At the end of June, something unexpected happened. Stanislav Dmitrievich called her into his office and offered her a promotion—the position of Deputy Director for Administrative Affairs. Anna was stunned.
“I value your work,” he said. “You are a professional one can rely on. And after everything you’ve been through, you’ve become even stronger. Think about my offer.”
Anna thought for two days and accepted. It was a new chapter in her career, new opportunities, a new life.
One day in early July, she was sitting on the very same bench near the business center where she had first met Arseny Petrovich. It was her lunch break, and Anna was drinking coffee from a paper cup and reading a book, enjoying the warm summer day. And suddenly, she saw a familiar figure. The man was walking down the path, leaning on a cane.
“Arseny Petrovich!” she called out, jumping up from the bench.
He turned, looked closely at her face, and smiled broadly.
“Ah, the young lady with the bracelet! How are you doing?”
“Excellent!” Anna walked up to him. “Thanks to you! You saved my life back then, and I want you to know that.”
He came closer, sat down next to her on the bench, placing his cane beside him.
“I just stated the obvious. You were the one who made the decision. It’s your achievement, not mine.”
“Thank you anyway!” Anna sat down beside him. “I got divorced. Started a new life. Without the bracelet, without control, without fear. I got a promotion at work. I rented my own apartment. I’m happy!”
Arseny Petrovich nodded, his wrinkled face glowing with kindness.
“You’re breathing differently now.”
“I can see that.”
“When we first met, you could barely breathe. And now—freely and easily.”
Anna smiled. Yes, she was indeed breathing differently. Freely, deeply, without looking back. Without the fear that someone was controlling her every breath.
The man stood up, leaning on his cane.
“Take care of yourself, young lady. And remember—your health, your life, your choice. No one has the right to take that away from you. No one, ever.”
He slowly walked away down the path, and Anna watched him go, feeling a warmth in her chest. “It’s over. The past is behind me.”
Anna stood up from the bench, turned, and walked back to the office, feeling an incredible lightness in her body and clarity in her mind. Ahead of her was work, new projects, plans for the future. Ahead were meetings with friends, trips, dreams she could now make come true on her own. Ahead was a life without a bracelet—the very life she had chosen for herself, built with her own hands, that belonged only to her.
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