«It can’t be! It can’t be!», Nadezhda thought as she looked at the photograph of a young pregnant girl wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck, sitting on his lap, and smiling joyfully. Twenty-five years of marriage… could it really all be for naught now? Her heart painfully clenched as Nadezhda stared at the photo, forgetting that she had logged into the social network at a colleague’s request to update information in their work group.
Her head ached, so she had to force herself to get up from the desk to take some tranquilizers. It was unimaginable that Arkadiy could cheat. But what else could this situation be called? The girl had captioned the photo «Daddy». Indeed, he was old enough to be her father! And it was well known what such a nickname implied. Recently, Arkadiy had been under financial stress; he mentioned that bonuses at work were canceled, so his earnings were low. Now, a lot of things were making sense… did he need finances to maintain a mistress? Their savings account had suddenly depleted. Nadezhda hadn’t asked why her husband was withdrawing money; she had complete trust in him and knew if he decided to spend a certain amount, it was for a reason, not for fun. But now she had her doubts.
Returning to her computer desk, Nadezhda looked at the photo again with disgust and closed it. She had no desire to do anything, but she felt a responsibility—she had promised her colleague after all, she couldn’t just close everything and leave. So, the woman distracted herself by updating information, completely detaching herself from what she had seen. After finishing her work, she quickly sent a message to her colleague on messenger, turned off her phone, and went to the kitchen. Cooking dinner often calmed her down, so Nadezhda decided to engage in it just to erase the unpleasant thoughts now racing through her mind like hungry cockroaches.
Hearing the apartment door open, Nadezhda peeked into the hallway. Maxim, the adopted son whom the couple had taken from the orphanage as a small child, had returned. They had never hidden the truth from Maxim, and he thanked his parents for giving him a chance to grow up in a family, loved them, and considered them his only real family.
«You’re home early today,» Nadezhda smiled, though it was a strained smile.
«I just stopped by for a bit, mom. The guys and I are going to the chess club. I’ll be late. Have dinner without me. The guys ordered pizza. We want to practice a bit more before the competition. Got to get the brain cells moving.» Maxim paused, then frowned and looked seriously at Nadezhda: «What’s wrong with you? Any problems? You look gloomier than the clouds.»
«No, no, everything’s fine. Just tired today. It’s hot outside, and I always struggle when it’s so scorchingly sunny. Don’t worry. All the best to you and the guys.»
Nadezhda disappeared into the kitchen and returned to cooking dinner, even though she didn’t understand for whom she was doing it… How would their conversation with Arkadiy go? Nadezhda loved her husband with all her heart. They had lived so many happy years together, and now she could not imagine her life without him. How would they live without each other? However, he had already found his consolation. But whether he was needed by the young mistress remained a question.
Maxim changed clothes and left soon after, while Nadezhda sat at the table and waited for her husband to return. She envisioned in all details the conversation with Arkadiy, thinking about how she would tell him that she knew everything. She could have pretended that she saw nothing, but she had always been a straightforward person. It simply wouldn’t do to lie and smile when you knew the truth. And why should she? It wouldn’t be like before, as the residue wouldn’t disappear, and living with a betrayer was out of the question.
Her husband returned home with a bouquet of lilies. He knew they were Nadezhda’s favorite flowers and often bought them for her, but sometimes he chose others, saying he wanted to delight his wife with variety. Nadezhda had never seen anything strange in this gesture before, but now she wondered—did he buy them while coming back from seeing the mistress? And how many others were there? Her heart painfully clenched… yet again that day.
«How delicious it smells! Every time I return home delighted, where a tasty dinner and my beloved family await me,» Arkadiy said with a dreamy smile. He handed the bouquet to his wife, kissed her on the cheek, and smiled. «I’ve missed you terribly. I’ll just wash my hands and be right back. I’m as hungry as a wolf.»
Nadezhda put the flowers in a vase while her husband changed clothes and washed his hands. She tried to hold herself together to not pour out all her emotions on him. You should never talk to your loved ones in a fit of anger. Twenty-five years of marriage was no joke. Even if her husband had cheated, for the sake of everything that was between them, she had to maintain at least some respect for him.
After laying out the dinner on plates, Nadezhda sat at the table.
«Nadyushka, why are you so sad today? Any trouble at work?» asked Arkadiy, joining his wife.
«I know everything…» Nadezhda replied in a detached voice, looking at her husband and silently pursing her lips. «I know everything, Arkash. There’s no more sense in hiding anything from me. You understand it’s not your child, right?»
His mistress could deceive the man as much as she wanted, calling her pregnancy a miracle, but he could not have children. That’s exactly why they decided to adopt a child from the orphanage years ago. The couple had visited more than one doctor, underwent treatments, but then received a diagnosis that couldn’t be ignored: Arkadiy was infertile. And now he flaunted on the photo with a pregnant girl as if he believed her that she was indeed carrying his child. For a moment, Nadezhda thought that it might be just some silly joke, and the girl—a daughter of his good friend… A colleague. But colleagues don’t kiss and hug like that. The photo for a colleague’s snapshot turned out too intimate. Too much!.. And why tag Arkadiy on the photo? Surely the mistress knew he rarely appeared on social media and wanted to show his wife that her husband was unfaithful, to lure him away from the family. What else did she expect to achieve?
«I’m afraid to even ask how you found out, my Sherlock… But of course, I suspect that someone is trying to deceive me. I promise you, I’ll sort everything out.»
«Is that simple? Won’t even say it’s not what I think?»
«What’s the point in lying? You already know everything. I just didn’t want to make you nervous, so I said nothing. I got involved with her foolishly, and now… I didn’t even think I’d have to deal with the consequences.»
Nadezhda wanted to howl in despair. Deep down, she probably hoped her husband would justify himself, say he didn’t cheat on her, but he only confirmed what she heard. His words echoed in her head, refusing to stop. They repeated over and over.
«I said I want to do a DNA test, but she refuses. What kind of discussion can there be at all? If she was sure of her honesty, she wouldn’t argue and would take the test. Right?»
Nadezhda grimly smiled, sobbed, and shook her head.
«What made you seek adventure at your old age? She’s young enough to be your daughter! — Nadezhda flared up, unable to hold back her hurt anymore. — I never thought you were capable of this…
«In which daughters, Nadya? Are you talking about Lena? She looks much older than you now! Well, you really give me too much credit.»
«Do you have some Lena too?.. Just great! I was talking about Svetlana, the girl who was sitting on your lap, who signed your photo ‘Daddy’…
«Wait, Nadyusha… you really misunderstood everything. Svetlana is the daughter they are trying to pin on me. I thought at first you found out about Lena… I don’t know how she found me, but she claimed that I have an adult daughter who needs a father. I didn’t want to meet her, but she brought Svetlana to my office, and she clung to me, happy to meet her father. She’s pregnant, asking for support because the father of her child ran away. Overall, I just sat with her in a cafe once. She asked to take a photo, I couldn’t even imagine that she would sit on my lap and start hugging, I told her straight that I doubt our kinship, and I can’t have children, but Lena screams that there was no one but me, demands at least not to push away the daughter who is depressed during pregnancy. I told them my word: either we do a DNA analysis, or don’t show up in my life anymore. I didn’t think she would post any photos. Maybe it was a plan to set us against each other? I think we should teach them a lesson.»
A heavy stone fell from Nadezhda’s heart. She burst into tears, unable to hold back her emotions. Arkadiy stood up from his chair, walked over to his wife, and embraced her.
«Now, why are you silly? We are like penguins – together forever. I never looked at other women after meeting you, and I had a relationship with Lena when I was still a student, and it didn’t last long. She ran away to someone more successful and declared that she wanted nothing to do with me, and I didn’t suffer. I probably felt that my happiness would definitely find me.»
Arkadiy decided to teach his former lover and her daughter a lesson. The next day, he wrote to Svetlana that he wanted to meet her in a cafe and talk about helping her. He asked her to come alone, as it was impossible to talk in the presence of her mother. Svetlana arrived joyfully, kissed the man, but he immediately gave her a look full of anger.
«Please observe the decencies, as we are completely strangers to each other, Svetlana.»
«How strangers? You said you recognize your fatherhood and agree to help! What kind of jokes do you have? I shouldn’t be nervous! It might harm the baby!»
«If you really couldn’t be nervous, you would never have gotten involved in this adventure, Svetlana. Now tell me, why did you all come up with this? Wanted to destroy my marriage? I won’t tolerate lies anymore. If you don’t answer my questions directly, I will call the police and accuse you and your mother of fraud.»
Svetlana was truly frightened. She started to sob, trying to appeal to pity, but quickly realized that these tricks didn’t work on Arkadiy.
«I was really going to call the police this morning, but I decided to give you a chance, because you’re pregnant and you seem to be far away from your mother for now. Why did Lena come up with all this?»
«She wanted you to be together again. Mom missed you, Arkadiy. She loved you. She had no successful relationships after that, and she often remembered about you…»
«Lies!» Arkadiy shouted, but immediately composed himself, because other visitors started to look their way. «This is a brazen lie. I want to know the truth.»
«And the truth is that she learned about your successes. Decided to bring you back to her by any means. And she gave me money to play the loving daughter who dreamed of her father. I thought that you would help out, but you’re petty… well, like all men. How your little wife tolerates you, I don’t understand… Probably, you two are a pair of boots. And it’s good that nothing worked out. Nauseating to smile and rejoice at a kinship that we don’t have, and never did.»
Svetlana jumped up from the chair and quickly left, while Arkadiy rubbed his temples and shook his head. He once again realized how lucky he was with his wife. Another woman in Nadezhda’s place would probably have thrown a fit, screamed, and accused him of all deadly sins, thrown things from the balcony, but the woman treated their past and the feelings they had for each other with respect.
The man returned home and hugged his wife tightly, telling her everything he learned from Svetlana.
«I suspected that it was roughly so, just confirmed my guesses. How malicious people can be… Simply mind-boggling.»
«Understandable. And you gave them a lot of money? Helped, right? I didn’t ask where you were taking it from the savings, but quite a lot of money went… I won’t argue if you initially believed and helped them,» Nadezhda cautiously started the conversation.
Arkadiy smiled, kissed his wife on the temple, and stepped away from her.
«And here’s the joyful news I wanted to tell you yesterday, but didn’t do it because it wouldn’t have been perceived as joyful. You know I told you I wanted to start my own business? Everything worked out, Nadya! They issued the permission quickly through an acquaintance. I was afraid something might go wrong, so I didn’t say anything to encourage. Business has started. Clients have appeared. So we’ll soon be able to buy an apartment for Maxim, we’ll travel… we’ll live even better.»
Nadezhda rejoiced and praised her husband.
«You shouldn’t praise me, but you… without such a wife, I wouldn’t have achieved anything in this life. And I will never tire of saying it!»
