The wind, like a heavenly shepherd, herded dark clouds across the sky, and the air was sharply scented with rain.
In the courtyard, on an inconspicuous bench near the flower bed, sat a young girl, who, with her eyes covered by her hands, wept softly.
It seemed that the approaching rain didn’t frighten her at all, and she was so immersed in her suffering that she noticed nothing around her.
The first heavy raindrops had already fallen on the asphalt, signaling that a downpour would break out in a minute or two.
Residents of the nearby high-rise buildings hurried to return home, to avoid being caught off guard by the bad weather.
Nobody paid attention to the crying lonely girl, except for the janitress Klavdia Nikitichna, who could not pass by without stopping.
«Hey, dear… Why are you crying? It’s going to rain any minute now, and you’re sitting under the open sky… Has something happened?» she asked, touching the stranger’s sleeve.
«Something happened, auntie…» the girl managed to say through her tears, shyly glancing at the janitress.
«Well, you can’t help your sorrow with tears… Especially now that the rain is starting… Come with me to my backroom, you can tell me everything there,» said Klavdia Nikitichna and led the tearful girl to the basement, where she had a room set up for storing equipment.
Once inside, Klavdia, first of all, put a kettle on the electric stove and seated her guest in an old armchair standing in the corner.
At that moment, a real downpour with thunder and lightning tearing through the sky erupted outside.
Meanwhile, the change of scenery benefited the girl, who stopped crying and looked gratefully at Klavdia Nikitichna.
«Well, dear… Tell me, what happened and who hurt you?» the woman asked, pouring her guest a cup of hot tea.
With a heavy sigh, the girl sniffled and began her story.
It turned out that the stranger’s name was Dasha, and she had come from a remote, godforsaken taiga village.
Darya was an orphan and had recently buried her grandfather, the only family she had.
In search of a better life, the girl had headed to the city, where she got a job as a warehouse clerk at a food base.
After working the required month, she eagerly awaited her salary, but, as it turned out, the cunning employers had tricked the provincial orphan, pinning a huge shortage on her.
Thus, the unscrupulous dealers wanted to make the unfortunate girl work for them for free by using unpaid debts.
Barely escaping this trap, Dasha left without knowing what to do next.
Klavdia Nikitichna, without uttering a word, patiently listened to her guest, only occasionally shaking her head in dismay at human wickedness.
Then, after coughing, she said:
«It happens, dear… But don’t worry, maybe I can help you with something…
My daughter works at an agency… They’re hiring staff for hotels and homes of wealthy people… All honest and without deceit… Basically, if you want to work, everything else will come along.
So, shall I put in a good word for you?»
Dasha’s eyes lit up when she heard such a good offer for herself:
«Of course, I agree, Aunt Klav!!! …I have plenty of desire… Besides, I need to live for something…
«Well, that’s settled. You’ll spend the night with me today, and tomorrow you’ll go to the interview. In your situation, it’s a profitable option, Dashenka…» Klavdia Nikitichna replied, smiling encouragingly at her guest.
That day, they chatted until late in the evening, feeling a growing mutual sympathy for each other.
Aunt Klava, as promised, called her daughter and outlined the situation.
The next morning, Dasha was given the address of the house where she would soon work as a maid.
The house was located in an elite cottage area, where one building was more beautiful than the other.
At first, Dasha felt like she had entered a fairy-tale city, where kings and queens lived in beautiful castles.
But when she found the address she needed, she was simply stunned by everything she saw.
The mansion of her future employers turned out to be so large that it stood out even against the palaces of the other wealthy citizens of the village.
The homeowners, Adelina Vasilievna and her son German Viktorovich, received Dasha warmly.
Their requirements were quite reasonable, so the employee and employers were generally satisfied with each other.
But especially, Dasha caught the eye of German, who from the first day of acquaintance began to show her all sorts of signs of attention, literally undressing her with his eyes.
Darya did not understand the young owner’s gaze, because at that time, preparations for a wedding were underway in the house, and according to Adelina Vasilievna’s opinion, the bride was from a very rich and influential family.
«And why do you need me… An orphan, penniless…,» Dasha thought, embarrassed by German’s salacious glances.
The girl did not know that her owner’s passion was for girls whose hearts he broke with shocking regularity.
Adelina Vasilievna turned a blind eye to her son’s antics, believing that a young man needed to socialize with the opposite sex to gain experience.
Towards German, Dasha behaved extremely coldly and politely, trying not to stand out or attract attention to herself.
But, unfortunately, her appearance did not give the young owner peace, and one evening, in desperation, he decided to go to extremes.
Dasha had just finished her housework and was about to go to sleep in the maid’s house.
But German, who had ambushed the maid in the kitchen, grabbed her by the hand and literally dragged her to one of the many guest rooms.
The young rascal was drunk and could no longer restrain his desires.
«German Viktorovich, what are you doing? What do you want from me? I’ll start screaming now…» Dasha timidly protested.
«Scream as much as you can… You’ll scream, and tomorrow you’ll find yourself on the street. And I’ll write such a review to the agency that they won’t take you even as a cleaner in a barracks…» German said, unabashed.
No matter how hard Dasha tried to resist the insolent owner, she still failed. The girl liked her job, and German turned out to be very persuasive. The girl cried, kneeling and pleading, but the rich son did not back down until he got his way.
«Why, German Viktorovich? Aren’t you getting married…,» Dasha asked through tears when it all happened.
«Of course, I’m not getting married… Imagine that… Well, what of it? Work and keep quiet. And I’ll throw in a bonus…» the major replied, catching his breath.
Dasha felt so disgusted that she wanted to quit and go wherever her eyes looked.
«But where will I go? Who needs me, an orphan without a penny in my pocket? And I can’t let down Klavdia Nikitichna’s daughter… She vouched for me when they took me without work experience and recommendations…» Darya thought, crying, spreading bitter tears across her face.
Deciding that the meeting with German would be a one-time event, the girl stayed and endured the offense.
It must be said that after everything that happened, the owner behaved as if nothing had happened, occasionally glancing appreciatively at the maid.
They say time heals, and Dasha didn’t have much of a choice, so she preferred to forget about the incident, erasing this unpleasant episode from her memory.
Soon, thinking about the events of that fateful night became impossible, as the Wedding Day approached, and even the always composed German experienced inner anxiety about it.
The wedding ceremony and the subsequent three-day celebrations were held with special pomp and were even covered by reporters from many local newspapers.
After German’s wedding, Dasha sighed with relief, deciding that now everything was over and the owner would no longer care about her.
To some extent, this turned out to be true. German, portraying a loving husband in front of his influential wife, didn’t even look her way.
But Dasha didn’t have long to rejoice.
One morning, she experienced nausea and mild nausea again, which had been accompanying her for several days.
Trying to dismiss the troubling thoughts, Dasha took a pregnancy test, the results of which shocked her so much that for a moment she lost her ability to speak.
«God… I’m pregnant… What now? …What a disgrace… What will people think? Got pregnant by a rich man for money… good maid, nothing to say,» Darya thought, crying and burying her face in a pillow.
Not knowing what to do next, Dasha told everything to German, whose fault for what had happened was undeniable.
«Well, you give me news, especially after the wedding… Do you want to ruin my life?
Well, don’t cry, silly. It’s good that you came to me right away. Now I’ll call a doctor I know and sign you up for an abortion,» German said, recovering from the initial shock.
«It’s a sin, German Viktorovich… How can you do this?» Dasha tried to object, but the major shrugged and didn’t want to listen to anything more.
When the owner left, the girl covered her face with her hands and cried loudly, mentally lamenting her unfair life.
But, as much as Darya wanted to keep the child, on the appointed day, she was already standing in front of the clinic door, where, after some time, her pregnancy was supposed to be terminated.
The girl tried twice to overcome embarrassment and fear and step inside the medical facility, but each time something held her back.
And on the third time, she turned around and walked away, her head bowed.
Raised by her grandfather in Christian traditions, Dasha could not commit such an atrocity and deprive her unborn child of life.
Remembering the promise given to the owner, the girl took out her phone and called the rich major.
«German Viktorovich, forgive me… Do what you want, I couldn’t…» Dasha sobbed…
«Well, well, things… She couldn’t… You women, only know how to spread your legs… But when it comes to paying, you all run into the bushes… Well, wait, I’ll come,» German grumbled irritably and hung up.
Dasha waited for him, sitting on a bench near the clinic.
German arrived about twenty minutes later and handed her the keys to a rented apartment and a bag of groceries.
«Here, take this… You’re no longer working as a maid. The belly will soon be noticeable and everything will become clear. Live in the apartment and don’t go outside unnecessarily. Give birth, and then we’ll figure it out…
Dasha, blushing to the roots of her hair, timidly took the keys and groceries.
«Well, that’s right… Don’t look for me, I’ll find you myself,» the major said as he left, getting into the car and driving off in an unknown direction.
Dasha felt disgusting and sick, but there was no other way out. The girl, who grew up without parents, couldn’t even imagine that one could deprive a child of life.
So, she preferred disgrace and future condemnation to sin.
«It’s okay… I’ll give birth, and then… I’ll go back to the wilderness and raise my son or daughter,» Dasha thought, trying to justify herself.
Time passed, and during the entire term of pregnancy, German, as promised, visited the former maid, bringing groceries and everything necessary.
Of course, his visits seemed to Dasha like a paltry handout with which the major tried to atone for his guilt.
Frequent absences of the son aroused suspicions in Adelina Vasilievna, who decided to ask him about everything directly.
Of course, the woman expected to hear anything but this.
«German, are you a complete cretin, brainless? Kristina’s father will destroy you… Understand, we are nothing against him… There, such money and connections are involved, that we haven’t even stood close…
In short, while there’s still time, sort it out with the girl…
You messed it up yourself, so learn to clean up after yourself…
Next time, think a hundred times before you jump on the first maid you come across,» Adelina Vasilievna snapped angrily and, slamming the door, went to her office.
Meanwhile, German, holding his head in his hands, began to agonizingly think about what to do next.
«Alright, let her give birth… Then we’ll see. Anyway, she’s now in the maternity hospital under observation,» German thought, pleased with such a sound decision.
The major seemed to think the situation was under control, and when a few days later, happy Dasha called to inform him of the birth of twins, he already knew how he should act.
The babies were born healthy, strong little chubs, and to Darya’s joy, they weren’t kept in the maternity hospital for long, being discharged after a week.
The young mother’s happiness knew no bounds when she moved into the rented apartment, holding Nastenka and Kiryusha in her arms.
Of course, she didn’t see much joy in German’s eyes, but during the pregnancy, Dasha had become so accustomed to his mournful expression that she preferred not to pay any attention to it.
But, as it turned out, Dasha was deeply mistaken, underestimating German’s cunning.
One evening, he arrived, joyful, holding a cake. Pretending to be a caring father, he put Kiryusha and Nastenka to bed, and then sat in the kitchen to have tea with Dasha.
But before the girl could drink even half a cup, she suddenly experienced severe weakness and dizziness.
Losing consciousness, she noticed how German hid some tiny bottle in his pocket.
Dasha woke up several hours later in an unfamiliar place. Her head hurt terribly, and her vision was double.
Gathering her thoughts, the girl realized that she was tied up in the back seat of an unfamiliar car.
«Where am I going? Where am I?» she asked in a weak voice.
«Quiet, you damned wretch… Look, she’s come to… Don’t move, we’ll be there soon,» someone growled at her from the front passenger seat of the car.
Hearing this, Dasha fell back into oblivion and woke up in a hut, which looked very much like a forester’s or gamekeeper’s dwelling.
Dasha realized this by the simple camping gear and the multitude of various herbs drying over the stove.
The situation in her late grandfather Trofim Petrovich’s watchman’s hut was almost identical to this one, only larger in size.
Dasha’s hands were tied with rope, and her mouth was sealed with adhesive tape.
Listening to the conversation behind the wall, Darya barely made out fragments of phrases:
«Pity her… Maybe we shouldn’t drown her?» one of her kidnappers grumbled.
«But we were paid, Fed… She gave birth to twins to some rich guy and they decided to get rid of her,» his partner replied in a nasty falsetto.
Shocked by such news, Dasha looked around, trying to find a way out of the situation.
Suddenly, her gaze stopped on a window, beyond which a forest thicket was visible.
Realizing that this was her only chance to escape, Dasha carefully turned the latch and flung open the window.
Most likely, her kidnappers had not anticipated this scenario, thinking that a city girl would not know how to open the clever latches in village houses.
But Dasha grew up in a village and had been taught by her grandfather Trofim all the forest cunning from childhood.
Therefore, when the kidnappers entered the hut, deciding, after all, to drown her, the brave girl was already long gone.
Dasha ran, pushing through thickets of juniper and wolfberry.
Of course, it was harder to move with her hands tied, but before she had run even a kilometer, Darya stumbled upon a forest path on a young bearded man with a dog…
Surprised, Dasha screamed and fearfully pressed her back against the trunk of a tree.
«Don’t be afraid… Trezor won’t bite… It’s a hunting breed, not a fighting one,» the man said softly, adjusting the cap on his head, cracked from time.
«Please help me… There are bandits… They kidnapped me and wanted to kill me… It’s all because of my poor little ones,» Dasha pleaded, stretching out her bound hands to the guy in protective gear.
The stranger, who turned out to be a local gamekeeper, quickly freed the runaway from her bonds, and then without a word, took out a walkie-talkie and contacted the local police.
Describing the situation, he gave approximate coordinates of the criminals’ location.
To Dasha’s surprise, the local law enforcement acted quickly, and soon a search helicopter was circling over the forest.
«Let’s go to the watchman’s hut… I’ll make you some tea… You’re completely beside yourself… My sister came to visit me…
I wasn’t going to go on patrol today, but Trezor insisted… He probably felt that we would meet you,» the gamekeeper said, smiling and patting the dog on the back.
Dasha, feeling sympathy for this big and strong guy, willingly followed him.
In the gamekeeper’s hut, it was bright and cozy.
«Oh, Andryush… Who is this with you? Could it be your fiancée?» asked a girl standing on the doorstep. From the first glance, she had the upbringing and audacity of a city dweller.
«No… This is a girl… well… She got into trouble… And I helped… Just pour the tea first… and then you can start questioning,» the guy replied bashfully.
Over a cup of aromatic linden tea, calmed down, Dasha told her story from beginning to end, exactly as it really happened, without any omissions or understatement.
All this time, the gamekeeper’s sister, Polina, listened attentively to the girl’s story, periodically making some notes with a pencil in a small notebook.
Answering the unspoken question in Dasha’s eyes, Polina smiled and took out a journalist ID from her pocket.
«I came to my brother in the wilderness… To cover the issue of poaching and corruption locally… But your story will be much more important, so rest assured… I won’t let this go, and everyone will find out about this case,» the journalist said confidently.
«No, what a scoundrel that rich guy turned out to be… Decided to get rid of his own children’s mother… I would carry them in my arms, and he, you see, came up with this…» Andrei said angrily, to whom Dasha had taken a deep liking.
Soon, the local police officer called the gamekeeper and informed him that the kidnappers had already been detained and were giving full statements.
«Well, soon it’ll be the major’s turn… And if it doesn’t reach him, then Polinka with her article will help… She’s known in all publishing houses… and for such a hot material, they’ll go to any lengths,» Andrei said, trying to calm the agitated Dasha.
It must be said that the young gamekeeper was right.
Polina’s article was published two days later and caused a real sensation not only among the public but also among the higher echelons of power and law enforcement.
Thanks to the testimonies of the detained kidnappers and Dasha’s story, German was taken into custody.
Due to the wide publicity, the investigation proceeded at a rapid pace, and soon, the rich major was sentenced to several years in a colony.
Kiryusha and Nastenka, Dasha took from the rented apartment, rejoicing that German had not managed to harm the children.
Adelina Vasilievna, burning with shame, offered her help to the former maid, but Darya refused.
The girl decided to leave the city, which had been so unkind to her, and settle in a village, together with the gamekeeper Andrei.
The guy had a difficult past and had already experienced tragic relationships when his wife and daughter died in a car accident.
Therefore, learning about the trouble that had happened to Dasha and her children, Andrei joyfully accepted them into his home, which he had inherited from his parents.
Of course, at first, Andrei and Darya lived under one roof as friends… But over time, as often happens in life, friendly relations turned into something more, instilling love and feelings in their hearts.
Sister Polina, adept at understanding people, approved of her brother’s choice and joyfully plays with her nephews, of which she now has two.
Mysteriously smiling, Dasha and Andrei hinted that this was not the limit and they were thinking about a third child, who would undoubtedly add his portion of happiness to their strong family life
