Chapter 110
Apr 2, 2025
The air was heavy with silence as Celestina and Dimitri fled the palace under the cover of darkness. The narrow alleyways and shadows of the capital offered them refuge, but her mind was racing far faster than their footsteps. Alvada’s words echoed in her head: “Ask Dimitri about his role in all this.”
“Is it true?” she asked sharply, her voice cutting through the quiet.
Dimitri glanced at her but didn’t respond immediately.
“Dimitri!” she pressed, stopping abruptly. Her eyes blazed as she stepped in front of him. “Did you work with him?”
He sighed, his shoulders sagging under the weight of her accusation. “Yes,” he admitted quietly.
Celestina staggered back as though he had struck her. “You… you worked with my father? You helped him do all this?”
“It wasn’t what you think,” Dimitri said, his voice desperate. “It was years ago, before I understood the kind of man he really was. He approached me after my military service, offered me a position in his inner circle. I thought I was protecting the country, Celestina.”
Her voice trembled with disbelief. “You were part of his conspiracies? The embezzlement? The assassinations?”
“I didn’t know the full extent of it at first,” Dimitri said, his tone filled with regret. “I was a pawn, just like everyone else. When I realized what he was doing, I tried to get out. That’s when he turned on me. That’s why I disappeared.”
Celestina shook her head, her emotions a storm of anger and heartbreak. “You should have told me. After everything we’ve been through, how could you hide this?”
“I was afraid,” he said, stepping closer to her. “Afraid that if you knew, you’d never trust me again. And I couldn’t risk losing you.”
She stared at him, her chest heaving. “You should have trusted me enough to tell me the truth.”
“Celestina—”
“No,” she said firmly, her voice breaking. “We need to keep moving.” She turned and walked ahead, leaving Dimitri to follow in silence.
They found refuge in a small, abandoned apartment on the outskirts of the city. The night stretched on, the tension between them palpable.
As dawn broke, Celestina felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She gripped the edge of the table to steady herself, her vision swimming.
Dimitri noticed immediately, rushing to her side. “Celestina, what’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” she said weakly, though her pale face said otherwise.
“No, you’re not,” he insisted, guiding her to sit down. “You’ve barely eaten. You’ve been under too much stress.”
A few hours later, with the help of one of Liora’s contacts, a discreet doctor arrived to check on her. The examination was brief, but the doctor’s expression turned serious.
“Well?” Celestina asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
The doctor smiled gently. “You’re pregnant.”
Celestina’s breath caught. “What?”
“You’re in the early stages,” the doctor explained. “With rest and care, both you and the baby should be fine. But you’ll need to avoid stress.”
Avoid stress. Celestina almost laughed bitterly at the irony.
As the doctor left, Dimitri approached cautiously, his face a mix of worry and something else she couldn’t quite place.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
She nodded, though tears filled her eyes. “I don’t know how to feel. Everything is falling apart, Dimitri. The country is in ruins, and now this…” She placed a hand on her stomach, overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.
He knelt in front of her, his hands resting lightly on her knees. “This changes everything, Celestina. This child… it’s hope. For us. For the future.”
Her voice cracked. “How can I bring a child into this world when it’s so broken?”
“Because you’re the only one who can fix it,” he said, his voice filled with conviction. “You’ve always had the strength to fight for what’s right. And now, you’re not just fighting for the people. You’re fighting for our child’s future.”
Celestina looked into his eyes, the weight of his words sinking in. Slowly, she nodded. “We can’t run anymore. We have to fight back.”
That evening, they gathered everything they had: the evidence, the names
