Kira stood up from the table. She held a folder with documents in her hands. She walked up to Pavel and handed him the papers.
“This is a petition for dissolution of marriage,” her voice was even, icy. “Grounds—attempt on my life, systematic deception, having a mistress. The divorce will be processed unilaterally. Under the prenuptial agreement, you get nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Pavel looked at the documents, unable to read a single line. The letters blurred before his eyes.
“Kira… Listen…” he stepped toward her, reached out a hand, but the officers were instantly beside him, intercepting his arms. “This is a misunderstanding. I didn’t mean to. I was desperate. I have debts. I didn’t understand what I was doing…”
“You understood everything perfectly,” Kira cut him off. Her eyes flashed. “You studied poisons for a whole week. You bought the drug through a vet. You put it in my wine at the restaurant. There is a surveillance recording. You took me to the forest belt and left me to die, saying I had thirty minutes left. All of this was planned, deliberate, cold-blooded. And then you texted your mistress that you would start a new life soon.”
Pavel opened his mouth but found no words. Evidence. They have evidence. Everything collapsed. His entire plan turned to dust.
“We have a medical report on the fact of poisoning with a thiophosphate compound,” continued Daria Saltykova, coming closer. “Blood tests taken on the night of the attempt. Video footage from the restaurant where you add poison to your wife’s glass. Your correspondence with Olga Cherkasova, in which you promise her an apartment and business after ‘resolving the issue’ with your wife. Financial documents showing your debts of over 500,000. And a will under which you are the sole heir. Motive, method, evidence—everything is in place.”
Pavel lowered his head. His shoulders slumped. He realized he had lost. Completely, finally, irrevocably.
“Kira, forgive me,” he whispered. “I don’t know what came over me. Debts, despair… I love you, really.”
“No,” Kira shook her head. “You never loved me. You admitted it to me yourself in the woods. Said I was just a convenient option. A rich fool who fell for pretty words. Remember?”
Pavel shrank into a ball. Yes, he said that. Said it when he was sure she would die and no one would ever know.
“You underestimated me, Pavel,” Kira stepped closer, looked him straight in the eyes. “Thought I was weak, that it was easy to get rid of me. But I survived. I was saved. And now you will answer for everything you did.”
The officers handcuffed him. Metal coldly squeezed his wrists. Pavel was led to the exit.
“Where? Where are you taking me?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
“To the temporary detention facility,” replied Daria. “Until the trial. And then, if you are found guilty—and I am sure you will be—a strict regime colony for a term of eight to fifteen years.”
Pavel was led out of the meeting room. He looked back one last time, trying to meet Kira’s gaze, but she stood with her back to him, looking out the window. For her, Pavel Lavrentiev no longer existed. He died that night in the forest belt when he showed his true face.
When the door closed behind him, Kira exhaled. Her legs gave way, and she sank onto a chair. Gordey was immediately beside her, hugging her shoulders.
“It’s over,” he said quietly. “You did it. You are incredibly strong.”
Kira nodded. Tears flowed down her cheeks, but they were tears of relief, of liberation. The burden she had carried all these weeks finally fell from her shoulders.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Now it’s all over. And I am free.”
The investigation of the criminal case, and then the trial, lasted three months. Pavel Lavrentiev tried to deny guilt, hired a lawyer who built a defense on the version of an accident and a misunderstanding. But the evidence was irrefutable. Anfisa Savitskaya’s medical report on the poisoning with a thiophosphate compound, the video from the restaurant surveillance camera where Pavel put poison in his wife’s glass, the correspondence with Olga Cherkasova where he promised her a future together after resolving the issue with his wife, financial documents showing his catastrophic situation, and the motive for the crime. All of this formed the basis of the guilty verdict.
Kira attended all the sessions. She sat in the courtroom, calm and collected, listening to the testimony of witnesses, experts, and Pavel himself. Sometimes she met her ex-husband’s gaze, and in his eyes, she saw anger, then fear, then pitiful remorse. But she didn’t care. This person no longer had any power over her.
Olga Cherkasova also testified. The girl came to court pale, with eyes red from crying. She spoke about her relationship with Pavel, his promises, how he manipulated her feelings. After testifying, she approached Kira in the courthouse corridor.
“I apologize,” whispered Olga, lowering her eyes. “I didn’t know. I swear, I never would have agreed to this if I had known…”
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