane with both hands and patiently waited for my answer. I was literally at gunpoint and it felt as if any wrong answer could lead to my death.

I swallowed hard. My spit barely slid down my throat as I forced out an answer. “I do not know,” I replied and she scoffed at my answer.

“Then why did you run away from home, Braelyn?” she pushed on with more questions. I did not know where she was heading but I managed to answer.

From the looks of things she probably already knew my situation. “I had a disagreement with my husband,” I answered and a soft laugh slipped from her lips.

“And you ran because of a disagreement. You left the Volkov protection,” she drawled, then stood up from her seat. She was holding her cane which seemed more like an accessory. Her posture was straight.

Chills ran down my spine as I remembered Raphael’s warnings. He was protecting me from the Orlov family. Then without a doubt, the Orlov family were the ones behind my kidnapping.

They caught me the moment I left as if they had been watching all along. “Have you been watching me?” I blurted.

The man by the table scoffed. “Who do you think you are to ask questions?” he sneered, but the old lady raised her hand to stop him.

“It is fine. I will handle this,” she cut him off and walked towards me. Even at her age she was still quite tall and a few inches taller than me now.

The guards forced me to my knees. Her figure loomed over me.

“Truth be told, I have been watching you for a while now because of the old debts your mother owes my family,” she began and my stomach dropped, already having an idea how this conversation was going to end. One of those possibilities was my death.

I just could not figure out why my careful plan had failed.

“First of all, I will start with introductions. I am Yelena Orlova, former head of the Orlov family,” she introduced.

“I understand you go by Braelyn Alderheim,” she sneered. “It is truly pathetic that your father took his wife’s surname to protect her. He did everything, but in the end, a blood debt must be paid with blood.”

My head snapped up. Disbelief clouded my mind. My mother’s surname? What was she talking about? Father never said anything like that before he died. Did it even matter which surname I took?

A loud grumbling sound rang out again, interrupting her. My face turned beet red and she scoffed at me. Disgust filled her eyes as she stared at me as if I were something vile.

Yelena clicked her tongue before continuing her monologue.

“I have lived a long life and have seen both my children die. As a mother, I cannot rest until someone atones for their sin.”

Yelena moved towards a nearby flower bush. She strode over and began to absentmindedly pick at the leaves. Her eyes looked distant but her voice was choked with so much emotion that I could feel her pain.

She drew in a deep breath.

“I loved my children, especially my daughter Nadia. She was stubborn just like me but she was still my precious darling,” she began recounting as her voice trailed off.

She paused for a moment and her fingers plucked a flower. It was a red spider lily. I was surprised she had them here.

“She was a pure soul. Despite being an Orlov, Nadia never saw pain. My husband and I treated her like the angel she was.”

My breathing slowed. Nadia was Lucien’s mother. The woman whose existence destroyed the Volkov family, and yet here Yelena spoke of her like an angel.

“Her only sin was falling in love with the wrong man,” she hissed, crushing the flower in her hand. Her eyes snapped to me and they were blood red.

“Nadia loved him. She loved him so much she cut off her family and endured the scorn of others just to be close to him.” She laughed as tears streamed down her face.

The guards bowed their heads, unable to meet her gaze.

“Nadia might have been stubborn and wilful but she did not deserve to be pushed into a corner and killed,” she spat.

Seeing the pain in her eyes, I could not meet her gaze.

My mother was the one who accidentally caused Nadia’s death, but she was not a saint either. She was the mistress and besides, the guilt drove Avelina to her death.

Yelena wiped her tears with her handkerchief and drew in a deep breath.

“Nadia was missing for years. Years, and I had no idea she was long dead and had left a son they treated like dirt,” she spat.

“My husband almost had a heart attack when we heard of her death. They claimed it was birth complications but who dies of birth complications more than a month after giving birth?” she spat again, her voice filled with rage as she gritted her teeth.

“The Volkovs pushed Nadia into a corner and they did not stop until she died.” She laughed bitterly.

“For years I thought it was Katerina who did it because they claimed my daughter was the evil mistress and Gregor covered up the truth,” she said slowly.

My mind went back to the day Lucien confessed his identity to me. He claimed his cousin told him the one behind the death was Katerina. That was the story, but it was not the complete truth.

A smile slowly crawled onto her lips.

“Lucien, poor boy, spent his years planning his revenge step by step against the Volkovs, completely unaware,” she chuckled, then pointed at me.

“He had no idea the girl he fell in love with, the girl who even made him delay his plans to officially join the Orlov family, was the daughter of the very woman who caused his mother’s death. Avelina Alderheim, that snake,” she spat.

“Not only did that gold digger ruin Dominic, but she also killed my precious princess with her friend Katerina.”

My fingers curled. I should have kept quiet knowing my life was on the line, but I just could not shut my mouth.

“It was an accident. Avelina did not mean to push her. Nadia was fighting with Katerina and she panicked. She…” I went silent for a moment before adding, “She should not have been the other woman,” I said out of spite even though I knew it might cost me.

A slap cracked across my face. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as one of the guards struck me.

“Do you really think my precious Nadia willingly became the mistress of an old man?” she drawled.

“Katerina and that witch Avelina were the ones who pushed her.”

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