«Well, Valyusha, are you going dress shopping with your girlfriends today?» Lev Zakharovich asked his daughter. «If anything, just text me right away, and I’ll transfer more money to your card, just in case it’s not enough…»
«Oh come on, Dad,» Valentina laughed in response, «I’m not planning to order a dress from Dior. Yeah, we’ll look for something interesting, designer-made – but don’t worry, I’m not planning on spending astronomical amounts on this.»
Lev Zakharovich looked lovingly at his only daughter: the businessman was proud that he had instilled in her modesty and the ability to manage money properly, but still – there were times when Valya took the concept of «economy» too literally.
«My dear, you know that for your happiness, I’m ready to do anything?» her father asked, with a slight smile. «I even accepted your Igor, although I still think you rushed the wedding a bit…»
«Dad, please don’t start,» the girl pleaded with him, «I’ve told you a thousand times, Igor is my one and only, my other half. That we met each other was one in a million!»
«I remember, I remember,» Lev Zakharovich conceded, raising his hands in peace, «It’s not even about that now, but that you shouldn’t hesitate to ask me for anything you think necessary for your wedding. After all, what did I earn all these millions for?»
In the eyes of the girl sitting across from him at the dining table, such tenderness and warmth sparkled that the wealthy man’s heart involuntarily ached. In these moments, Valentina was incredibly similar to her mother.
«Thank you, Daddy, you’re the best!» she said, and, getting up, leaned across the whole table to hug Lev Zakharovich.
Valentina kissed her father on the cheek, and rushed off to her room to get ready for pre-wedding shopping. «Oh, my dear, if only you knew how much I regret that our mom won’t be with you. I’m sure she would be happy to see what a smart and beautiful daughter she has raised,» the businessman thought to himself, with a touch of sadness.
Inessa Mikhailovna, the millionaire’s wife, had died when the girl was just four years old – the woman, alas, could not cope with the consequences of a severe hereditary disease. A blood disorder, dormant in the body of the businessman’s wife all these years, suddenly began to progress with tremendous speed, so much so that the doctors simply did not have time to do anything. She «burned out» literally within a few months, and the day of her death became one of the «darkest» in Lev Zakharovich’s life…
Since then, he raised Valentina almost single-handedly, occasionally resorting to the services of nannies. Of course, a bit later, when the girl grew up and went to school – the man hired a wonderful governess for her, whose duties included not only looking after little Valya but also helping her with her studies and homework.
Fortunately, Valya understood from an early age the responsible work her father did, and thus, almost never caused him problems regarding her upbringing.
Valya grew up very smart, serious beyond her years, and well-developed. After school, which, by the way, she graduated with a gold medal – the girl easily got admitted to one of the most prestigious universities in the capital.
Lev Zakharovich earned his fortune exclusively through honest and hard labor. He once started from the very bottom, working part-time as a clerk in a bank. Gradually, thanks to perseverance and responsibility – the man was able to build his career and became a successful manager of a network of regional branches of a large banking holding.
Only his health, over the years, had seriously deteriorated. Clearly, managing such a huge financial giant was always troublesome, and somewhere, even dangerous.
His business competitors were always «on guard,» just waiting for the moment when Lev Zakharovich would make some rough mistake, which could open a loophole for them to gain power over all his business and capitals. Unsurprisingly, as he approached his «solid» years, the man began to complain more frequently about poor health: either his heart would «seize» him, or his blood pressure would spike so much that it was almost time to call an ambulance…
And then, in her last year at university, his Valentina met Igor – her future fiancé. For Lev Zakharovich, this was a complete surprise, as just recently – his beloved daughter was focused exclusively on her studies and didn’t even think about boys.
And suddenly, as she later told him, at one of the student parties, which the girl initially didn’t even want to attend – Valya met this strange, lanky guy, whose dark blue eyes completely captivated the young student…
«Dad, can you imagine? Igor came up to me and asked if I love Turgenev?» Valya told her father, breathlessly from excitement. «I asked him why he was interested in that, and he said he noticed the edge of a book with his poems in my bag. Turgenev is also my favorite author. God, you can’t imagine how nervous I was then! Today almost no one reads classical poetry, but Igor…»
And the daughter began to overwhelm him with various facts about this guy – they listen to the same music, their tastes in literature and cinema coincide, and he graduated from the same faculty as Valentina, only a year earlier… In short, there was such an idyll between them that Lev Zakharovich simply couldn’t bring himself to say a single word against it when Igor came to him, asking for his blessing and the hand of his daughter. At the same time, the businessman didn’t particularly like the groom himself: there was something about him that troubled Lev Zakharovich. He couldn’t explain it, but sometimes it seemed to him that the young blue-eyed brunette was just sniffing around their house.
However, he really couldn’t, in fact, destroy his daughter’s happiness with his own hands? With a heavy heart, the father blessed the young couple and took on a large part of the expenses for organizing the wedding.
The pearl-pink limousine smoothly drove down the city’s main street, followed by three pristine white «business class» foreign cars, all together forming an incredibly beautiful wedding procession.
Valentina, dressed in a magnificent white gown with hand embroidery and numerous sparkling crystals, held the traditional «bridal bouquet» in her hands, trembling with anticipation of the main event of her life.
In just an hour, she and Igor were to go through the solemn marriage registration ceremony at the registry office, after which they would officially become husband and wife. Valya could hardly wait for the moment when the groom would put the wedding ring on her finger.
After that, the couple, along with all the guests, would head to a restaurant rented for the whole day, where, as her father assured, an unforgettable celebration awaited them for one hundred twenty people, with a «sea of first-class fun.»
Valya smiled and placed her hand over his— Igor, distracted from his own thoughts, looked at his beloved with excitement:
«Is everything alright?»
«Yes,» the girl replied and then squeezed his fingers slightly, «You just seemed so lost in thought… Am I wrong, or are you more nervous than I am?»
Valya asked without any hidden motive, she herself felt the same—it was pleasant to think that she and her chosen one even matched in such small details…
«Of course, how could it be otherwise?» Igor smiled. «This day simply must be perfect. It’s just a pity that Lev Zakharovich won’t be able to attend…»
«Yes, I feel the same,» Valya sighed in response to her fiancé, «But I promised him that we would have the most beautiful photo session. I want Dad to later enjoy looking at our pictures.»
Indeed, to his great regret, Valentina’s father had to stay home: the previous morning, he had severe heart pain, and his personal doctor advised him to avoid serious stress and alcohol—which would hardly have been possible at the celebration of his beloved daughter’s wedding.
«Don’t worry so much, Valyusha,» the businessman told his bride-to-be, «I’ll rest a bit now, and I’ll be as good as new…» The man smiled weakly, «It’s a pity, of course, but at least I ordered you an excellent cameraman, so later, I’ll watch you ‘on the big screen’.»
Valentina was immensely upset that her father felt unwell and that he would not see his daughter in her wedding dress. However, her father’s health was far more important to her…
Suddenly, the newlyweds’ limousine stopped. Valya did not immediately understand what had happened, so she lowered the window and stuck her head out to look.
The cause of the sudden stop of the procession was an elderly homeless man, about fifty years old, slowly crossing the street at a pedestrian crossing. He dragged behind him an old baby stroller. At first, Valentina thought there was a child in it, but when the beggar reached the middle of the road, the girl clearly saw empty bottles and a large piece of cardboard sticking out of it.
The businessman’s daughter knew that homeless people often used such strollers as a makeshift means to carry collected waste paper, glass containers, and other materials, which they could later turn in for money at collection points. The homeless man did not look like an alcoholic but moved very slowly. It seemed he was in a pre-fainting state and barely recognized everything happening around him.
Valya noted to herself that the beggar was dressed, though in worn, in clean and tidy clothes—meaning, it wasn’t a case of taking any alcoholic substances. The bride thought that he might be sick—that’s why he was stepping so cautiously, god forbid he should fall in the middle of the road.
«What are you digging around for? Come on, pass quicker! Don’t you see we have a wedding procession here!?» the limousine driver shouted at the unfortunate beggar, urging him on.
Igor also became noticeably nervous—he tried to look out the window and then sat back down; the «nuisance» on the road seemed to terribly irritate him.
«What, is he moving there yet?» the groom asked discontentedly.
«How should I know? Stuck like a sleepy fly,» the driver hit the steering wheel in despair.
The horn sounded piercingly, and at that moment—the beggar turned towards the limousine. Meeting Valentina’s gaze, the man froze. For a few seconds, he silently looked at the girl, then tears glistened in his eyes.
«Oksana! My daughter!» he suddenly cried out, then briskly hobbled towards the bride.
Valya was confused, not understanding how to react at all.
«Daughter! My dear! Why didn’t you let me know about yourself earlier?! I almost buried you… Let me at least hug you…» the vagabond continued to speak, attempting to embrace the stunned Valentina.
«Wait, man,» the bride skillfully «slipped» from his arms, «I don’t know what happened to you, but I am not your daughter. And my name is not Oksana…»
The beggar stopped, looking at the girl with indescribable sadness in his eyes:
«You don’t want to know me anymore, do you?? Well, nothing, nothing… I understand—who needs some old bum?..»
«Igor?!» Valya called her fiancé anxiously, and the young man jumped out of the limousine.
«Man, what are you doing?» he asked him roughly, «We told you—you made a mistake! Stop spreading nonsense, you scared the bride to death… Better get out of here before I slap you!»
The elderly vagrant looked at him as if he were an empty spot:
«Don’t talk to me like that, young man,» the old man slowly said, «I am much older than you, and I deserve some respect…»
«What???» Igor exclaimed in a high tone, and suddenly swung at the old man.
Valya, rushing out of the car, barely managed to stop the groom; she saw that the beggar was suffering from high temperature and cough. The red spots on the man’s cheeks and the fine shiver, from which he could not stand steadily, spoke for themselves.
«Igor, why are you doing this? I didn’t mean this at all…» For the first time, Valya looked at the boy with reproach. «This man needs help. Can’t you see that he’s sick?»
Valentina genuinely felt sorry for the homeless. The girl, though wealthy—had a kind heart, and always showed compassion for those who had fallen into difficult situations in life.
«We need to call the police.» Igor stubbornly shook his head, «Who knows what’s on this old ‘rogue’s’ mind…»
«Lord, what nonsense are you talking about!?» Valya shook her head. «He just mistook me for his daughter, that’s all! Who knows—maybe she’s missing, or worse… No, I can’t just leave it like this…»
With these words, the bride approached one of the white cars, and, pulling a couple of large bills from her purse—handed them to the driver:
«Here. Please take this money—and take this man to the hospital.»
Valentina nodded towards the beggar, who still stood nearby, his head low and swaying from the fever burning inside him. With one hand, the homeless man continued to hold his stroller by habit—while with the other, he tried to wipe away the tears streaming down his dry, bristly cheeks…
«No problem. We’ll do everything in the best possible way, Valentina Lvovna,» the driver replied, and helped the weakened homeless man get into the car.
As they drove away, Valya involuntarily touched her forehead—her head had also started to hurt from the stress. After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, she heard her future husband’s dissatisfied voice behind her:
«Valya, are we going to get married today, or what? We’re already twenty minutes late because of this bum!»
Valentina looked at Igor and, for the first time in all the time they had known each other, wondered—did she really know the person with whom she intended to spend her life? In the end, Valya decided that Igor had acted so aggressively due to the anxieties plaguing him about the wedding and also from fear that the beggar might somehow harm her…
Despite the wedding procession being considerably delayed, Igor and Valentina’s wedding still took place. Until the last moment, Igor behaved as if Valentina’s comment about the homeless man had deeply insulted him.
The young man only calmed down when a registry office employee declared them husband and wife. After placing the ring on his now lawful wife’s finger, Igor visibly relaxed and joyfully announced to the bride and all the witnesses:
«Now, my friends, the restaurant awaits us!»
The guests cheered in unison and began moving towards the exit, letting the happy newlyweds go first. The rest of the day was spent in a luxurious restaurant, enjoying beautiful live music (Lev Zakharovich had arranged a whole orchestra for his daughter), wonderful cuisine, and funny contests hosted by a showman.
The only thing that troubled the young bride was the thought of the poor homeless man she had sent to the hospital. She was deeply moved by the sincerity of his words about his missing daughter. She thought about how her own father would feel if something similar happened to her…
A couple of days later, Valentina decided to visit the homeless man and find out if he needed any more help. After getting the hospital address from the procession driver, Valya, without much thought, prepared and went there.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Valentina first went to see the chief physician to find out what had really happened to the homeless man. She explained the whole situation and asked if she could visit the unfortunate man.
«You don’t have to worry about the patient’s condition. Danilov turned out to be ‘tough as nails,’ despite being admitted in a very severe condition,» the doctor replied.
«Does he have something serious?» Valya worried.
«That’s just it, yes,» the doctor shrugged. «Advanced stage pneumonia and had you not sent him to us—it could have ended sadly. We managed to administer the necessary drugs, set up IV drips and injections, but the risk of the inflammation progressing still remains…»
The doctor escorted Valentina to the homeless man’s room, and the girl quietly knocked before entering.
«Gleb Ivanovich?» Valya cautiously called him by his name. «May I come in?»
Joy instantly lit up the homeless man’s eyes as soon as he saw his visitor:
«Oksana, my daughter! Of course, come in! How glad I am to see you, Lord! Have you finally recognized your own father?»
Valentina smiled reservedly and, walking into the room, sat down on a chair next to the man’s bed.
«Gleb Ivanovich, I am not Oksana. My name is Valentina, and I am the biological daughter of the businessman Belodvortsev Lev Zakharovich. Please tell me, why do you think I am your relative?»
Danilov wanted to smile but hesitated, seeing how attentively the girl was looking at him. The joy in his eyes began to slowly fade like the flame of a dying candle.
«How could this be?..» the homeless man was puzzled, «I raised you since childhood, you were just a tiny tot… Do you at least remember your mother?»
Gleb Ivanovich looked at the girl with hope, but she shook her head negatively:
«I don’t understand what you are talking about. My mother died when I was three years old. I was raised by my father alone since childhood. I simply cannot be your daughter, understand?»
It seemed the man finally realized that the girl sitting in front of him was not his daughter. Rubbing his face with his hand, he tiredly asked Valya:
«Why did you come here then? Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful to you for taking me to the hospital and paying for the treatment—but if you are not Oksana, what do you want from me?»
Valentina looked at Gleb Ivanovich with genuine warmth:
«I want to help you. But first, I need to know how you ended up on the street. Maybe I can make your situation easier?»
Danilov sighed heavily and spread his hands:
«What can you do here? I am partly to blame for what happened to me…»
The man nervously crumpled the blanket with his hands, clearly very anxious, and then began his sad story:
«It all started three years ago. At that time, I was a normal person, had a good job at a steel plant, a beautiful wife, and daughter Oksanochka—my greatest joy in life…»
He looked at Valya again, but this time with regret.
«When it happened, my wife Vera and I just couldn’t figure out what to do. Oksana worked as a manager in a travel agency—selling tours to nature reserves and neighboring cities, organizing various excursions… She loved her job very much. Then her boss sent her on a business trip to St. Petersburg. She had to go by train—it was cheaper. My daughter was supposed to carry a large sum of money, and I dissuaded her from this trip as much as I could! My heart was not in place—how can such a young girl carry such money alone!»
Gleb Ivanovich wiped away the tears that had formed in his eyes as he remembered his daughter, and then continued:
«In short, my Oksanochka never reached that damned St. Petersburg… What happened to her, Vera and I never found out. My wife then walked around ‘black’ for half a year because the police could not find Oksana—but we could not bury our daughter either, there was no body…»
The homeless man clenched his fists in anger and muttered through tears:
«Lord, how unfair everything is arranged in this world! She was a pure soul, never deceived anyone, on the contrary, she always tried to do good…»
Gleb Ivanovich sobbed quietly, and quietly said:
«Vera died of a heart attack a year later, leaving me completely alone…»
«Oh, I’m so sorry…» Valentina sincerely sympathized with him.
The man nodded and finished his story:
«She couldn’t bear it, and neither did I ‘go far’ after her death. I drank so much that I couldn’t wake up for several days in a row. I kept hoping I would die in my sleep—and go straight to my girls… And then, these ‘black realtors’ just happened to come along. They drugged me with something, I don’t even remember signing the papers… Only at the end it turned out that I had ‘voluntarily’ signed away my apartment. They threw me out on the street, and since then—I’ve been roaming shelters and old ‘abandonments’ for these two years. I live, as they say, by what God sends…»
«And you don’t want to get out of all this at all?» Valya asked cautiously.
«And why?—The homeless man sadly looked at the girl. «What’s the point of striving for something better when the two most dear people to me have perished? I don’t even know if Oksana is alive—most likely, she is also ‘in the next world’ with Verochka—since she hasn’t appeared for so many years…»
Then, the man seemed to remember something, and reached for a shirt lying on the dresser, from the breast pocket of which he pulled out a small photograph.
«Here, take a look, my dear,» Danilov handed the photo to the girl, «This is my Oksanochka. I now always carry her photo with me—close to my heart…»
Valentina took the photo card and carefully looked at the young girl pictured on it. A second later, Valya felt as if she had been doused with ice water, her hands and feet trembled, and her heart beat much faster…
Although the photo was quite worn, and some of its edges had even begun to crumble—the face of the girl, very much resembling Valya herself, was very vivid and clear. Of course, the hairstyle and clothes of this stranger were very different from those worn by the businessman’s daughter—but the facial features and even the eye color—all spoke of the fact that Oksana resembled Valya like a twin sister.
«My God! We have the same face!» exclaimed the girl. It turns out that Gleb Ivanovich did not lie to her, and he really mistook Valentina for his daughter…
The homeless man nodded and smiled weakly:
«What can you say? It’s mysticism, nothing else—where else could my daughter have such an exact ‘double’?»
Valentina looked at him seriously, and resolutely said:
«I don’t know, Gleb Ivanovich, about doubles—but I will definitely try to find out what happened to your Oksana. I promise you…»
After that, the girl said goodbye to the homeless man and went straight to her father. Although Valya’s state could not be called anything but shocked, she understood that the only person who might have any answers to her numerous questions was now at home, in his office.
When Lev Zakharovich learned about the situation and the possibility that his Valya might have a twin sister, he initially tried to dismiss it as a joke, much to everyone’s surprise, and then for some time he evaded the issue, claiming he didn’t understand what exactly his daughter wanted from him.
But when Valentina told her father about Gleb Ivanovich’s years of suffering from uncertainty and the tragic loss of his entire family, Lev Zakharovich’s heart softened, and he asked his daughter to sit down before he told her the whole truth about her birth.
«Valya, my daughter, don’t take everything to heart,» her father warned her, «Whatever you learn now, know that we, your mother and I, have always loved you as our own. Nothing else matters.»
«What do you mean, ‘as our own’?» Valentina frowned. «Did you adopt me?»
«Not exactly,» the businessman sighed. «You see, Inessa and I couldn’t have children naturally. We tried every treatment possible, alas, infertility was a merciless verdict for both of us. Inessa was very upset, and I, seeing her suffering, suggested we try something like surrogacy…»
«What?» Valya couldn’t believe her ears.
«Of course, at that time, it wasn’t exactly legal,» Lev Zakharovich continued, glancing at his daughter embarrassedly, «But we found a woman who agreed to give us her child. Her name was Vera.»
Valentina felt as if the floor beneath her was slowly moving away. Everything went dark in her eyes for a moment, but she made a tremendous effort not to faint and to hear this secret to the end.
«Vera lived at that time with her parents in a dilapidated house and she desperately needed money to move to a new, spacious apartment,» her father told Valya, «It turned out that she got pregnant with twins by an unpleasant man. He refused to recognize the children, and Vera didn’t know what to do next—the term was already too far along, and she had no possibility of terminating the pregnancy.»
«So, I’m not even your biological daughter?» Valentina uttered with lips pale from shock.
«But that doesn’t matter at all!» her father reassured her. «Yes, back then we didn’t have any documents with stipulated conditions, as it is done now—only a verbal agreement. But Vera was an honest woman, and after giving birth to twins—one of them she gave to us, and the other she kept for herself. Don’t worry, we didn’t deceive her in any way—she received exactly enough money to buy herself a new apartment in a good building.»
Valentina didn’t know what to think. On the one hand, what her own father had told her was a real crime! On the other hand, they, in essence, helped a whole family. What would have happened to Vera if she took two small children into a house ready to collapse? And with elderly parents, surely, things were not so simple…
«Inessa found out through her friends at the hospital that Vera got married six months later,» Lev Zakharovich finished his story, «Her husband was a good man and immediately adopted the girl. Apparently, this is the very Danilov… I doubt he knew anything about our ‘deal’ with Vera. We asked her not to tell anyone about it, and judging by how he reacted to you—he still doesn’t know anything.»
Valya sat in the chair, tightly gripping its soft armrests—it seemed to her that she was about to lose consciousness.
«So, it turns out I have a twin sister, and it’s that very Oksana that Gleb Ivanovich mistook me for…» she said more to herself than to her father. The businessman looked at his daughter anxiously—he understood very well what feelings the girl was experiencing at that moment.
«Dear, but Oksana is dead. You can’t change anything now, and you’re unlikely to be able to help Gleb Ivanovich. Of course, I can ask to get him a job—but I’m not sure that they’ll take him anywhere ‘above’ a janitor…»
Valentina suddenly perked up.
«No, Dad. That’s the thing, the police never found her remains. It’s quite possible that Oksana is alive, only, for some reason, she hasn’t made contact. I want to try to find her, but I’ll need your help for that.»
The businessman spread his hands:
«Anything you like,» Lev Zakharovich agreed submissively, «If you think it can somehow help your new acquaintance, I’m all for it.»
«Thank you, Dad,» Valya thanked him, «I really need to find her, and I’ll do everything necessary for that…»
Igor, unlike his father-in-law, did not appreciate the plans to save Valentina’s sister: frankly, he had his own far-reaching plans for his father-in-law’s capital. He hoped the businessman would soon pass away, and Igor, as the lawful husband of his daughter, would take over the deceased’s estate.
«Valya, why do you need this?» he asked his wife indignantly. «What kind of foolish idea have you got into your head? If a person hasn’t been found in three years—it means he either doesn’t want this—or he’s long dead! Please, spare your father’s money, I beg you!»
Valentina squinted and quietly asked her husband:
«Why are you suddenly so concerned about Dad’s money? Igor, you’ve been acting so strangely lately—I don’t recognize you!»
«What’s so strange if I just want to bring some sense to my overly romantic wife?» Igor immediately changed his tone to a gentle one. The young man tenderly embraced his wife by the waist, and with a honeyed voice said:
«I’m not forbidding you to search for anyone, just… Let’s not rush things. Maybe this Oksana of yours will turn up herself—when she decides it’s time to return.»
Valya did not try to persuade her husband, but instead hired three detectives, each tasked with finding all possible information about the missing girl. The businessman’s daughter reasoned that, one way or another—someone would surely find the end of the «thread» that Valya could pull to finally track down her lost sister.
Since hiring the detectives, almost two months had passed without any significant progress. Valya was on the verge of despair when she unexpectedly received a call from Semyon Alekseyevich—the oldest and most experienced of the trio of detectives.
«Valentina Lvovna, celebrate. It seems we have a solid lead. The woman you spoke about now lives in a remote taiga settlement. Formally, she’s the wife of a local gamekeeper, but she appeared in that area exactly three years ago. Before that, nobody had ever seen her.»
«What’s her name?» Valya asked with a tremor in her voice.
«There’s just one inconsistency,» the detective said uncertainly, «The gamekeeper calls his wife Anfisa, but something tells me he’s hiding something.»
«Why do you think that?» the young woman didn’t understand, «It’s probably the other way around, we must have made a mistake, and this girl isn’t my sister…»
«Well,» Semyon Alekseyevich mysteriously replied, «The thing is, Anfisa was the name of the gamekeeper’s late wife. She died five years ago after a bear attacked their guardhouse.»
«Is that so?» Valya asked excitedly, «Then, indeed, we should check this lead…»
A sigh of approval was heard on the phone:
«The villagers say that the new wife of the gamekeeper indeed strongly resembles the first Anfisa—but still, they swear she is a completely different woman…»
«Alright, I’ll fly out on the first available flight,» Valentina assured him, then hung up the phone.
When the businessman’s daughter arrived at the specified address accompanied by her father’s security, she was surprised to find herself in front of the sturdy house of the gamekeeper, constructed from robust logs. In the yard, a few chickens ran around, and a goat strolled leisurely, chewing grass.
The door was opened by a woman, seeing whom—Valya thought she was looking in a mirror: they were so alike. This was undoubtedly Oksana. In her sister’s arms was a one-year-old boy, who curiously gazed at the visitor.
«Hello, who are you looking for?» asked the gamekeeper’s wife in a perfectly calm tone. She seemed not to notice the striking resemblance between them.
«Well, I actually came to see you. You’re called Anfisa, right?»
«Yes,» the woman drawled, taking a closer look at Valya’s face. It seemed that realization was beginning to dawn on her…
«Mother of God!» Anfisa gasped, instinctively stepping back into the house, «Who are you? What do you need from us, from Petechka and me?? Why do you look so much like me?!»
The woman’s voice almost broke into a scream when her husband came from the adjoining room. It took the gamekeeper only one look at Valentina to understand what had happened.
«Calm down, my love, she won’t hurt you,» he began to soothe his wife. «I think this woman came just to talk…»
«That’s right, I need to tell you something very important, Anfisa.»
Half an hour later, when everyone had calmed down, the hostess put a kettle on the stove and sat at the big table. Opposite her sat her husband, Fyodor, and the strange city visitor who looked just like her.
Valentina explained who she was and also told the family who Anfisa really was. Learning her true name, Oksana frowned so deeply that a distinct horizontal wrinkle cut across her forehead:
«Gleb Ivanovich… Dad…» she tried to remember something, but it seemed she couldn’t. «I’m sorry,» she finally said, «but I don’t remember anything at all. Fyodor found me in the forest, near the railway. I don’t even remember how I got there—I only came to here.»
«That’s true,» confirmed the gamekeeper, «I was making a round that day. Suddenly, I saw something red among the grass… So, I approached to have a closer look, and there she was…»
The man lowered his gaze, unable to cope with the heavy memories:
«My wife once died the same way,» he continued, «Only a bear killed her, but Anfisa had a fractured skull. Of course, I couldn’t just leave her in the forest. I took her home and nursed her as best I could. She had no documents on her, so I think she was robbed and thrown from the train… Her legs were smeared with mazut, as if she had crawled along the tracks for some time after the fall until she finally lost consciousness.»
«It must have been so,» nodded Valya, «Your dad, Gleb Ivanovich, initially suspected something like that. He said you had a large amount of money with you, and you were transporting it to another city for work.»
Oksana sat for a long time, immersed in herself, but gradually, some flashes of memory began to appear:
«It seems… I’m starting to remember something! It’s still very vague, but…»
The woman looked at Valentina:
«Wait, does this mean—you and I, we are sisters? I’m just beginning to understand this now…»
«I understand, I myself was in complete shock when I found out,» Valya smiled back.
Little Petia quietly crawled up to the businessman’s daughter and gently tugged at the hem of her trousers:
«Aw, how cute! Is this your son with Fyodor?»
Oksana blushed, and Fyodor proudly explained:
«When Anfisa, that is, Oksana, got better—we realized we felt the same about each other. So we thought, why go somewhere or find out anything? We have each other—that’s what matters. We started living as husband and wife, and then Petia came along…»
«Yes, only our son has major health problems,» Oksana sadly added, picking up her son and placing him on her lap. «My little Petia suffers from a heart defect…»
«What a nightmare!» Valya exhaled, distressed, «What do the doctors say?»
Fyodor frowned slightly:
«They say he needs surgery, and it needs to be done now. But it costs so much money that we could never gather it… What kind of salary does a gamekeeper have? We even went to the local healer and put up candles in the church, ordered prayers—nothing helps.»
Fyodor quickly wiped away a tear that had rolled down his cheek: he was a strong man, but his son’s fate made him weep. The gamekeeper didn’t know what could be done in such a situation.
«But money is not a problem!» Valentina looked tenderly at the boy. «We just need to take the little one to the city and show him to good specialists. I’ll pay for the surgery; the main thing is that it will save my nephew’s life.»
Oksana kissed her sister on both cheeks, embracing her tightly, and then heartily thanked her:
«You know, the first minute I saw you—I thought a witch had come to our doorstep, turned into my doppelganger. And now, I realize that you are an Angel who flew to us to save our son!»
Fyodor also warmly thanked the girl, and she drove back home to organize the temporary relocation to the city of her newly found relatives.
Lev Zakharovich was very happy to learn that Valentina had found her biological sister. Valentina, without wasting time, arranged with leading specialists of a capital city clinic, and just a month later, Petia successfully underwent surgery. The little boy faces a long recovery, but he is already improving, which means a healthy future awaits him.
Oksana, having come to the city with her husband, first went to meet Gleb Ivanovich. Seeing her biological father, the woman immediately remembered everything and threw herself into the arms of her dearest and closest person:
«Dad! My dear!» she cried on his chest. «Forgive me for not letting you know—I didn’t even remember my own name! Poor thing, how did you almost perish in the streets! And mom? God, she also died because of me?»
«Don’t blame yourself, my daughter,» Gleb Ivanovich soothed her, stroking her head, «What’s past is past. The most important thing is that you are alive and healthy. Thank your Fyodor for pulling you out of the forest back then and looking after you all this time. He even made me a grandfather—what’s not happiness? In my old age, I found a daughter again, and even a grandson! And what a wonderful son-in-law I have…»
«We all need to thank Valyusha for that,» replied Petia’s mother, smiling through tears, «If she had lost hope and stopped looking for me, we would—just think of the horror—never have met…»
Valentina stood by, embracing little Petia, and also quietly cried from happiness. Now, she had another family and a sister with whom she could share all the most important events of her life.
Meanwhile, Lev Zakharovich discovered some very «interesting» recordings on the internal cameras of the house: in them, Igor, in the absence of his wife and father-in-law—was searching the safe for valuables and important business papers. The scoundrel, most likely, got the safe code from someone among the staff with whom he was conspiring.
The businessman, without thinking long, called the police—and handed over his wayward son-in-law. As it turned out later, Igor was working for Lev Zakharovich’s competitors and was supposed to infiltrate their family with the goal of its rapid bankruptcy. All company assets and some valuables—Igor would have received as a reward after completing the task and, along the way, «sending the father of his wife to the ancestors.»
Valya, learning about everything—immediately severed all ties with her unfortunate husband, divorced—and kicked him out of the house. But the villain still won’t escape punishment—now he faces a prison sentence for industrial espionage and attempted theft.
However, Valentina was not at all upset by this: after some time, she met a young lawyer named Yaroslav, and after a year and a half of tender and honest relations—married him. Now the young family is happy, and Valya is expecting the birth of her first child—a son whom the couple wants to name Kostya.
Valentina is friends with her twin sister and maintains good relations with Gleb Ivanovich, who is currently learning to manage a warehouse, will lead his own food base of Lev Zakharovich. The man is unspeakably happy that he has a chance, even in the second half of life, to start everything «from scratch.»
The support and love of the family—allowed him to rise from the very «bottom,» and now he, by his own example, proves to all in need that even in the worst life «layout»—not everything is lost yet, and help can unexpectedly come from the side you usually don’t look at…
