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Lera pressed herself tightly against the wall and tried to breathe as quietly as possible. The nurses were talking about her — who else could they speak about so loudly and without fear of being overheard? Naturally, someone who would never respond, never defend herself, never stand up for herself. “I heard some girl came … Read more

Svetlana was sobbing, burying her face in a pillow. Her heartbreaking gasps tore through the silence of the room. Aleksey couldn’t find peace — he nervously paced from corner to corner, trying to understand how something like this could even happen. “How can you lose a child?” he asked, trying to restrain his anger. “I … Read more

Claudia, as usual with the first rays of the sun, went out to the garden. There was no shortage of tasks: she needed to water the beds, weed the grass, check the chicken coop, and inspect the fruit trees — all of which required attention and time. And she had no helpers. No one nearby. … Read more

Natalya stood by the kitchen window, watching the summer yard where children were running between the swings, their screams coming through the open window sash. The heat had promised to be unbearable since the morning. The air conditioner was humming at full power, but the coolness did nothing to relieve the stuffy feeling that had … Read more

Vika was standing by the sink, washing the dishes after dinner, when Dmitry came home. Her husband looked unusually tense—his eyebrows were furrowed, shoulders slumped. Usually, after work Dmitry joked around, told stories about his colleagues, but today he silently went into the room and plopped down on the couch. “What’s wrong?” Vika wiped her … Read more

Vera was sitting on the bed, sorting through summer dresses. The tickets lay on the nightstand — the train to Sochi was tomorrow morning. A week of planning, choosing a hotel, studying routes. The first vacation in three years when she could just be herself. Not a wife, not a hostess, not the organizer of … Read more

Anya was sitting in the armchair, examining a lipstick. It wasn’t hers… She never wore lipstick. Especially not such a bright red color. Once, having found a long black hair on the car headrest, Anya asked her husband whose it was, since she was a brunette with a bob haircut. “Ah… don’t stress about it. … Read more

Chapter 1: The Ghost of the Past Valentina Stepanovna appeared at the “Solnyshko” shelter in early October — a small, stooped woman in an old, worn coat and a headscarf tied in a girlish way. She was dragging a large wheeled bag behind her, stopping every few steps to catch her breath. The wind fluttered … Read more

Grandfather left me an old house in the village in a dilapidated state as an inheritance, while my sister got a two-room apartment in the very center of the city. My husband called me a failure and moved in with my sister. After losing everything I had, I went to the village, and when I … Read more

The autumn wind swirled over the cemetery, lifting yellow leaves from the ground. Anna Alekseevna adjusted the collar of her coat and crouched by the grave. The granite monument gleamed after the recent rain. Two faces looked at her from the photograph — a man about thirty-five years old with an open, kind gaze, and … Read more