Craved by the Wrong Volkov-Chapter 174: His suspicions

Lucien’s POV

"Sure.." she chimed.

That was the start of everything until it all came crashing down one day in a car crash. At times I wondered maybe I should have stopped her that night if I did she would still be alive

But I couldn’t cry over spilt milk anymore, and the past couldn’t be changed. She was dead and that was a fact. I lived with the fact for a while, falling deeper and deeper into the pit until I saw the light again.

The sharp shriek of a ringing phone tore through the room and my eyes jolted open. Beads of sweat hung on my forehead, and my heart was beating so fast it felt like it would escape my chest.

I quickly reached for my phone to check the caller, but the call had already cut off. It looked like my assistant’s number at New Horizon. Just knowing it was work-related. My already unpleasant mood kind of plummeted.

A groan slipped out of my mouth, and my hands were massaging my forehead as I glanced to the side, noticing Braelyn, who was still fast asleep despite the loud alarm sound.

She was truly exhausted, she only furrowed her brows before going back to sleep. The time on the phone screen was 9 am, barely any time had gone by since I fell asleep. My hands reached for her face but I stopped halfway

I slipped out of bed and made my way out of the bedroom before dialling the number again while I strode towards the stairs. Shortly after the phone started ringing it connected.

"Good morning sir." A professional male voice chirped. I sighed tiredness etched in my voice.

"Why are you calling? I had a long night. " I grumbled, irritated by the call. There was a number headache in my forehead that was pissing me off.

My hand was on the handrail as I carefully walked down the stairs. There wasn’t any sign of Agnes. She was probably in the kitchen occupied with chores

"I am calling concerning the assignment you gave me. The one related to the kidnapping incident at the Volkov charity gala." He explained and my footsteps faltered slowing down

It was the last kidnapping incident involving Braelyn. That night, I was so consumed by rage that I killed those bastards before questioning them, but I had my suspicions, I didn’t want to be true.

I cleared my throat, it was like waiting for judgment. "What did the report say?" I asked, finding my way towards the back entrance. The door closed behind me, and I spotted a garden ahead, close to the lake. It was colder here, I guessed thanks to the lake.

"I have already sent a copy of it to your email." He started. I could feel my heart beating slower with each minute that passed.

"I will check that later, just tell me if my assumptions were right or wrong," I said, sounding a bit impatient.

"You were right sir." He admitted with a dry professional voice. My footsteps stopped abruptly. No, it could not be possible, it was like one of my biggest fears was shaping itself into reality.

"The person behind the kidnapping incident is indeed someone from the Orlov family and the instructions were to assassinate Brealyn Alderheim." My head went blank as the words echoed ..

Someone from my mother’s family wanted to kill Braelyn, but I couldn’t understand who or why. Braelyn didn’t have any connections to the Orlovs aside from me. Why would they want her dead because of me?

My legs almost gave out but I still listened to him explain everything he found out.

The Orlov family had deep connections in the underworld business since it was a weapons manufacturing titan. Since the club incident i knew the Orlovs had their eyes on braelyn but I didn’t know why exactly

I had contacted the family head Ivan’s brother Kirill asking him if his men were interested in someone outside the country since the Orlov family wasn’t based in the same country as the Volkov

He had admitted yes, his men were behind the attack, but he wasn’t the one who gave the instructions, which left me puzzled. Who else could give the instructions if not him? Even Ivan couldn’t act completely independently of Kirill

I had tried to push him further for an answer, but his lips were tight. Kirill was hiding something from me worse i couldn’t force it out of him since despite being his aunt’s only child i was fully associated with the Orlov family

"The kidnappers were not directly associated with the Orlov family, but the assassination commission was from them," he said on a final note. My head was spinning at this point still trying to connect the dots

I released a very long breath I had been holding in this entire time. "Dig in further. I want to know exactly who gave out the commission. " I instructed.

"I am already on it. I will inform you of any further updates. " he chimed before the static sound of the call being hung up echoed in my ears. I held the phone tightly in my hand, my jaw clenched as everything started to go through my head again

I was standing in the garden, from here I could see the window leading to the master’s bedroom. I couldn’t return like this.

I wandered closer towards the lake, my mind was up in the clouds. Standing at the edge I just stared at the tranquil water surface. It was a beautiful lake and just staring at it had this strange ability to put minds at ease with a sense of peace

My gaze darted around the lake, and I tried not to think too much of what I just learnt. My brows furrowed when I caught sight of a patch of yellow chrysanthemums.

What were they doing here? Braelyn was extremely allergic to them. I stared at the large part of the garden filled with them, confusion flickering through my eyes. There was no way Braelyn could come close to the lake with them being around.

A crazy thought whispered in my mind: what if they were deliberately planted here to prevent her from wandering into this area? It was an absurd thought but it left me intrigued for a moment i forgot about everything and was more interested in investigating the flowers

I strode towards the flowers which were still in bloom this early autumn. They were beautiful the longer you stared at them. I continued deeper down the path, the area was arranged with great care. At the end of it was a flower bed.

I eventually got to the end, and my gaze investigated the well-groomed flowers. At first, it wasn’t obvious that I could not spot anything unusual about the flowers until I spotted a stone which was well hidden in the flowers

I squatted down to study the stone properly. My eyes slowly went wide with my breath stalled. It was a tombstone. What was a tombstone doing hidden here, and worse, why did it have Braelyn’s mother’s name? She wasn’t buried in this country. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

It read: Avelina Alderheim from 1953 - 2008.

Which was wrong. Braelyn was born in 2000. Why did this tombstone say she died in 2008?

She would have been... alive when Braelyn was three? Which was impossible.