When Vera Nikolaevna received a message that her third cousin Tatyana, who lived somewhere deep in the Urals, was asking to stay with her in Moscow with the kids for a couple of weeks, her first reaction was to refuse. What could they possibly have in common? The last time they’d seen each other was […]
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Outside the village store, smelling of fresh bread and dust, tempers, as always, were running high. The local gossips, gathered on the worn steps, were picking apart their neighbors’ lives. Today’s main topic was Viktor—the strapping fellow, the village’s prize catch—who had left his wife, Anna. — “Hear this? Vitka’s run off to the city […]
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Viktor was turning in front of the huge hallway mirror, smoothing the lapels of his brand-new, expensive suit. The fine wet-asphalt–colored wool fit his athletic build perfectly. He was getting ready for the corporate gala—the social event of the year in their city, a charity evening organized by the company where he held a high […]
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Pasha, you promised to help me. “Son, you have to marry her for the apartment!” his mother insisted. “Then we’ll quietly transfer part of it to me, and she’ll never know.” “Mom, that’s not fair! I love her, not her apartment,” Pavel objected, nervously glancing toward the bedroom door. Pavel and Olga had married a […]
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A Life Given Quietly, A Love Returned When my husband died, his little girl was only five. At night she hugged his empty pillow with those wide, wet eyes, too young to grasp why the door would never open for him again. That evening I made a promise. Blood or not, I would be her […]
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Elena was returning from a business trip with a light heart. They had handed over the project a day early, and now she had a whole free evening to herself. Her husband, Dmitry, a sea captain, was on a voyage, and her daughter Alisa, she believed, was enjoying the fresh air and new experiences at […]
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