Overwhelmed by her grief, leaning completely over Viktor's lifeless body, Alia's physical and mental strength finally gave out entirely. The haunting image of Viktor's bloodied face and the crushing weight of her own ruthless betrayal broke the final barrier of her endurance. Realizing that no amount of tears could ever bring him back, a suffocating, agonizing wail ripped from the depths of her chest.
Weeping uncontrollably, Alia reached out for the very last time and grabbed hold of Viktor's ice-cold hand, clutching it tightly between both of hers. Her vision blurred, and the snow-draped forest around her slowly began to fade into pitch-black darkness. Right there upon the crimson-stained snow, on the verge of losing consciousness, she poured every last ounce of her remaining strength and broken soul into one final, deafening, heart-rending scream:
"Viktor...!!"
And with that, like a snapped string, Alia collapsed completely, losing consciousness right beside Viktor's body in the freezing snow.
The freezing wind blowing through the snow-draped forest grew even heavier. On that blood-stained soil of the silent pine woods lay Viktor's lifeless body, with Alia unconscious right beside him. Their blood blended into the white blanket of snow, standing as silent witnesses to a tragic, devastating end.
Without a second's delay, the bodyguards rushed forward. Two of them carefully lifted Alia's limp, unconscious body off the freezing ground. Her pale face was as cold as the ice, dried tear tracks stained the corners of her eyes, and her white coat was smeared with Viktor's warm blood. Another bodyguard hurried ahead, signaling toward the waiting vehicles.
Operating with military precision, they carried Alia out of the snowy forest and placed her safely inside the car. As the vehicles sped away through the biting winter morning toward the hidden stronghold of the criminal empire, they left behind only an unfulfilled love, a brutal history of betrayal, and Viktor's lonely body resting beneath the white snow.
Inside the private hospital cabin, the silence was heavy, broken only by the rhythmic, mechanical hum of the monitors. Alia lay motionless on a white hospital bed, an oxygen mask fitted over her face while a complex web of life-support tubes and wires wrapped around her frail body. Though she had been pulled back from the jaws of death, her unconscious form remained trapped in a deep, unyielding coma.
Standing right beside the bed, rigid as a statue, was Alia's older brother—Ivan, the President of Russia himself. A man of immense power, he was a cold, calculating terror in both the Russian underworld and high-stakes political circles. He wore a flawlessly tailored black suit, his expression as unreadable and impenetrable as ever. Yet, deep within his sharp eyes, a fierce, chilling storm raged, carrying a silent fury over his only sister's tragic condition.
Ivan kept his gaze locked on Alia's pale, lifeless face for a long moment. Then, slowly sliding his hand into his pocket, he turned his gaze toward the large cabin window, looking out over the snow-covered streets of Russia where his elite security guards stood on heavy, unyielding watch. No one understood the dark, intricate depths of this ruthless political conspiracy better than Ivan, and the price of it was lying right before him.
Amidst the deep silence of the hospital cabin, accompanied only by the rhythmic, low beep of the life-support machine, Alia's unconscious mind drifted into a hazy realm of dreams. Slipping past the boundaries of awareness, she found herself back in that familiar, snow-draped forest, where Viktor was still standing before her, looking at her with a gentle smile over the crimson-stained snow.
In the dream, Viktor seemed alive just as he used to be—his eyes held no anger, no accusations. He stepped right up to Alia and, as he always had, softly gathered her ice-cold hands into his own. That familiar gaze and warm touch made Alia's frozen chest ache with a sudden, overwhelming flood of tears.
In a calm and mesmerizing voice, Viktor whispered to her: "Why are you crying, Alia? All the darkness is over now... there is nothing left to fear."
Alia broke down in tears, wanting to rest her head against Viktor's chest, but at that exact moment, a freezing gust of wind swept through, blurring everything around them. The magical scene of the dream began to shatter and dissolve in the blink of an eye. With a desperate cry, Alia reached out to hold onto him: "Viktor! Don't go... don't leave me alone!"
Yet, from within the empty void, only the fading echo of Viktor's voice lingered before vanishing completely, dragging Alia back into the harsh, unyielding reality of the white hospital bed.
Leaving the motionless hospital bed behind, Alia's consciousness seemed to drift into a surreal, haunting reality. A solitary, snow-swept cemetery lost in a blinding blizzard. Heavy flakes of ice were quietly piling up, forming a fresh white blanket over a newly dug grave the resting place of Viktor.
Alia sat alone on her knees before the cold stone marker engraved with his name. She was still wearing her blood-stained coat, her face as pale as parchment. Snowflakes drifted down from the grey sky, settling into her hair and sticking to her tear-streaked cheeks, but she felt none of it.
With trembling, icy fingers, she gently touched the cold stone bearing Viktor's name. A suffocating, unspeakable agony tore from the depths of her chest. Through her blurred vision, she stared fixedly at the frozen earth, the hot tears streaming down her face turning to ice the moment they touched the freezing air. Sitting all alone in that vast, snow-drowned emptiness, her muffled sobs blended entirely into the howling, sorrowful winter wind.
Leaving the cemetery behind, the turbulence inside Alia reached a breaking point. Desperate to escape the suffocating confines of the hospital, she bolted toward her garage and pulled out her high-performance Pagani hypercar. The engine roared to life, piercing the silence of the night as she sped recklessly toward the coastline.
The deep hours of the night draped over the shore, accompanied by the distant, crashing roar of violent ocean waves. She slammed on the brakes right at the edge of the shore, where the cold sand met the churning tide. The car's headlights pierced the darkness, casting a beam that faded into the endless horizon of the sea.
Alia stepped out of the vehicle, walking slowly across the damp sand until she reached the water's edge. The freezing salt water washed over her bare feet. She stood before the vast, boundless expanse of the ocean, the image of Viktor's final moments flashing relentlessly in her mind. Staring out at the rough waves as the bitter coastal wind whipped through her hair, she whispered brokenly:
"I'm coming to wherever you are, Viktor... There is nothing left in this world for me."
Taking a breath, she stepped forward, one foot and then the other, walking deeper into the freezing water, as if the endless sea was now her only destination.
As the freezing current rose up to her chest, Alia surrendered herself, letting her body sink deeper into the abyss. The salty ocean water began to swallow her whole, and her consciousness faded rapidly toward the brink of eternal darkness. But right at that moment, cutting through the shadows, a pair of strong, powerful arms suddenly wrapped firmly around her waist.
With lightning speed, someone pulled her up from the depths of the water. With a sharp, powerful pull, the two of them broke through the surface, gasping for air amidst the churning sea foam.
Alia coughed violently, hacking up water as her drenched body shivered uncontrollably in the freezing wind. Blinking through her blurred vision, she looked up in the moonlight to see Ivan holding her tightly. A fierce, wild storm of fury, anguish, and desperate love blazed in her older brother's eyes. He refused to let his only sister slip away.