Valya! Valentina! What’s wrong with you?» Boris’s voice grew quieter and quieter with each passing second. A minute later, the woman couldn’t make out her husband’s words at all. She couldn’t hear or see anything anymore. After an emotional conversation, Valentina suddenly felt dizzy and fell down.
The woman woke up when her husband brought a cotton swab to her nose. The sharp and extremely unpleasant smell immediately revived Valya.
«What happened?» Trying to recall the last few seconds, the woman looked around the room. «Did I fall? Right onto the floor?» «Are you kidding me?» Her husband put aside the bottle, then cast a fleeting glance at his wife and smirked. «You think I’ll stay if you keep fainting? Is that your plan?»
«What do you mean?» Valya initially didn’t understand what Borya was talking about, but then she remembered why she had fainted. A few minutes earlier, her husband had confessed that he had been cheating on her for almost five months. Boris had been secretly meeting a young woman and now decided to leave for her permanently.
«We’ve lived together for twenty-five years, and you just erase it all like that!» Valya cried softly, unable to believe what was happening. Despite their strained relationship, she still loved Borya.
«There’s nothing to erase,» grumbled the husband. «We’ve been living like neighbors for a long time. The kids have grown up and moved out; there’s nothing connecting us anymore.»
«Nothing connects us? What about feelings, Borya? Don’t you feel anything for me?»
«Did you hit your head when you fell?» the man smirked. «Have you seen yourself in the mirror? My Natasha—now she’s something else. Beautiful, smart, slender, fit… And you? Forget it…»
«How old is your Natasha? Twenty or twenty-five? You think she won’t change? You think she’ll stay young forever?»
«She won’t change,» snorted Borya. «For me, she will always be beautiful!»
With that belief, the man packed his bags and left for the young woman, while Valya was left to live alone in her parents’ apartment.
After the painful divorce, the woman wasn’t living; she was merely existing. Falling into depression, Valentina couldn’t reconcile with her husband’s betrayal. The plump and rosy-cheeked Valya lost a lot of weight, and her face turned gray.
«My dear, what’s wrong?» Antonina Igorevna, her mother, visited Valya periodically. They lived in neighboring districts. For several months now, her mother had watched her daughter fading away. «What’s happening to you? Why are you torturing yourself like this? Come on, get up. Let’s have lunch together.»
«I don’t want to eat. I feel nauseous, and my head is spinning.»
«It’s the hunger making you nauseous, and the weakness making your head spin. You look terrible. You need to eat,» her mother said, almost crying as she looked at her daughter.
«I didn’t lose weight because of that. And I’m nauseous for another reason,» Valya sat up in bed and looked at her mother desperately. «I have oncology…»
Hearing her daughter’s words, Antonina Igorevna’s ears rang. All this time she thought Valentina was just depressed, but it turned out she was also ill.
«I found out about this a few hours before Borya confessed his infidelity.»
«Does he know? Did you tell him about it? Or did you spare his nerves?»
«I wanted to tell him that day, but I didn’t get the chance. Boris started talking first, and then it became pointless…»
«How is it pointless? Nonsense! You should have told him later!»
«Why? Do you think he would have stayed? And even if he had, why would I need that? I want to be loved, not to be with someone out of pity.»
«Forget about that Borya!» Antonina Igorevna spit demonstratively. «You tell me, how are you treating it? What do the doctors say?»
«No one says anything…» Valya lay down again and turned away from her mother. «I’m not getting treatment, and I don’t want to.»
«How can you say that…» her mother’s heart clenched. «Why?»
«Because I don’t want to live. I see no point in it…»
Her daughter’s words shocked the woman. She thought Valya was refusing treatment because she had no chance, but it was much more complicated. Valentina didn’t want to live because of a husband who betrayed her after twenty-five years of marriage.
«What are you saying?!» Antonina Igorevna wailed. «How can there be no point? What about your children? And me? And your father? Aren’t we more important than your philandering husband? You want to burn yourself out because of this scoundrel, and not see your children’s weddings and the birth of your future grandchildren? Is that it?»
«I feel awful, mom!» Antonina Igorevna’s words had an effect. For the first time, Valentina cried loudly and threw herself into her mother’s arms. «Why did he do this to me? Did I deserve this?»
«No, you didn’t deserve it!» the woman shook her head, wiping away tears. «You deserve a long, happy life! You must fight, do you understand? If something happens to you, then I will die too!»
Sitting on the bed, mother and daughter talked and cried for a long time. Eventually, Antonina Igorevna convinced Valya that she needed treatment. The next day, the emaciated and weak woman sought medical help.
Over the next few months, Valentina periodically stayed in the hospital. She endured so much that words couldn’t describe. Endless therapies, hair loss, exhaustion… and a completely new outlook on life. These were the toughest days of the woman’s life. Eventually, Valya underwent surgery to remove the tumor. The doctors gave no estimates regarding her future life and chances of recovery, but after some time, her body began to recover.
When Valentina first stepped outside after the surgery, she breathed in the spring air deeply and cried. This time, the tears were not of sadness, but of joy. For months, the woman had held back so many different emotions that now they all burst out. She didn’t care how she looked or what people around her thought. She was alive. And right now, she felt life in a special way. Right. Without any «lenses.»
With the onset of remission, Valentina became truly happy. Not long ago, she didn’t want to consult doctors or even consider surgery. But now everything was completely different. During this difficult period, Valentina reconsidered her beliefs. Only now did she understand that life is the most valuable thing a person has, a Great Gift, and no Boris is worth losing this Gift over his betrayal.
These correct thoughts didn’t come to Valya immediately. She only began to appreciate the value of her life when her beloved children, parents, relatives, and even colleagues supported her during her difficult times. All of them respected and loved the woman in their own way and wanted to witness her recovery.
But most of all, Valentina was influenced by the birth of her first granddaughter. While the woman was lying in the hospital and recovering from complex surgery, her daughter gave birth to a girl. Seeing the child for the first time, Valya understood what the real meaning of her life was. It wasn’t Borya or any other man. It was her parents, children, and grandchildren, whom she loved so deeply. Without their support, the woman definitely wouldn’t have been able to fight the dreadful disease.
Valentina hadn’t heard anything about her ex-husband for a long time. The first six months, rumors said that Boris had moved with the young woman to another region. But a couple of years later, the ex-husband reappeared. He contacted the children and started maintaining relationships with them.
«Mom, would you mind if my brother and I continue to communicate with dad? He wants to see his granddaughter and be involved in her life,» the daughter cautiously asked Valya when she came to visit.
«No, of course not. Why are you even asking? You and Kolya are adults, and you should decide for yourself who to communicate with and who not,» Valentina answered. «What, has your father returned? I thought he left town.»
«Yes, he recently came back. Dad is working here now and rents an apartment on the outskirts of the city.»
«How did his beloved dare to leave everything and come back? What didn’t they like there?» Valya asked ironically.
«Actually, dad came back alone. He left his cohabitant. It turned out, the young lady found herself a young fiancé. Dad was left alone.»
«Surprising!» Valya smirked. «You can communicate with your father, but please, spare me from his presence. I don’t want to remember the past. I want to think only about the future.»
After the illness and surgery, Valentina’s worldview completely changed. She was still ashamed in front of her mother. If not for Antonina Igorevna, the woman would have long been gone. She wouldn’t have seen her granddaughter, who had just been born. Valya wouldn’t have attended her son’s wedding either. Kolya got married right after his mother’s recovery. The woman witnessed all these events thanks to Antonina Igorevna, who timely convinced her to seek help.
Valentina never despaired again. Now she knew that there was nothing more valuable than one’s own life and the lives of loved ones. Even if everything is very bad, one must always believe that it will get better.
