Lilya lay in the quiet bedroom, silently watching out the window as the spring city awoke.
In just a few days, the warmth had melted the winter away — the ice had vanished from the roads, and only a few pitiful white hills remained near the curbs and under the trees in the park.
A noisy group of teenagers passed outside, laughing and chatting loudly. Lilya sighed.
“How wonderful it must be to be young and healthy,” she thought, remembering her own youthful days when it felt like the whole world belonged to her.
Hopes, dreams, plans for the future… It all felt so close, as if it happened just yesterday. And now — she was helpless, forgotten, bedridden.
Valera entered the room. Genuine excitement showed on his face.
— “Lilya, time to get ready!” he said with enthusiasm.
— “Ready for what?” she frowned.
— “What do you mean, for what? I told you — I’m taking you for treatment in Switzerland.
Mountain air, organic food, top-notch doctors. I’m sure you’ll get better there!”
Lilya looked at her husband with suspicion. Ever since she inherited the mansion and her father’s business, he had become unrecognizable.
Once caring and reserved, Valera had become irritable, stubborn, even harsh.
Instead of moving into the new house, he had turned it into a mini-hotel for wealthy clients.
What exactly was going on there — Lilya could only guess.
He strictly forbade her from going to the mansion.
— “Don’t you think this has gone too far?” she once dared to ask.
— “What do you mean?” Valera frowned.
— “It’s my house. And my business too. Why are you managing it like it’s yours?”
That was when he lost his temper for the first time:
— “Oh really? When you married me, you didn’t care that I wasn’t rich.
But now, when I found a way to make ends meet, suddenly you remember you’re an heiress?”
He paced nervously around the room, biting his nails.
— “I’m doing all this for us! For our happiness!”
— “Were we unhappy before? Or does happiness, to you, mean money made who-knows-how?”
After that conversation, he grew colder. He was often gone, rarely stayed home overnight.
And when she called, he would answer irritably:
— “Lilya, I can’t talk right now. I’m busy.”
He was always on the road, at meetings, or “busy” with something else.
Lilya, who was used to open communication, began to suspect he was cheating.
Maria, the maid who had once been her nanny, peeked into the room.
She brought a jacket, a hat, and thick leggings.
— “Aunt Masha, why so many clothes? It’s already spring!”
— “For you, Miss Lilya, spring’s still far off. You need to stay warm.”
Maria gently helped her get dressed. Then she and Valera transferred Lilya into a wheelchair and rolled her to the car.
On the way to the airport, Valera talked non-stop: he described how amazing it would be in the Alps, how she’d get better, return home healthy, and walk again.
But the longer she listened, the more doubts crept in.
Why this sudden concern after months of indifference?
Did his conscience finally wake up? Or was he planning something sinister?
The trip dragged on. The car jolted along rough roads, and Lilya, sensing something was off, looked out the window.
Her heart sank: they weren’t heading to the airport at all.
Trees pressed in on both sides — they were driving down some dirt road through thick forest.
— “Can we get some air?” she asked, trying to hide her fear.
— “Hot?” Valera asked, surprised. “I’ll turn on the A/C.”
— “No need,” she replied. “Just… it feels stuffy.”
He nodded and turned onto an even narrower path. Branches scraped the windows, and the car darkened under the dense forest.
The car stopped. The scent of pine and wood smoke filled the air.
Birds chirped in the distance, a cuckoo called somewhere deep in the forest.
A short man with a pointed beard stepped out of the bushes and helped Valera unload the wheelchair.
— “Hello, young lady,” he said, lifting his felt hat.
— “Welcome to our forest retreat.”
Lilya looked at her husband questioningly. He kicked the wheelchair’s wheel and shrugged indifferently:
— “Sorry, Lilya. I just can’t afford to send you abroad.
This place is cheaper, and the conditions are fine. Yegor will take care of you.”
He stepped aside with the man and whispered something while Lilya clenched her fists and whispered:
— “What fresh air… What a bastard you are… Not one proper treatment all these years.
Just one hospital, and even that one was crumbling. So you’ve decided I don’t have long left?
Why not let me die at home? Why bring me to the middle of nowhere?”
Tears streamed down her face. She covered it with her hands.
Valera silently turned the wheelchair and quickly rolled her toward a wooden cabin.
At the porch, he caught his breath and muttered:
— “I don’t want you dying in the apartment. I still have to live there.
So finish your journey here, where no one will interfere.
And how much time you’ve got left — better ask the cuckoo.”
With that, he left. Seconds later, the car drove off, leaving Lilya alone in the forest.
Only Yegor quietly approached and, without a word, led her inside.
— “How did you end up with a man like that?” he asked. But seeing she was too shaken to speak, he simply sat her at the table.
Lilya calmed down a bit and took a sip of herbal tea from her favorite mug — the one Maria had packed with her things.
— “Valera was my father’s driver. He drove me to school every day.
I used to call him ‘Uncle Valera’ because he seemed so much older than life.
We barely talked: just ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye.’ That was it.”
She paused, then continued:
— “One day, my girlfriends said he was handsome. I laughed:
‘Are you serious? He’s old!’ But they laughed back: ‘Not that old.
He just seems mature because he’s experienced.’
I didn’t understand anything. My friends often teased me, called me a pumpkin — I knew nothing about men except what I read in books.
Talk to someone — Maria? No, she was too strict.”
But one day, I started noticing Valera. I’d look at him and my heart would pound.
He looked in the mirror and caught my gaze.
— “You checking me out?” he asked, and I blushed like a child.
I wanted to disappear. But soon I stopped looking away.
Whenever he was near, my heart beat faster.
And he… he knew. And played with it. Sometimes he’d brush my shoulder, or lean in so close I’d lose the ability to speak.
I thought I’d fallen in love with a man who could never be mine.
And then… he made his move. Said: “I want to be with you. For real.
Not as your driver, but as your husband. If you agree.”
And I agreed. Without hesitation. Not realizing that love isn’t always a bright story.
Lilya fell head over heels. One day, as Valera drove her to her final exam, she couldn’t hold back — she threw her arms around his neck and, trembling, confessed her feelings.
He listened and then calmly asked:
— “And what do you want from me? I have nothing.”
— “But I will!” she exclaimed. “Papa promised me a decent sum when I turn eighteen.
We can start a new life together!”
— “You’re bold,” Valera chuckled. “And your father will just let me go?”
— “Of course! I’ll get on my knees and beg him! I’ll say I can’t live without you!”
He looked her in the eyes — then suddenly leaned in and kissed her so passionately it took her breath away.
It was her first real adult kiss. She hugged him and whispered:
— “Let’s not go to that boring exam? Let’s go to the country house. It’s all ready — furniture’s there, even the couches.”
But then he said “no” — firmly and clearly.
— “If you fail your exams, your father will kill me,” he explained.
— “So let’s study first, then build a family.”
And she passed all her exams. Got her diploma. Enrolled in the university her father chose.
And during the celebration, she and Valera sneaked off to the attic, leaving the guests behind.
Lilya took another sip of tea. Her face turned pale, her voice faltered — too many emotions, too many painful memories.
— “Maybe you should rest a bit?” Yegor suggested, seeing how labored her breathing was.
— “You’re so upset, you might get worse.”
— “I already feel awful,” Lilya replied with a bitter smile.
— “When I realized Valera brought me here just to abandon me, I thought my heart would break.
But maybe it’s stronger than the doctors think.
It survived even this…”
Egor gently draped a blanket over her. Dusk was gathering outside the window.
He was shaken by the story himself, but what shocked him most were the words Valera had passed on to him:
“Do it so she won’t suffer. Put the drops into her food or water…”
He had expected an old woman, barely breathing from pain.
Instead, he saw a young woman — beautiful, though pale from being bedridden for so long.
Egor had previously worked as a cardiologist. He was nearly appointed head of his department until a powerful chief physician pushed through his own acquaintance.
The setup was masterfully orchestrated — Egor was blamed for a mistake he hadn’t made.
Of course, the court didn’t bother to investigate: one was just a doctor, the other had powerful connections.
After serving his sentence, Egor returned home. But no one was waiting for him: his wife had sold the apartment and vanished.
He had to accept a job as a forest ranger in a remote area with barely any roads.
When Valera offered him a job “to watch over a dying woman,” Egor agreed — even if just for the money.
But now, listening to Lilia’s stories, he began to understand: something was clearly off.
After leaving the house, Egor sat on the porch and took out the vial Valera had left him.
The cap opened easily, and the smell hit him instantly — a mix of heart-supporting medications.
They increased heart rate, but Lilia’s was already erratic. What kind of strange prescription was this?
Egor suddenly realized: was this not a painkiller at all, but something entirely different?
Was Valera hoping to hasten her end?
He clenched the vial in his fist and hurled it into the trash bin.
“No, buddy, you picked the wrong guy,” he muttered to himself.
The morning began with hot tears. Lilia woke up thinking of her youth, of her beloved father, who had dreamed she would help him in business.
But she… after that party at the summer house, she had gotten pregnant.
At first, she didn’t understand what was happening. She thought she was sick. Only a friend helped her realize the truth.
When she told her father, he was nearly speechless.
And when asked whether she would keep the baby, Lilia sobbed,
“How should I know?! Turns out, I don’t get to decide anything in my life at all…”
She returned home in hysterics. Her father rushed to her:
“Lilia, who upset you like this? Tell me, I’ll find him and deal with it!”
“No one hurt me…” she sniffled. “Just promise me you won’t kill anyone.”
“I wasn’t planning to, but if needed — I’ll try to hold back.”
“I’m pregnant, Papa… from Valera…”
At her words, her father stood up several times, agitated, but restrained himself. Then he firmly said:
“Then the wedding is in a month.”
“But he wasn’t planning to marry me…”
“He will now. And he better make you happy!”
A month later, they were husband and wife. Her father moved to the summer house, and the newlyweds remained in the large city apartment with panoramic windows and high ceilings.
Maria moved in as their maid, taking care of them like family.
Lilia took academic leave from her first year at university. In two months, she was to become a mother.
She waited with warmth in her heart. But one night, pain struck her belly like a metal ball dropping inside.
The ambulance arrived after half an hour. At the hospital, the doctors said dryly:
“The baby didn’t survive.”
Lilia couldn’t believe it. How could someone speak so coldly about a small life that had already become a part of her soul?
Hearing footsteps, Lilia turned. Egor entered the room.
“Good morning,” he greeted her. “How are you feeling? Crying again?”
“Yes. Memories again. The wedding, the premature birth…
It’s like our marriage was never blessed.”
The man brought her breakfast.
“Did you add the drops to the tea?” she asked.
Egor hesitated, but lied:
“Yes, I added them. Drink, get well. After all, it’s spring outside.”
“Healing?” Lilia repeated. “But didn’t I come here to die?”
“I see no reason for you to die,” he said gently. “Especially since I’m a doctor.”
“Really?” she was surprised. “So Valera wasn’t lying that a medical professional was watching over me?”
“Valera didn’t know who I really was. I was introduced as some ex-con from the woods.”
“You were in prison?” she asked, visibly shocked.
“Yes. Because of a chief doctor who wanted my position.”
Lilia thought for a moment:
“You should’ve found a good lawyer.
If I could stand, I’d take you to our family attorney. He’s an honorable man.”
Egor smirked:
“Not everyone has money for honorable lawyers.”
Then he suddenly asked:
“By the way, did you sign a prenup?”
“Of course,” Lilia replied. “My dad wouldn’t let me get married without one.”
“And do you remember what the prenup says? Who inherits your assets if something happens to you?”
Lilia froze. Her eyes flickered with horror, as if she suddenly saw something terrifying.
“You think… he planned it all?” she whispered.
Her heart pounded, her carotid artery pulsed, her face turned ashen.
Egor quickly brought her medication. Lilia drank it shakily, gripping his hand tightly:
“My God… What if he drove my father to the grave too? He wasn’t that old…”
“You see, Lilia,” Egor said gently, “now you have every reason to live — and uncover the truth yourself.”
She lay on the pillows, her color slowly returning.
“You’re right. I can’t die so foolishly and leave everything to that bastard!” she said firmly.
“But can you bargain with death?”
“I don’t know,” the man replied. “But we can try to make a deal with life.”
After breakfast, Egor pulled a worn phone from his pocket:
“This is the device Valera gave me. To let him know when ‘it’s over.’”
Lilia looked at him in confusion:
“No, I lost my phone long ago. No idea where it is now.”
“Let’s check. Maybe you have a way to connect. Pass me your jacket, please.”
Lilia started searching her pockets, hoping to find something.
Suddenly her fingers touched a small chip — a SIM card. She pulled it out with difficulty and beamed:
“Aunt Masha must’ve hidden it! What a smart woman!”
Egor inserted the SIM into his phone and handed it to her.
She found a contact, pressed call. After a few rings, the operator said:
“The subscriber is out of network coverage.”
Sighing in disappointment, Lilia returned the phone.
Then Egor scrolled through the contact list and stopped:
“‘Aunt Masha, maid’?”
The maid answered almost immediately:
“Lilichka! Thank God you found my SIM! I thought I’d never hear from you again!
There’s so much happening here…”
“What happened?” Lilia asked in alarm.
“Valera brought another family into your house! Turns out he has kids. Three of them.
By his second citizenship.”
“What family?!” Lilia couldn’t believe her ears.
“A wife, three kids. Arrived yesterday. Now I’m forced to work for them.
I must go — before they hear me…”
The line went dead. Lilia stared at Egor in shock.
“Now everything makes sense. He was married. Just hid it.
And now, once I ‘die,’ he’ll take everything — the apartment, the business, the mansion.”
She gathered her strength, dialed the family attorney’s number, and pressed call.
“Yakov Alexandrovich! It’s me! Finally! You can’t imagine the situation I’m in!
Please help me, for God’s sake!”
She told him everything — about the betrayal, Valera’s plans, how she’d been abandoned in the woods to “stay out of the way.”
“Yakov Alexandrovich, help me reclaim my rights.
Otherwise, this man will get everything just because I’m sick.”
After the call, she smiled and put down the phone:
“That’s it. Now they won’t escape justice. Uncle Yasha will handle it.”
Her cheeks were flushed with emotion, eyes sparkling. Egor approached, gently touched her wrist:
“Your pulse is normal. Notice that?”
“From your drops or the news?”
“More likely because you haven’t taken his ‘medicine’ in two days.
I threw the vial away. But now, we might need to find it — as evidence.”
From then on, Lilia became a different person. Her heart beat steadily — no more failures.
No weakness, no dizziness, no sense of looming death.
She even walked outside without a wheelchair — slowly but surely.
Within days, she wore a tracksuit, sneakers, and stepped into the yard.
Egor, seeing her on her feet, nearly dropped his firewood:
“You?!”
“Yes, it’s me!” she smiled. “And you know what? I can live again.”
There was no more fear of death, only confidence.
When a cuckoo flew overhead, Lilia raised her head:
“Hey, bird! Tell me how long I’ve got left!”
The cuckoo went silent. Then started calling — one, two, three…
She counted, bending her fingers — until she lost track.
Soon the attorney arrived. And the cuckoo kept calling, as if giving a sign.
Weeks later, Valera decided to personally check what was happening.
He arrived at the ranger station, left his car by the road, and headed toward the cabin.
Suddenly, he saw a bag swaying on a branch.
Inside was the very vial he had left Egor. Valera turned pale.
Events unfolded rapidly after that.
Valera was charged with multiple offenses — from bigamy to attempted murder of a spouse.
His foreign family was deported.
Lilia sold the city apartment — too many memories, too much pain.
Her father gave her a cottage in the suburbs, where she now lived with Egor.
“Now we can start over,” she said, standing by the window.
“And most importantly — honestly,” Egor added.
They planned to open a new center for pregnant women and people with heart conditions.
Right here, far from the past, they began building a future.
