Kirill sat in his office, surrounded by various awards and certificates from the city and region, symbolizing his success and always reminding him of his achievements. Outside, it was getting dark, and the light from car headlights reflected off the glass showcases of the stores he owned. At his age, many are still searching for themselves, but Kirill, at 30, was already a successful businessman.
Besides the stores, the man owned a charitable foundation that helped children. His favorite work brought him pleasure. Although Kirill had no family, he did not feel lonely.
In the orphanage, they nicknamed him «the kind one.» Kirill himself was a graduate of this orphanage. As a child, he ended up in the orphanage where they didn’t always have nice gifts or sweets for holidays. This required investors, but it wasn’t always possible to find them. And so, after graduating from the orphanage and getting on his feet, he began to help children who ended up there through no fault of their own.
One day, when Kirill visited the orphanage again, the educators greeted the man with joy, but the atmosphere was oddly quiet, unlike usual. His attention was drawn to a girl he had not seen before, quietly playing at a table while the other children seemed to avoid her.
«Daddy, daddy, you’ve returned!» the girl shouted, seeing Kirill.
The man froze in surprise. The children had never called him that before. The educators were also confused. However, the girl knew Kirill’s name. Every child in the orphanage knew of the man, but she was new, and this was their first meeting.
«Sorry, she’s new and hasn’t settled in yet,» said one of the educators. But Kirill wasn’t listening to her; his mind was blank.
The girl paid no attention to the adults’ confusion. She continued to reach for Kirill, adding, «Mom told me you would come back. When are we going to see Mom?»
Kirill had not felt such a mix of concern and anxiety for a long time. He was curious why this girl specifically had thrown herself at him while the other children showed no such interest. Normally, all the children would run to him as soon as they saw him at the door.
«Are you sure you’re not confusing me with someone else?» asked Kirill, trying to hide his agitation.
The girl just shrugged, unsure how to explain the situation: «Yes, of course, Mom always told me about you, that you’re a good person and you’d come back for me.»
He couldn’t just leave. Kirill was curious about who this girl was and how she ended up in the orphanage. This was a first for him.
A few days later, when his emotions had calmed down, the man decided to visit the orphanage again. He couldn’t stop thinking about this girl.
The head of the orphanage told him that the girl’s name was Anya. She was introverted and didn’t talk much with other children. She didn’t say much about her family. Her mother had placed her in the orphanage, claiming she was very ill and no one would be able to look after the child if something happened to her. Anya had no other relatives or close people.
«By the way, it might seem strange, but her middle name is Kirillovna. But it might just be a coincidence.»
«Could it really be a coincidence?» Kirill wondered. He didn’t know what to do. It seemed a mature man who had built not just one company and was in good financial standing could not be thrown off by meeting a little girl.
Upon obtaining documents, it turned out that the girl had been brought directly from the hospital where her mother was lying. Being in the ward, she had written a refusal to keep her child. Kirill took the address of the hospital and went there.
Entering the chief doctor’s office, Kirill explained the entire situation. He asked about the woman who had given up her child. Petr Sergeevich recalled this woman and said that she was no longer alive. Her disease was at a very severe stage, and they couldn’t help her. The doctor handed over copies of this woman’s documents and said he couldn’t help further.
The woman in the passport photo seemed familiar…
On the way home, small fragments of that meeting in the club began to surface. Dasha was sitting in a corner, quiet and modest. She wasn’t like the club girls who usually threw themselves at Kirill, knowing about his status and that he was single. Kirill himself approached the girl for an introduction, which was an unusual step for him. They quickly found a common language, and their communication was easy. Daria didn’t even know who Kirill was and was unaware of his financial status.
They got closer, and one day Daria stayed the night at Kirill’s. The next day, Kirill urgently had to fly to another city for work. He was gone for several months, and he had forgotten about Dasha, as there were always many women around him. He was quite the ladies’ man and never took fleeting relationships seriously.
«Could this really be my daughter, but we only had one night together with Dasha…» These thoughts haunted him. «Why didn’t she call, why didn’t she tell me?» He would never get an answer to these questions.
The next day, Kirill went to the hospital again to talk to the nurses who had seen Dasha every shift.
There, he found one woman who was closer to Daria than anyone. She told him that the girl was incredibly strong despite her illness. She wanted only one thing — to survive for her daughter’s sake. But when she began to feel herself fading, she decided to leave her child at the orphanage.
She was sure that the girl’s father would find her. Apparently, she knew something.
«If Dasha found out who I am, then why didn’t she sue for child support? Why didn’t she ask for help? After all, by giving the child specifically to this orphanage, she knew I would eventually show up there.» — Kirill asked himself these questions but couldn’t find an answer.
Returning to the office, Kirill began gathering information about Dasha and Anya. Having connections in different structures, he found out that the girl was registered as a single mother. The child had no father from birth. Daria had no parents either. Everything seemed extremely strange.
To dispel doubts and close this topic, Kirill decided to do a DNA test with this girl. The result showed a 94% match. Now he knew for sure that this was his child, and Anya was not mistaken.
Kirill had many thoughts — joy, anxiety, worry. He knew that his life would never be the same as it was before. Kirill knew what it was like to live without parents.
The man was ready for almost anything, but not for the appearance of a child he had never suspected. He went back to the orphanage to see and talk to the child. He remembered the moment when she first screamed «daddy, daddy.»
Entering the children’s room, Anya sat on the bed, thoughtfully looking out the window. She wasn’t waiting for him.
Kirill approached the girl and placed his hand on her shoulder.
«You came back. Will you take me home this time? Just don’t say Mom didn’t tell you anything. You were supposed to take me. Mom couldn’t have lied to me.» — the girl said with less joy, as if knowing that Kirill wouldn’t take her.
«Hello, sweetie. This time I’ll take you home, don’t worry. Mom told me everything.»
For the first time, the girl hugged her father. This was her last hope for a happy life.
