Eva was cleaning the living room when she suddenly heard the shrill, angry voice of the young lady of the house, where she had been working as a maid for the past two months. She froze and, holding her breath, listened to the tense conversation between Alla and her husband.
“Yura, my earrings are gone!” the lady of the house exclaimed, waving her hands in despair, “Not just any, but the ones you gave me for my last birthday. I’ve searched the whole house. The earrings have vanished into thin air. What do we do now?”
“Calm down, dear, I’ll buy you new earrings. What’s the problem?” the man muttered unflappably, putting aside his mobile phone and gently wrapping his arms around his wife’s slim waist.
“You don’t understand!” Alla said, sounding hurt and making an angry face, “Those earrings you gave me on a special day for me. They are tied to the warmest memories, they are a symbol of your love for me. I can’t accept that they just disappeared. I’m sure someone from those who work in this house had their eye on the expensive jewelry with a big diamond. I don’t understand how you can be so calm when we have a thief in our house. Today the earrings, tomorrow it might be money or documents. We need to find out who stole the jewel. Order all the servants to gather in the living room and search them.”
Yuri, who fully trusted the people working in his home, did not want to conduct a search. He would have gladly agreed to buy new, expensive jewelry for his wife, but she stubbornly insisted on her way, and the man had to call into the living room, where Eva, the cook, and the elderly gardener were cleaning. Eva stood next to the rest of the staff, looking confused at her employers. Just two months ago, the girl had been living a carefree life, which she was quite content with. She studied at the institute and lived with her mother. But one day, disaster struck her small but close-knit family.
Eva’s mother fell seriously ill, and after thorough examinations, it turned out that the woman urgently needed an expensive operation, otherwise, she would not live more than a year. Eva was in deep despair, not knowing where to get the money for the surgery. After much thought, she decided to drop out of the institute and get a job. A mother of Eva’s close friend once mentioned that in a wealthy home where she worked as a cook, they were short of a maid. The girl realized this was a sign from above and she needed to work as a servant in the home of a well-known, wealthy businessman. Soon, she successfully passed the interview, and they hired her, promising a decent reward for honest and conscientious work. Eva worked hard, dreaming that she would be able to save enough money in a few months to save her sick mother’s life. The work was not burdensome for her. From childhood, she was accustomed to keeping order in the house and organizing comfort in it. The only thing that upset and puzzled Eva was the disrespectful attitude of the young wife of the owner, who made it clear that all the power in the house was in her hands.
Alla was a typical socialite lioness. She rarely stayed at home and spent time with her husband. The young woman preferred to spend her husband’s time and money in fashionable boutiques, elite beauty salons, expensive restaurants, and relax in the evenings in noisy companies. For some reason, the lady of the house took an instant dislike to Eva and never missed an opportunity to hurt or humiliate her. Alla was looking for a reason to get rid of the young maid and constantly picked on her. Eva stoically endured her unfair attacks for the sake of her mother. That evening, Yuri, in an apologetic tone, asked each of the workers present in the living room to turn out all their pockets and put their bags on the table. Surprised, the cook, gardener, and maid obediently followed the owner’s command. The man began to check each in turn. Soon, it was Eva’s turn. She was stunned when Yuri pulled the missing diamond earrings from the pocket of her old jacket. The girl looked dumbfounded at the spouses and froze in shock.
“I told you the earrings were with one of them,” Alla said in a satisfied, self-assured tone, looking at the stunned Eva with undisguised contempt.
“How can you explain this?” Yuri asked in a stern, harsh voice, giving the maid a reproachful look.
“Yuri Grigorievich, I swear to you, I did not take the earrings!” Eva cried out in a broken voice, ready to burst into tears at any moment, “I have never touched anyone’s buttons in my life.”
“And a brazen liar. Stole, then have the courage to openly admit it,” Alla sneered arrogantly, “What’s there to talk about? Throw her out and that’s all. We don’t need thieves in the house.”
“Leave this house immediately. You’re fired,” Yuri declared in a peremptory tone, “I’ll make sure that no decent person will ever hire you. I will also report this to the police.”
Eva left the house, where she had worked conscientiously, with a heart breaking into pieces. It was unbearably painful for her to realize that she had been treated so cruelly and unfairly. The girl had never taken anything that didn’t belong to her and was content with what she had. She and her mother lived modestly, but honestly. Eva feared that Yuri would indeed file a police report against her, and she would be forced to suffer punishment for something she did not commit. The girl was sure that Yuri’s wife, who for some unknown reason took an instant dislike to the young maid, had planted the earrings on her. But Eva could not prove anything. She spent a week in tears and despair, not knowing how to help her dying mother. Eva did not show her true feelings to her, but every time she put on a mask behind which she carefully hid her tears and pain.
One evening, a week after the incident, someone unexpectedly rang the doorbell of their apartment. Eva was stunned by fear and surprise, seeing Yuri on the doorstep. Her heart painfully clenched and ached in her chest. The girl decided that Yuri had not come with good intentions. She took a deep breath and opened the door, realizing that she could not hide in the apartment for the rest of her life.
“Hello, Eva,” Yuri whispered in a thoughtful, quiet voice, looking intently into the eyes of the girl who looked lost, “I wanted to talk to you. It’s very important. May I come into the apartment?”
Eva nodded confusedly and gestured that she agreed to listen to her former owner. Yuri silently followed her into the small, but cozy living room.
“Eva, I want you to come back to work,” Yuri unexpectedly declared, and the girl was taken aback by the surprise.
Eva was sure that Yuri had come with threats, but he offered her to return?! The girl could not understand the reason for the sudden changes, so, swallowing a salty lump, she asked puzzled:
“Not long ago, you said that you would report me to the police and ensure that I have a frightening reputation. What could have changed in this week? Are you joking with me?”
“I have neither the desire nor the mood to joke. I’m absolutely serious. I came to ask you to come back. I am satisfied with how you performed your duties. I’m guilty before you. I should not have attacked you in the heat of the moment. I should have first figured things out and conducted my own investigation. I know that you did not steal my wife’s earrings.”
“I’m sorry that it took you time to understand that. I told you that I never touched what doesn’t belong to me.”
“The truth came out, thanks to my driver. Sergey has been working for me for over five years. Yesterday, when he was driving me to work, we had a serious conversation. He showed me recordings from his dashboard camera. To be honest, I was horrified to hear all that I could not have expected. It turned out that a few days after your dismissal, Sergey was driving my wife to the shopping center. Sitting in the car, she was talking on the phone with her friend. The dashboard camera was able to capture their conversation, which shocked not only my driver but also me. Alla deliberately planted her earrings on you, wanting to get rid of you. It turned out that she was jealous of me for you. Alla thought that you got a job in our house to take her place. I have never been as unpleasant as at that moment when I was listening to that recording. I learned a lot of new things not only about you but also about myself. I realized that I live with a person who loves not me, but my money, with a person who is capable of causing pain, humiliating, and trampling another, weaker one. I don’t know why Alla thought you were a threat, but she wanted to get rid of you, and she succeeded. But rest assured, I will not leave it at that. Now I know with whom I planned to share my life. I came to apologize to you and ask you to come back. Alla will never bother you again. From today, she will not be in my house.”
Stunned, Eva looked at Yuri, unable to believe what had just happened. From the first day of work in his house, she felt the hatred coming from Alla and her dislike for her. Eva was amazed that Alla considered her a rival and decided to eliminate the girl. After all, Eva had never had sinful thoughts about her owner. She respected Yuri and sincerely admired his human qualities, but did not look at him as a man. Eva sighed with relief and mentally thanked heaven for justice having triumphed. Of course, she agreed to return to work. After all, the girl still needed to raise money for her mother’s surgery.
“Thank you, Yuri, for coming and telling the truth. It was very important to me. Fine. I agree to resume my duties. I hope that this will not happen again.”
A kind, pleased smile appeared on Yuri’s face. Suddenly, the man noticed a photograph hanging on the wall. It was an old family portrait. The man froze. The photograph showed a happy man and woman holding small children in their arms. A fair-haired one-year-old girl sat on the knees of the young beautiful woman, and a curly-haired boy about two years old was held by the stately man. Yuri looked at the portrait, placing his palms on his temples. At his home, in an old family album, he kept half of the same exact photograph. Yuri often took out the album and looked thoughtfully at the cut-off half, which showed his father holding a two-year-old son. The man could never understand why the photograph was decided to be divided into two parts and whose image was on the other half? Now he found answers to his questions.
“Where did you get this photograph?” Yuri asked, astonished, looking at Eva with a puzzled look.
“It’s a photograph of my parents,” the girl replied, confused, “What’s wrong with it?”
“But I see myself in it!” the man exclaimed frantically, “This is my father, and this is me. But I don’t know who is next to my father and who this woman is holding in her arms.”
“It can’t be! In this photograph—my parents. Mom is holding me in her arms, and dad—my older brother. You are mistaken, Yuri. My parents divorced when I was a year old. After the divorce, I stayed with my mother, and my brother—with my father. I don’t remember my father, as I have never seen him since then. And I don’t even know my brother. Mom didn’t want to talk about my father and brother for a long time. Only recently she decided to talk to me about them and hang this portrait on the wall.
“My father also never told me about my mother. I didn’t know that I had a younger sister. When I was five years old, my father married a woman who refused to accept me. She showed me in every way that I was superfluous in the house. Soon after coming of age, I left home and started living my own life. I have only half of this photograph left, as a memory of a father who couldn’t protect me from my stepmother,” Yuri said sadly.
Eva and Yuri could not come to their senses after such an unexpected truth came out. They found out that they were brother and sister. Their suspicions were confirmed by Nina, who gave birth to both of them with a year’s difference. The woman tearfully begged her son to forgive her for allowing her husband to take him away many years ago. Nina later bitterly regretted agreeing with Nikolai to split the children after the divorce.
“Forgive me, my son, if you can,” she whispered with a trembling voice, “If I could go back in time, I would never have agreed to separate you. I would have wanted you and Eva to grow up together and love each other. Fate itself brought you to us before my death. I am so grateful to it for giving me a chance to look you in the eye before I leave this world. I ask you, son, take care of your sister. Don’t leave her. She remains alone in this world. I’m afraid that they will hurt her, that they will break her heart. Take care of each other. May the Lord protect you both!”
“Mommy, don’t talk like that,” Eva pleaded, stroking the crying woman’s hand, “I won’t let you die. I will find the money and save you. Everything will be fine.”
When Nina fell asleep under the influence of medication, Eva told Yuri about the situation their mother was in. The man, without a second’s hesitation, promised that money would not be a barrier to her recovery. That same day, he found the best private clinic for her, where the woman soon underwent surgery, after which her condition quickly improved. Yuri divorced his wife and offered his mother and sister to move into his large, cozy house. They agreed, dreaming that the family would finally be able to reunite.
Eva couldn’t stop thinking about her brother’s driver, thanks to whom her life had drastically changed. After all, if Yuri had not learned the truth about her and had not come to Eva’s home, she would not have found her brother, and Nina would not have received decent treatment, and most importantly—a son, whom she had thought about all these years. One day, the girl talked to Sergey and thanked him for showing the recording from the dashboard camera to Yuri. He confessed to Eva that he had never considered her capable of committing theft and was very upset when she was fired. Eva took a liking to the shy, good-looking driver, who had long wanted to get to know her but could never decide. From that day on, they started communicating closely, and six months later, they got married. Yuri organized an unforgettable, bright celebration for the lovers and was happy to see his sister in a bridal gown. At Eva and Sergey’s wedding, the girl’s close friend was present, who charmed Yuri at first sight. A few months later, another wedding took place, where the main characters were Yuri and his sister’s best friend, who became husband and wife. Yuri and Eva never lost each other again. They cherished and preserved the bond that had firmly strengthened between them.