Ella Kalnytska

“I didn’t do it! Listen to me!” “Then what ghost was wandering near the door and later ended up in my bed?” It felt as if a thin blade had been driven straight into my heart — the pain cut down to the bone. Could alcohol really have pushed me into something so reckless? “I don’t remember!” I cry out in desperation, covering my face with my hands. “Well, that’s where you should’ve started! Instead you spent all this time trying to justify yourself in front of my father. If I lose this job, you’ll regret ever coming back home! Not everyone is born in a golden cradle — some of us have to survive, support a family.” He has a family? A wife? Children? Then does that make me truly the wretch who has ruined someone’s life? And if this scandal reaches his wife…their idyllic little world will cru

His face is still pale, even though a week has passed since the accident. But he’s alive — and finally asked to see me. And I’m trembling like someone bewitched, because I don’t know what this conversation will bring. “Ada… don’t divorce me.” “What? Why?!” “It’s Yaryna… She needs guardianship. I’m the only one who can take care of her.” My heart seemed to miss a beat as my mind grasped the reason. “Yaryna? God… what happened to her?” “Social services… If we divorce, they won’t let me have her. They want a stable family. I’ve decided. I don’t want the little one being shuffled around orphanages. But of course, you can refuse.” “You’re asking me to stay? For Yaryna’s sake?” “Please, Ada. At least for a while. For the child.”