- Remember the letter that was handed to you before the accident? Before you drove to Amanda. - And when I nod, Korniyev continues. - That letter was from her late, let’s say, mother. In it, she confesses that it was because of her that you were forced to break up and that she apologizes for it because the only thing she wanted was happiness for her daughter, but she made the biggest mistake, just like her parents did. That’s right, Adam, your mother and I broke up because of her parents. They found out about our relationship, and her father used all his connections to threaten me with the life of his daughter unless I backed off. And I, like the last scoundrel, did the same. I barely destroyed the life of my only child with my own hands. - For a moment, silence falls around us, and the only sound in the room is the too fast beating of two hearts. - So, I did everything to keep you away from Amanda, sending her to study in London, but not in the specialty her parents wanted, but exactly where she wanted to go. That’s how Amanda started studying to be an architect; I bought my daughter an apartment, paid for her studies, like I was granting her a scholarship, and she didn’t even know that I was covering all her needs, fulfilling all her desires. I wanted to come and tell her the whole truth, but I understood that I needed to find the right moment. And then what I had long dreamed of happened. A year after Amanda left, her mother and I accidentally spent a few nights together. And all the feelings that had been hidden for 18 years burst into flames anew.
- Adam, I want you to understand that my relationship with your mother was mutually beneficial. We met on vacation and just understood that it would be convenient for us to live together. But there is another secret, and this secret concerns only you. - At those words, my whole body tenses.
- Actually, Nazar is your biological brother. When we began living with your mother, you were 15. And she didn’t want to communicate with you for a long time, even though I repeatedly suggested it. She kept track of your life but wasn’t ready for it. Nazar is not from your father; he is from a man your mother met on vacation. And that secret probably should have gone with her to the grave, but I don’t want to remain silent. She came to me when Nazar was 10. To give you an understanding, you have a 5-year age difference, and Nazar also doesn’t know that you are his brother. He may not find out for a long time. Because when it became known about the situation he wanted to create with Amanda, the simplest thing I could have done out of respect for your mother was to turn him over to justice. But believe me, I wanted to do much, much worse. At one point, I started to truly believe that Nazar wouldn’t live. - Korniyev’s eyes fill with rage, and I know he’s not joking.
- And then, Amanda’s official father found out about my affair with his wife. Of course, I offered her to leave him, but she didn’t know how to do that. And he decided to take revenge on me. He found out that Amanda was actually not his daughter. How dumb does one have to be to believe that his daughter was born 7 months old? To this day, I don’t understand how Miss Vitvytska managed to twist everything like that. The man began digging up some documents against my firm. Of course, this didn’t pose a personal threat to me, but it would have been a severe blow to the entire business I had built over many, many years. - Well, it’s understandable; if Amanda’s father worked as a lawyer for Korniyev’s firm, then access to documents was not a problem.
- The quickest way to get rid of this problem was to get rid of this man. And believe me, Adam, I never regretted it. The only thing I didn’t anticipate was that Amanda’s mother would be in that car. And after that, I think you know the story. Amanda found out about their death. How soon she’ll find out about mine. And she will definitely find out, as the only heiress to the entire empire of the great and unbeatable Korniyev, - a sarcastic smile appears on the man’s face. And I realize that he doesn’t see himself that way, although everyone around thinks so. - Rumors have already reached the journalists that I am indeed to blame for Amanda’s parents' death and that it’s due to some business competition and so on. But that’s not entirely true. And the end of this story, Amanda will learn herself. Not from you, of course. The time will come, and she’ll be told everything. But not now. And not anytime soon. Let everything calm down. Let the journalists start writing about my death, about her becoming the heiress of this empire. The only thing I want is for you to promise that you will be by her side. Maybe things won’t work out for you anymore, but I still hope that you will get through all the problems. Amanda is not ready to communicate with you right now, and it’s understandable. After everything that has happened, she needs some time alone. But remember, boy, if love is true, nothing can change it. And I know this for sure. For the beloved woman, I am ready to do anything. And I prove this once again.
- Adam, fulfill my request. - He heads towards the door and just before leaving he repeats: - Amanda must know the whole truth, but only when the time is right.
Korniyev leaves me alone, and I try to figure out what to do with all this knowledge.
Our time...
Adam finishes his story, and I don’t know even what to say. In my head, it all doesn’t compile into a single picture.
I truly don’t know anything about my past. I don’t know anything about my parents, about my mom, and about my father. And nothing about the father who raised me. And of course, I don’t know anything about my biological father. All I know is that my biological parents loved each other but couldn’t be together. And all because someone decided that their love shouldn’t exist. That they didn’t fit together. I recall the situation at the beach when Adam said that we would never be together. I remember how I drove to London hoping I could forget him. And now, seven years later, I’m sitting next to the man telling me the story of my father, the story of my birth. And I just don’t know what to do.
- Kitten, I love you. - Adam embraces me around the shoulders and pulls me to him, and I can’t even respond. Right now, everything happened too unexpectedly, too not how I planned, and definitely not how I wanted. I wanted to hear this story, but I wasn’t prepared for such an ending.
After all, Korniyev is to blame for the death of my parents. And, perhaps, this is something I will never be able to forgive him for. But, on the other hand, I feel sorry for him, for the man who carried love through life.
And I also can’t wrap my head around the fact that Nazar is Adam’s biological brother. And I can’t imagine how difficult it is for my beloved husband right now, how he lives with this thought that his biological brother, who was hidden from him, tried to assault his beloved woman.
I raise my eyes to Adam and see the pain trapped in them, I see exhaustion. And somewhere very, very far away a spark of hope glimmers. And that light, that glow keeps me from falling into the darkness of my own past...