A weak voice came from the back of the house.
“Lily… honey… come here.”
They found her mother lying on a stack of blankets in the corner of the living room.
When the woman saw Viktor, fear instantly filled her eyes.
“Please,” she whispered, trying to sit up. “We don’t have anything left. Please don’t hurt us.”
Viktor knelt slowly so she could see his hands.
“I’m not here to take anything,” he said calmly. “Your daughter told me what happened. I need to know who did this.”
The woman studied him carefully.
“You’re… the boss they mentioned,” she said weakly.
“Some men claim to work for me,” Viktor replied. “But what happened here wasn’t business. It was cruelty.”
The woman—Emily Harper—began to cry quietly.
“They said my husband owed money,” she explained. “But my husband never borrowed from anyone. He worked two jobs just to avoid debt.”
She wiped her eyes.
“The man with the scar said the debt transferred to me after my husband died. Fifteen thousand dollars.”
Viktor felt anger building slowly.
“Did they show you any proof?”
“Just a paper with his signature… but it didn’t look right.”
She looked toward Lily sitting beside her.