– Adam, have you lost your mind?! You’re twenty-two, what wedding are you talking about?
Tibor, the company director, paced nervously up and down in his impressive living room, sometimes throwing his hands to his head and shouting out loud.
His son, Adam, stood motionless against the wall.
He was now confessing to his father that he wanted to ask Anna to marry him.
– Stop this nonsense! – Tibor said. – A village girl, she’s not right for you.
We’ll find you a “proper” fiancée.
Someone more suitable for you. Marriage at this age? You’ve got until you’re thirty! You just finished university, you should focus on your career.
– But dad… Anna is pregnant. – Adam’s voice rang quietly but firmly. Tibor stopped in his tracks and stared at his son.
– So what? Give her some money, let her deal with it alone! Or don’t give her anything! Let her sort it out herself! We have connections, we’ll get rid of her.
– She’s expecting triplets – Adam replied.
Tibor nearly exploded. His voice echoed beneath the high ceiling.
– I don’t want any grandchildren from a cow herder! Look at yourself! You’re young, smart, handsome, the whole world is ahead of you. Any girl would hang onto you.
– Anna is not a spoiled village girl, dad! She graduated in finance just like I did. You’ve never even met her, yet you judge her. If you saw her, you’d like her too.
– I don’t care who she is! And I don’t want to see her! – Tibor shouted. – The idea of you marrying her…
You can forget about the inheritance! You won’t get a penny from me! I’ll spend everything while I’m alive! If you choose her, you’re no longer my son!
– Then it’s settled – Adam said calmly. – If that’s the price, then I’ll pay it. I won’t abandon my children for an office chair. I love Anna, and we want to build a family together!
Tibor turned red with anger, shaking his arms like an enraged insect, then shouted in a frothy voice:
– You fool! I raised you, and this is what you do to me? Fine, go, but one day you’ll crawl back here begging! But I won’t help you!
Adam didn’t respond, he just turned around, opened the door, and slammed it behind him.
Three years later
Tibor still lived alone in his three-story city villa.
Since his wife’s death, he had increasingly sunk into the nightlife: parties, women, gambling – they had become part of his daily life.
His company still functioned well, but he barely took part in it anymore. He loved the money, but he loved spending it even more.
When he promised to squander his fortune, he wasn’t joking.
He withdrew money through fictional companies, signed fake contracts, just to buy new cars, properties, and yachts.
One day, however, he received a call from the tax office.
A former acquaintance warned him: an investigation was underway, and not only his company but also he personally was in the crosshairs.
Tibor scratched his balding head, thinking about how he could salvage what was left.
That’s when he thought of someone he had disowned long ago – his son. His only legal heir.
And maybe he’s still living in some kind of poverty in a village…
He pulled out an old, unopened letter. The envelope had the village name: Hörcsögpuszta. Tibor laughed.
– What a name! Seriously, does anyone live there? I’ve never heard of such a place. But it sounds familiar… I must have heard it somewhere.
He notified Adam that he would be visiting and then got into his car and drove off.
The drive to Hörcsögpuszta was pleasant. The highway cut through the pine forest, and Tibor felt more and more like he had been here before. “Oh well, a forest is a forest, they all look the same…” – he shrugged.
When he reached the village, he couldn’t believe his eyes. It wasn’t a dilapidated mud hut, or a muddy yard waiting for him, but a beautiful, brick-built family home.
Spacious, with a mansard roof, a multi-car garage, a neat fruit orchard, a greenhouse, and flower beds with rock gardens.
The gate opened, and three little girls ran out cheerfully, wearing identical pink sun visors and sunglasses. Triplets?
No – triplets. It was true! Their chubby faces, similarly styled haircuts, and slightly worn milk teeth made them look identical.
Adam stepped out after them. He was no longer the skinny, blonde boy, but a grown man.
Broad-shouldered, muscular, with a calm expression. He was dressed in simple jeans and a shirt, but there was a certain dignity to him.
Tibor had to admit that perhaps his son hadn’t been lost after all.
Then his wife appeared as well. Blonde, modestly dressed, a simple but kind-looking woman.
Tibor suddenly felt something familiar about her. He awkwardly avoided eye contact. No, it couldn’t be… she just resembled someone.
Next came Anna’s father, Miklós. A short, slightly chubby, mustached man, who greeted the guest with a warm smile. They shook hands. The atmosphere was friendly, but there was tension in the air.
[ ]
– Meet Kitti, Viki, and Panni – Adam introduced the girls.
Tibor nodded, but his face revealed nothing. They were his granddaughters, but he didn’t feel anything. He wasn’t interested in them.
They sat down in the garden on the terrace, where the table was already set. Homemade sausage, pickles, salads, grilled meat. Tibor’s eyes lit up. He still had a weakness for food.
– So, tell me, how have you been doing? – he asked gruffly.
– It wasn’t easy – Adam began. – In the beginning, we had nothing. Anna’s parents helped a lot.
Then I realized there’s potential in this village: beautiful scenery, a lake, a forest, and no work. People move away.
– I opened a resort. I bought several houses and renovated them. I fixed up the beach, advertised, hired employees. People come from the city to relax.
In fact, I turned the village diner into a restaurant.
Now we have our own branded products: under the name “Hörcsögpuszta.” Meats, jams, dairy products.
“Anyone who works here gets a good salary. We’re raising our children here. We’ve invested all our money into this, but it was worth it.”
Tibor silently chewed, then threw out:
“And the debt?”
“There’s almost none left. We’re planning an expansion: a ski slope, a campground, a bigger store…”
“And you, Dad?” Adam finally asked.
Tibor coughed, then answered: “Same as always. I’m getting by. But this isn’t about me right now.”
“And the kids?” he asked. Anna smiled and joined in.
“It was hard at first. Stomach pain, teething, three babies at once… I didn’t sleep for a year.
But Adam was always there. My dad helped a lot too. We took them for walks, put them to sleep, we built, we managed.”
Tibor yawned. He was starting to feel that these family details weren’t for him. He’d never changed a diaper. In fact, he’d barely seen Adam as a child. His wife had raised him while he lived in his own world.
Sometimes, when he thought of his son, all that mattered was that he was decent, didn’t cause any scandals. But now… somehow, he didn’t recognize himself in Adam. Maybe except for the entrepreneurial spirit.
“But if I were in his shoes, I would’ve sold the surrounding forests long ago.
I’d bring in a logging company. The peasants would be happy for the work, and they’d work for minimum wages like machines. This boy is too honest. He’s wasting his opportunities.”
While he was pondering this, he was interrupted by a voice:
“Good afternoon! Who’s come to visit?”
A loud woman’s voice called from the street. Tibor jumped. It was familiar… but he couldn’t place it.
Then he heard the name the old Miklós had said:
“Good afternoon, Aunt Katalin!”
Katalin? Tibor froze.
The woman was moving away, but the conversation could still be heard:
“Didn’t you tell him?”
“Why would we tell him?”
“I think she went to him!”
“I’m sure of it.”
Tibor stopped paying attention. One name echoed in his head: Lujza. And then, like a lightning strike, everything clicked. That’s why Anna looked so familiar! Her mother… her mother was his former fiancée!
The girl he’d horribly divorced twenty years ago. The girl he’d shamed, abandoned, and ruined her life. Anna… Lujza’s daughter?!
Tibor’s thoughts were racing. He reached for the car keys, planning to leave before Lujza arrived. But it was already too late.
A short, strong-built woman appeared around the corner, with sunflower-colored hair, a colorful blouse, and sports pants, and… a hoe in her hand.
“Well, finally! You pushed your face here, you scumbag?!” Lujza shouted.
Tibor froze as if struck by lightning. Lujza was heading straight for him. Anna jumped between them:
“Mom, please, don’t! Enough! Let’s just talk calmly!”
“Get out of here!” her mother yelled at her. “Now it’s finally my time!”
Tibor tried to get into the car, but the hoe reached him first. With one swing, the car’s windshield shattered with a crash.
“Did you think you could escape? Did you think you’d get away?!” Lujza panted. “You ruined my life, and now everyone will finally know who you really are!”
The village people were already standing on the other side of the street, like a silent audience. Some sat on the grass, others leaned against the fence. An old woman pulled out a bag of pumpkin seeds. Tibor couldn’t escape.
Lujza began. Loudly, clearly, out of anger, pain, and revenge:
“I was twenty-one when I met you. I sold everything, moved out of the village, because I thought I found the one.
At that time, you weren’t famous yet, just rich. You twisted my head, made me believe I was important to you.”
She spoke about their relationship, their shared apartment, the trips, the wedding preparations. Then about that moment when everything changed.
“A week before the wedding, a woman – your secretary, who you’d passed off as your wife – called me aside and told me the truth. That you’d been living a double life the whole time. That you already had a wife. And a little boy. Adam.”
The village gasped. Tibor lowered his head. His neck turned red with shame – or maybe it was from the sun, but no one cared.
“That’s when I swore that if you ruined my life, I’d at least make sure yours wouldn’t be peaceful!” Lujza angrily waved at Anna. “And you! You know what I asked of you! I wanted you to destroy his son! Take him down! But you… you betrayed me!”
Anna just stood there, with tears in her eyes. Adam stepped beside her, put his arm around her. The triplets were watching from the terrace, confused, but they felt it: this was something big.
“Life is surprising, Mom,” Anna said quietly. “Your revenge only made you unhappy. We didn’t want revenge. We just wanted each other.”
“You ungrateful girl!” Lujza fumed. “I raised you for twenty years, and now you betray me?”
“No. I’ve grown up. And I don’t want to teach my children hatred,” Anna answered calmly.
Tibor stood silently while Lujza hissed one last time:
“I’m not done. There will be reckoning!” Then she stormed off, disappearing down the street.
For a while, no one said anything. Then an old man spoke by the gate:
“You know what? This Adam is a good guy. Since he’s been here, there’s been work, money, life. I’m not trembling when I pay my bills anymore!”
“That’s right!” a woman spoke up. “My husband works for him too. He’s been sober ever since. We’re grateful to him!”
One neighbor after another joined in. Tibor felt like he’d dropped into another world.
A world where not money, but honor and community mattered.
At that moment, the yellow taxi arrived. Tibor quickly got in.
“I’m glad you’re doing well, son,” he said briefly to Adam. “And… that you’re happy.”
“Thank you, Dad,” Adam replied. “And if it’s not just trouble that brings you here, maybe stay for a while.”
Tibor nodded, then the car sped off into the sunset. The wind blew away the silence, and the village slowly returned to its everyday routine.
Lujza had really left the village. Where to, no one knows for sure.
Maybe she’s planning a new revenge. Maybe she finally found some peace.
Adam and Anna continued to build their little empire.
Every winter, a new house was built.
The little girls went to school, Adam had even started building a ski slope, and a new slogan was born:
“Hörcsögpuszta – where the past reconciles with the future.”
