PEOPLE

What would you do if there was nothing around you — no food, no support, no chance to survive — and you held two crying newborns in your arms?

The patrol car rolled slowly along a deserted country road. On either side stretched scrawny trees with bare branches, and darkened, moss-covered fences.

“Your mom is just an ordinary village woman, and mine is a real lady!” Anton said with a dry smirk, throwing a scornful look at his mother-in-law

The frost cut his face like a thousand icy blades. The wind gnawed under his jacket, soaked with sweat and covered in snow, as if mocking its thinned-out protection.

— You’re just a nobody, a village girl! — he threw at Maria mockingly, lifting his chin with pride. His words hit her like a slap in the face.

In a quiet residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Voronezh, life followed its usual peaceful rhythm. A district where everything was supposed to

Viktor was steering his boat across the calm surface of the Gulf of Finland while his passengers — tourists from Moscow — eagerly cast their fishing rods.

In the pouring rain, as if it were washing away all the tears of the world, Gleb rushed to the ICU to see his sick daughter. In one hand, he clutched a

“Mikhail, come quickly. Grandpa died last night.” The hand holding the phone trembled slightly. The voice of his second cousin Viktor sounded

Icy cold. At first, it was the only thing she could feel. Piercing, deep, as if it touched her very soul. Then, sounds began to reach her.