🔥 CHAPTER 6 — THE MAN IN THE BLACK SUV
For the next several days, Marina couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following her.
A black SUV appeared outside her office.
Outside her home.
Even outside the rehabilitation center where she attended physical therapy.
Whenever she looked directly at it...
The vehicle quietly drove away.
Detective Leonov immediately assigned two officers to protect her.
"Until we know who's behind this," he said, "you won't be alone."
Meanwhile, investigators continued tracing the missing millions.
The money had passed through dozens of fake companies before disappearing overseas.
Each transfer led to another dead end.
Until one accountant noticed something unusual.
One payment had never left the country.
Instead...
It had been deposited into a private investment firm owned by a man named Sergei Antonov.
The name immediately caught Detective Leonov's attention.
Antonov had spent years avoiding prosecution.
Officially, he was a respected businessman.
Unofficially...
He was rumored to control one of the country's most powerful criminal financial networks.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Alexei had never been the mastermind.
He had merely been desperate enough to accept help from someone far more dangerous.
That evening, Marina insisted on returning home despite police protection.
"I refuse to spend my life hiding," she said.
Just after sunset, she entered the empty house.
The lights were off.
The silence felt strange.
Too strange.
She reached toward the hallway switch.
Click.
Nothing.
The power was out.
A chill ran down her spine.
Then...
She heard footsteps upstairs.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Someone was inside.
Marina quietly backed toward the front door.
Before she could reach the handle—
The door slammed shut.
A deep voice echoed through the darkness.
"You should've stopped asking questions."
A tall figure stepped out from the shadows.
His face remained hidden.
Only his leather gloves caught the faint moonlight.
Marina's heart pounded.
"Who are you?"
The stranger chuckled.
"I'm the reason your husband thought he could become rich."
He took another slow step forward.
"And now..."
"...I'm here to finish the mistake he couldn't."
At that exact moment, headlights flashed through the front windows.
Police vehicles screeched to a stop outside the house.
Someone had triggered the silent emergency alarm.
The mysterious man glanced toward the windows.
For the first time...
He looked surprised.
Then he smiled.
"This isn't over, Marina."
In one swift motion, he smashed a side window and disappeared into the darkness before officers burst through the front door.
Detective Leonov rushed inside.
"Are you hurt?"
Marina shook her head.
"No."
"But I saw him."
"Can you identify him?"
She closed her eyes, replaying every detail.
Then she whispered one sentence that left every detective staring at one another.
"I've seen that voice before..."
"It was at my wedding."
The room fell completely silent.
May you like
If Marina was right...
The conspiracy against her had begun on the happiest day of her life.
