Nikita

"Good afternoon. Whatever we are about to say will shock most of you, but even we are shock ed, so let's just shut up and listen, no?" Carrie said, her voice empty like she didn't want to invest any emotion.

Of course, she had never gotten to be in front of the media like this, but she had to do it. She stared right at the TVC reporter's camera because she knew it was Nikita's favorite station, and he would definitely be watching it there.

She smirked a little before nodding, almost like she could see Nikita there. It was their cute little way of telling each other, 'I got your back.'

Qiao fought back a smile at Carrie's tone, but he would laugh later when they were away from the prying eyes because if he laughed on this severe occasion, there was no knowing what Career could do to him.

The woman scared the wits out of him and Nikita.

"Here's a letter from Nikita Pavlenko to the Pavlenko group and the members of the public. Once this press conference is over, the letter will be emailed to you and published on the Pavleko social pages and website, so listen," Qiao said before Carrie began reading.

"Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening or whatever time you are getting this Todorov. As you all know, the Pavleko household is dead, and I didn't really feel like sitting myself in a corporate office and stuck in a suit.

"There are better things for me to do, like deal with my patients and save lives, and whichever way you translate that is up to you. Anyway, effective immediately, I appoint Qiao Xi and Ekarolina Seagal Tabakov as the new CEOs of the Pavlenko group.

"Any decision they make will be for the benefit of the company and, as such, is already pre-approved by me. Don't look for me, and if you meet me on the streets, I am just a young man trying to live life. Goodbye."

When Carrie finished reading the short letter, everyone gasped. They had known the young Pavlenko was impulsive and crazy, but they hadn't known he would ȧssign new people to take his place.

Most of the people had expected the young Pavlenko to drink his life into oblivion. However, Nikita Pavlenko was full of surprises.

Nikita watched his best friends answer the people's questions, the insinuations about his inefficiency and all that shit.

At least he was sure nothing would ever go wrong that Carrie and Qiao wouldn't ever be able to handle.

The press conference had been short and precise, but it was without a doubt the story of the hour, of the day, and of the week and would probably stay on the headlines for months. No one had expected that Nikita would hand over everything just like that to two people he 'barely knew.'

They had expected the custodians of the empire to be the sėmėnovs or a people that had already been known to interact with the Pavlenko family publicly. Instead, they had been introduced to two people who they didn't even know.

Typically, when a handover of power was made in a company, the board of directors usually were the first to know so that they could prepare, but this time, no one had been old of anything. I

t was almost like Carrie and Qiao were two mysterious people who had conveniently shaped up in Nikita's life, but they didn't care about it.

As the world was on fire because of their appointment, Qiao and Carrie were already dressing back into their military wear and getting ready to go back to the base. To them, it didn't matter who they were as long as their duty to the country remained first.

Sure they would help Nikita with the company, but they wouldn't forsake the military, which was their sense of duty. The soldiers were committed to their passion and calling, and Nikita knew he wouldn't come in between them and that.

He had respected their decisions just like they respected him. Of course, he knew people would want to learn more about the new appointees, but they would come out with nothing. To ensure the safety of his friends, Nikita had ensured all the files on cassie and Qiao were highly encrypted.

Anyone who tried to break through would be risking station by the country's military, and that wasn't anyone's dream. However, they didn't know that Nikita had made sure the slates were clean for Carrie and Qiao.

"That was the newest development in the Pavlenko saga. What do you think of the new chan—" the reporter said on the screen, and Nikita shut his device. He already knew the world thought he was unhinged, and he wasn't going to sit there and pretend he wanted to defend himself.

It was fitting that they thought he was irrational and insensitive. He couldn't care less about it all; besides, he had other exciting things to do today before he went back home. He was actually excited to have his sit down with Samantha.

He wondered whether her sleeping with him had all been part of the plan or it just happened to be an unfortunate coincidence.

Maybe Nikita felt something for the girl, and that was a great maybe because the one thing Nikita Pavlenko cared about right now was his bother ad the last oval of the virus that could cure Yuri. he was going to get the vial first and store it at home and then he would start the hunt for Yuri.

He would find his brother, and he didn't care whether he had to torture Samantha for years. As long as he got his brother, he would do anything to get to him. 

Looking t the big gates before him and in the middle of nowhere, Nikita can't help but wonder how Qiao had known he wanted complete and utter silence when with Samanth.

The public knew Samantha was freed, hell everyone had seen her walk freely outside the hospital, but that was before she was captured by Qiao and his team a few minutes later as she walked on the lonely streets.

Of course, the narrative would stay the same; if anything, this was not just any family that Samantha Had tried messing with. She wanted this, and she would get it."

"Open the gate."