— “I never trusted Maxim from the first time we met.” He spoke quietly, without reproach, simply stating a fact. “I saw how he looked at our apartment, how he calculated its worth. There was greed in his eyes, my dear daughter, and disrespect for you, though you didn’t notice it.”
Vera listened, cupping the mug with both hands, feeling the hot tea warm her palms. Her father continued, and his voice remained calm, but it held the pain of a person who had watched his child suffer and couldn’t intervene.
— “But you loved him, so I kept quiet,” Pyotr Nikolaevich looked his daughter in the eye. “I was waiting for you to ask for help yourself. I didn’t want to interfere in your life uninvited, to break what you were building. And then I saw you with Tyomka at the bus stop in the cold, in worn-out boots, and I realized the time had come.”
Vera began to cry, and her father hugged her, just as he had in her childhood when she was scared or hurt.
— “I will always protect you and Tyomka. Always. No matter what happens.”
A week later, Vera returned to her job in the accounting department at the “Metallist” factory. She hadn’t been there for almost a month, since the divorce proceedings began, and she was afraid of her colleagues’ reactions. But when she entered the department, Irina and Marina greeted her with flowers and a cake, and on the table was a card signed by all the employees.
— “Verochka, we are so glad you’re back!” Irina hugged her, and Vera felt genuine warmth. “You did the right thing by not giving up. We were all worried about you.”
The head of the department, Valentina Stepanovna, called Vera into her office towards lunchtime. A woman of about fifty-five, strict and fair, she looked at her attentively, then placed an order on the table.
— “I’m promoting you to senior accountant,” Valentina Stepanovna spoke in a business-like manner, but her eyes showed approval. “The salary is 65,000. You’re a good specialist, Vera, and you deserve better. Especially now.”
Vera left the office, holding the order, and couldn’t immediately believe what was happening. For the first time in years, she would receive money on her own card, which only she controlled. For the first time, she could decide for herself what to spend it on. The thought was both frightening and exhilarating.
Six months passed. Spring turned into early summer, the city turned green, and Vera’s life gradually settled into a new routine. She took Artem to kindergarten, worked, and in the evenings, she would walk in the park with her father. She had the car repaired and cleaned, and now she drove it every day, enjoying the freedom of movement.
One Saturday, she went to the supermarket for groceries…
