“This can’t be happening!… It can’t!” Nadezhda thought, staring at the photo where a young, pregnant girl had her arms around her husband’s neck, perched on his lap and beaming. Twenty-five years of marriage… was it all going down the drain now? Her heart clenched painfully as she stared at the image, forgetting she’d even opened the social network at a colleague’s request to update their work group’s information.
A tight band seemed to squeeze her temples, and she had to force herself up from the desk to take a sedative. She couldn’t wrap her head around Arkady being capable of cheating. But what else could you call this? The girl had captioned the photo “Sugar Daddy.” He really was old enough to be her father—and everyone knows what that term implies. Lately money had been tight for Arkady; he’d said the company had canceled bonuses, so he was earning less. Now so much was falling into place… did he need cash to keep a mistress? Their savings account had plummeted, too. Nadezhda had never asked what he was taking money for; she trusted him completely and believed that if he decided to spend a certain sum, it was for something necessary, not for fun. Now she wasn’t so sure.
Back at the computer, Nadezhda shot the photo another disgusted look and closed it. She didn’t feel like doing anything, but she had given her word to her colleague—she couldn’t just shut everything and leave—so she forced herself to focus on the update, shutting out what she’d seen. When she finished, she quickly messaged her coworker, switched off her phone, and went to the kitchen. Cooking dinner often calmed her, so she decided to start, anything to drive out the nasty thoughts skittering through her head like hungry cockroaches.
Hearing the front door open, Nadezhda peeked into the hall. It was Maxim, their adopted son, whom they had taken from an orphanage when he was just a toddler. They had never hidden the truth from Maxim; he thanked his parents for giving him the chance to grow up in a family, loved them, and considered them his only real relatives.
“You’re early today,” Nadezhda smiled, though the smile came out strained.
“I just popped in for a second, Mom. The guys and I are heading to the chess club. I’ll be late. You and Dad have dinner without me. The boys ordered pizza. We want to get a bit more practice in before the tournament. Gotta get the old gears turning.” Maxim hesitated, then frowned and looked at Nadezhda seriously. “What’s up with you? Some kind of problem? You’re darker than a thundercloud.”
“No, no, everything’s fine. I’m just wiped out today. The heat is oppressive—you know I always suffer when the sun’s blazing like this. Don’t worry. It’s fine. Good luck with the guys.”
Nadezhda slipped back into the kitchen and returned to making dinner, though she no longer understood who she was cooking for… How would her conversation with Arkady go? She loved her husband with all her heart. They had lived together happily for so many years, and now she couldn’t imagine life without him. How would they be without each other? Then again, he had already found his consolation. Whether the young mistress even needed him—that was another question.
Maxim changed and soon left, and Nadezhda sat at the table to wait for her husband to come home. She pictured the conversation with Arkady in every detail, rehearsing how she would tell him she knew everything. She could have kept quiet, pretended she hadn’t seen anything, but she had always been straightforward. She couldn’t lie and smile when she knew the truth. And what for? Things would never be like before; the aftertaste wouldn’t go away, and she couldn’t live with a traitor.
Her husband came home with a bouquet of lilies. He knew they were Nadezhda’s favorite and often brought them, though now and then he chose other flowers, saying he wanted to delight her with variety. He gave bouquets often, so Nadezhda had never found it odd, but now she wondered—did he buy them on the way back from his mistresses? How many were there? Her heart clenched again… for the umpteenth time that day.
“Smells amazing! Every time I come home, I’m thrilled—there’s a delicious dinner and my beloved family waiting for me,” Arkady said with a dreamy smile. He handed his wife the bouquet, kissed her cheek, and smiled. “I missed you terribly. I’ll wash my hands and be right back. I’m starving.”
Nadezhda set the flowers in a vase while her husband changed and washed up. She tried to keep herself in check, to keep from dumping all her emotions on him. You must never talk to your loved ones in a blind rage. Twenty-five years of marriage is no joke. Even if he had cheated, for the sake of all they had been to each other she should at least preserve some respect for him.
She plated dinner and sat down.
“Nadyushka, why are you so sad today? Trouble at work?” Arkady asked as he joined her.
“I know everything…” she said in a distant voice, looked at her husband, and pressed her lips together. “I know everything, Arkasha. There’s no point hiding anything from me anymore. You do realize that’s not your child, don’t you?”
His “lover” could lie to him all she wanted, calling her pregnancy a miracle, but he couldn’t have children. That was why, back then, they had decided to adopt a child from an orphanage. They had visited more than one doctor and undergone treatment, but then came the diagnosis they couldn’t ignore: Arkady was infertile. And now here he was, posing in a photo with a pregnant girl, as if he believed she was carrying his child. For a moment Nadezhda wondered if it was some stupid joke—maybe the girl was a good friend’s daughter… a colleague. But colleagues don’t kiss and cuddle like that. The photo was far too intimate for coworkers. Way too intimate! And why tag Arkady in it? The mistress must have known he rarely checked social media and wanted the wife to see, to steal him from the family. And then what was the plan?
“I’m afraid to ask how you found out, my Sherlock… But I do suspect someone’s trying to deceive me. I promise I’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“So simple? You’re not even going to say it’s not what I think?”
“What’s the point of lying? You already know. I just didn’t want to upset you, so I said nothing. I got mixed up with her foolishly, and now… I never imagined I’d have to deal with the fallout.”
Nadezhda wanted to howl with despair. Deep down she must have hoped her husband would justify himself, say he hadn’t cheated, but he was only confirming what she’d heard. His words pounded in her head, circling over and over.
“I told her I want a DNA test, but she refuses. And what is there to talk about then? If she were sure of her honesty, she wouldn’t argue—she’d take the test. Right?”
Nadezhda gave a bitter, shaky little laugh and shook her head.
“What possessed you to go looking for adventure at your age? She’s young enough to be your daughter!” Nadezhda burst out, no longer able to hold back the hurt. “I’d never have thought you were capable of this!”
“A daughter? Nadya, are you talking about Lena? She looks much older than you now! Come on.”
“So you’ve got some Lena too?.. Wonderful! I was talking about Svetlana—the girl sitting on your lap—the one who captioned your photo ‘Sugar Daddy’…”
“Hold on, Nadyusha… you really did get it wrong. Sveta is the ‘daughter’ they’re trying to pin on me. I figured you’d found out about Lena… I don’t know how she tracked me down, but she claimed I have an adult daughter who needs her father. I didn’t want to meet her, but she dragged Sveta to my office, and the girl latched on like a burr, all happy, saying she’d met her dad. She’s pregnant and asking for support because the baby’s father ran off. I only sat with her in a café once. She asked to take a picture; I never imagined she’d hop on my lap and start hugging. I told her flat out that I doubted we were related and that I can’t have children, but Lena shouted that she’d had no one but me and demanded I not reject a daughter who’s depressed because of her pregnancy. I gave them my terms: either we do a DNA test, or they stay out of my life. I didn’t think she’d go posting photos. Maybe that was the plan from the start—to drive a wedge between us? I think we should teach them a lesson.”
A heavy stone dropped from Nadezhda’s heart. She burst into tears, unable to hold back any longer. Arkady got up, came around to her, and hugged her.
“Hey now, silly girl. We’re like penguins—you and I—together forever. I’ve never looked at other women since I met you. With Lena, it was a student-days fling, and not for long. She bolted for someone more successful and said she never wanted to see me again, and I didn’t pine. I must’ve felt my true happiness would find me.”
Arkady decided to give his former flame and her daughter a lesson. The next day he messaged Svetlana, saying he wanted to meet at a café and discuss helping her. He asked her to come alone, since talking in her mother’s presence was impossible. Svetlana rushed in, planted a smacking kiss on him, but he pinned her with a furious look.
“Kindly observe propriety—we’re complete strangers to each other, Svetlana.”
“Strangers? You said you’d acknowledge your paternity and were ready to help! What kind of joke is this? I’m not supposed to get worked up! It could harm the baby!”
“If you truly couldn’t get worked up, you’d never have got yourself into this stunt, Sveta. Now tell me why you cooked all this up. Did you want to wreck my marriage? I’m done with lies. If you won’t answer me straight, I’ll go to the police and charge you and your mother with fraud.”
Svetlana was genuinely frightened. She started sniffling, tried to play on his pity, but quickly realized such tricks didn’t work on Arkady.
“I really was going to go to the police this morning, but I decided to give you a chance because you’re pregnant and you still seem, for now, less far gone than your mother. Why did Lena come up with all this?”
“She wanted you back. Mom missed you, Arkady. She loved you. Nothing worked out for her after you, and she often remembered you…”
“Lies!” Arkady snapped, then immediately mastered himself as other patrons began to stare. “Blatant lies. I want the truth.”
“The truth is, she found out you were successful. She decided to win you back by any means. She gave me money to play the doting daughter who’d always dreamed of her father. I figured you’d at least help a little, but you’re stingy… like all men. How your wifey puts up with you, I don’t know… You must be two of a kind. And it’s good nothing worked out. I’m sick of smiling and pretending at a kinship that doesn’t exist and never did.”
Svetlana shot to her feet and left in a hurry, while Arkady rubbed his temples and shook his head. Once again he realized how lucky he was with his wife. In Nadezhda’s place, many would have made a scene—screamed, hurled accusations, tossed his things off the balcony—but she treated their past and their feelings with respect.
He went home, pulled his wife into a tight embrace, and told her everything he’d learned from Svetlana.
“I suspected it was something like that; now it’s confirmed. People can be so vile… it makes your head spin.”
“I understand. Did you give them much money? Did you help? I never asked why you were withdrawing from our savings, but quite a bit has gone… I won’t scold you if at first you believed them and helped,” Nadezhda began carefully.
Arkady smiled, kissed her temple, and stepped back.
“And here’s the happy news I wanted to tell you yesterday, but didn’t—because it wouldn’t have sounded happy then. Remember I told you I wanted to start my own business? I did it, Nadya! The permit came through quickly thanks to a contact. I was afraid something might go wrong, so I didn’t say anything at first—I didn’t want to get your hopes up. Work has started. Clients are coming. Soon we’ll be able to buy Maxim an apartment, travel… life’s going to get even better.”
Nadezhda rejoiced and praised her husband.
“Don’t praise me—praise yourself… Without a wife like you I wouldn’t have achieved anything in this life. And I’ll never get tired of saying that!”