Nina opened the door to her apartment and froze on the threshold. Her husband, Artur, was standing in the hallway with a baby in his arms.
The word “affair” had not yet entered her mind, but something cold was already sliding down her spine. Nina had spent the weekend at her friend’s country house, only to return to a completely different reality.
Artur looked at her with a strange expression—a mixture of fear and arrogance. He clearly intended to take money for the baby’s upkeep from their family budget. Nina silently shifted her gaze from her husband to the bundle in his arms. Mistress, betrayal, humiliation—those words were still sleeping somewhere deep inside her consciousness.
“Nina, I can explain everything,” Artur said, stepping toward her. “This is my second cousin’s baby. She died in a car accident with her lover. Her husband refused to take the child, and so did her parents. I thought that since we can’t have children, why shouldn’t we take him in?”
Nina felt the ground sway beneath her feet.
The subject of children was painful for her. Three years of marriage, endless medical examinations, and the doctors’ final verdict—she would never be able to give birth, not even with the help of modern technology.
“Give him to me,” she whispered.
Artur carefully handed her the bundle. The baby was about four months old. Tiny fingers, peacefully closed eyes. Nina pressed him to her chest, and something inside her began to sing.
“Artur, this is… this is incredible,” she said, raising her eyes to her husband. “But you understand that everything has to be arranged legally, don’t you? A child isn’t a kitten. You can’t simply bring him home.”
Artur hesitated strangely, but Nina did not notice. She was looking at the baby and thinking that perhaps fate had finally taken pity on her.
She herself had wanted to contact an orphanage, but she had been afraid to say it aloud. She feared that her husband would not understand and would leave her.
The phone was lying on the table. Nina dialed her mother-in-law’s number because she wanted to learn more about the deceased relative. She apologized for calling so late and began asking questions.
“What second cousin?” her mother-in-law asked in surprise. “Nina, Artur doesn’t have any second cousins. And none of our relatives has given birth or died in recent years. What are you talking about?”
Nina ended the call.
Her hands turned cold.
She quietly slipped into the bedroom, where Artur was sleeping beside the baby’s crib. The scene looked touching—a father and his son.
A father and his son?
She found a folder of documents on the dresser. She carried it into the living room and turned on the light.
Medical records. A birth certificate.
In the section marked “Father,” the name was clearly written: Artur Denisovich.
Nina sat motionless, staring at the document. The letters blurred before her eyes.
Among the papers was another form—a formal renunciation of parental rights by the mother.
Some woman had given birth to her husband’s child and abandoned him.
And her husband had brought that child into Nina’s home.
Into the home that belonged to her.
“Nina?” Artur stood in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”
Then he saw the documents spread across the table.
His face changed. First, he turned pale. Then his expression became stubborn and defiant.
“Listen, I can explain everything,” he said, stepping toward her. “Yes, he’s my son. I did it deliberately. For us! You can’t have children, so I found a solution. I’m a hero, do you understand? You should be grateful to me!”
Nina slowly raised her eyes to him.
There were no tears in them—only cold astonishment.
“A hero,” she repeated. “So you’re a hero.”
“Yes! Another man in my place would have simply left you! But I brought you a child! Our child!”
“Ours?” Nina gave a bitter laugh. “Interesting arithmetic. You plus your mistress equals ‘our’ child. What school taught you to count like that?”
Artur straightened, his eyes narrowing.
“You’re ungrateful! I tried, I took risks, and now you’re sitting here making accusations? Do you have any idea what I went through?”
“Oh, tell me,” Nina said, leaning back in her chair. “Tell me how difficult it was to cheat on me. How much you suffered while climbing into bed with another woman. How miserable you were while she became pregnant with your child. I’m listening.”
“It wasn’t like that! It was an agreement! A purely business arrangement!”
“A business arrangement involving reproductive organs. How romantic. Did you sign the contract before or afterward?”
Artur’s face turned purple.
“You don’t understand! I did it for our family!”
“For our family,” Nina said, nodding. “Of course. To strengthen a family, a man absolutely must find a mistress, conceive a child with her, and bring the baby home to his wife. A classic strategy. I’m surprised psychologists haven’t thought of it yet.”
“Stop mocking me!”
“Mocking you? Me?” Nina asked. “Artur, darling, you’ve confused our roles. You’re the one who has been mocking me. For three years. Every day. Every time you left the house ‘on business.’ Every time you came back.”
Artur clenched his fists.
“You’re hysterical! Someone gives you a child, and you make a scene!”
“Gives me one?” Nina raised an eyebrow. “Is a baby a gift now? Like a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates? ‘Darling, forgive me for cheating. Here’s an infant as compensation.’”
“I thought you’d be happy!”
“I was happy. For exactly three hours. While I still believed your fairy tale about your second cousin. By the way, where did you get that story? Did you see it in a movie, or did you invent it yourself?”
“That doesn’t matter!”
“It does matter, Artur. Because it shows how much you respect me. Or rather, how little you respect me. You didn’t even bother to invent a convincing story. You simply blurted out the first thing that came into your head.”
He stepped toward her, looming over her.
“Listen carefully. This is my child. My son. And he is going to live here. With me.”
“With you—yes. Here—no.”
“What?”
“In the morning, you’re packing your things and going to your mother’s house. As far as I remember, your sister lives there with her twins and her husband. It’ll be fun. One big, happy family.”
Artur recoiled.
“You can’t throw me out of my own home!”
“Artur,” Nina said, standing up. “This apartment belongs to me. My name is on the documents. I paid for it with my money. You are a guest here. Or rather, you were a guest. Now you’re an unwanted guest.”
“You’ll be left all alone! Without me! Who would ever want you? You’re infertile!”
“Myself,” Nina answered simply. “You know, it’s an amazing discovery, but apparently a woman can live without a man who lies to her, cheats on her, and then demands gratitude.”
“I did everything for us!”
“No, Artur. You did everything for yourself. You wanted a child, and you got one. You wanted entertainment on the side, and you got that too. And when your little girlfriend presented you with the consequences, you panicked and came running to me. Because I’m kind. Because I never say no.”
She stepped closer to him.
“I never said no. Past tense.”
“Nina, let’s talk calmly.”
“We are talking calmly. I am completely calm. Look—no shouting, no hysteria. I’m simply stating the facts. You cheated on me. You lied to me. You used my pain to drag the result of your betrayal into my home. And then you expected applause.”
“The baby isn’t to blame for any of this!”
“Of course he isn’t,” Nina said with a shrug. “He’s an infant. But you are a grown man. And you are to blame. Very much to blame.”
“I’m his father!”
“Congratulations. That means you will feed him, clothe him, and raise him. Somewhere else. Not in my home.”
Artur grabbed her arm.
“You’ll regret this! I’ll tell everyone what kind of woman you are!”
“What kind?” Nina carefully pulled her arm free. “A woman who threw out her cheating husband? Please, go ahead. Tell everyone. I can even give you a list of contacts. Start with my mother.”
“You’re insane!”
“No, Artur. I closed my eyes. I hoped. I believed you would change. But you didn’t change. You simply became more shameless.”
She pointed toward the door.
“You have until morning. Pack your things. Yours and the baby’s.”
Artur stood in the middle of the room, his expression changing every second. Anger, confusion, fear, then anger again.
“You can’t do this to me!”
“I can. And I am.”
“But I… I love you!”
Nina laughed.
It was a short laugh without any amusement.
“Love means not lying. Not betraying someone. Not humiliating them. You don’t know what love is, Artur. You only know what convenience is.”
“You’ll regret this!”
“Maybe. But I won’t regret throwing you out.”
She turned away and walked toward the bedroom door.
“Where are you going?”
“To sleep. I have a lot to do tomorrow. I need to change the locks, update the documents, and erase you from my life.”
“Nina!”
She turned around.
“What?”
“I can’t go to my mother’s house! There’s no room for me there!”
“Strange. Whenever we argued, you always threatened to go back to your mother. You said she valued and understood you. Now you can find out whether that’s true.”
“But this is… this is inhuman!”
“Inhuman is cheating on your wife. Inhuman is lying to her face. Inhuman is bringing home a child you had with your mistress and demanding gratitude for it. Throwing a traitor out of your home is perfectly human.”
Artur sat down on the sofa.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know,” Nina answered honestly. “That’s your problem. You created this chaos. Now you can deal with it.”
“But the baby…”
“The baby is yours. Your responsibility. Your joy. Your sleepless nights.”
“I can’t handle him alone!”
“Then call his mother. Maybe she’s changed her mind.”
“She gave him up! She signed the papers!”
“Then find another solution. Hire a nanny. Ask his grandmother. Ask your sister. You have an entire family. Make use of them.”
Nina entered the bedroom and quietly closed the door.
The baby was sleeping peacefully in the crib, breathing softly. She stood over him for a minute, then another.
In just a few hours, she had managed to fall in love with this child. She had already imagined feeding him, perhaps even breastfeeding him somehow, and raising him as her own.
But he was not her child.
He was the result of betrayal.
A living reminder that her husband was a liar and a coward.
She leaned over the crib.
“I’m sorry, little one,” she whispered. “None of this is your fault. But I can’t do it. I can’t look at you every day and remember how your father deceived me.”
Sounds came from the living room. Artur was pacing back and forth, muttering something to himself.
Nina lay down on the bed without undressing.
Sleep would not come.
Morning began early.
The baby woke up and started crying. Artur rushed to him and began feeding him from a bottle. Nina silently watched from the doorway.
“I packed my things,” he said hoarsely. “The taxi will be here in half an hour.”
“Good.”
“You really won’t change your mind?”
“No.”
Artur stopped beside the door with a suitcase in one hand and the baby carrier in the other.
“You’re destroying our family.”
“No, Artur. You destroyed it. I’m just clearing away the wreckage.”
“I made a mistake. One mistake!”
“One?” Nina leaned against the wall. “Let’s count. Mistake number one—getting a mistress. Mistake number two—not using protection. Mistake number three—lying to your wife. Mistake number four—continuing to lie. Mistake number five—demanding gratitude for your lies. Would you like me to continue?”
“You’re a monster.”
“No. I’m a woman who respects herself. Goodbye, Artur.”
She closed the door.
For a moment, she stood still, listening to his footsteps recede. Then she walked into the living room and sat down in an armchair.
The apartment was empty and quiet.
The forgotten documents were still lying on the table—the birth certificate of someone else’s child.
Nina gathered them into the folder and placed it aside. Artur would come back for them.
Or perhaps he would not.
She no longer cared.
She picked up her phone and called her friend.
“Hello? Katya? Yes, I’m all right. No, not really. Come over if you can. I need to tell you something.”
Outside the window, the morning sun was shining.
A new day.
A new life.
Without lies, betrayal, or humiliation.
Nina took a deep breath and smiled.
Did it hurt? Yes.
Was it frightening? A little.
But it was right.
Absolutely right.
