Polina married Sergey when her daughter Marina was three years old. She received child support from the father of her child, but her marriage to him had not been registered. And she was waiting for him to return from the military, but he came back with a pregnant wife.
Sergey moved into Polina’s parents’ house, and a year later she gave birth to a daughter, Lena.
While the girls were little, taking care of them was a joy. But as they grew up, problems started. This was because Lena found birth certificates in Polina’s drawer.
It was clear for her, she was Sergeyevna, but Marina had the surname and patronymic of her grandfather. And she ran with this to her sister.
«So grandpa is your dad? Now I see why he loves you more than me.»
«Don’t make things up, he loves us both equally.»
«He bought you a phone, and me a doll.»
«Grow up, and he’ll buy you one too.»
«I want it now,» Lena snatched Marina’s phone, ran out into the yard, found a stone and started smashing the phone screen on the sidewalk tile.
After abandoning this activity, satisfied, she returned to her sister.
«Go outside and bury your phone.»
Marina cried, showing her broken device to their grandfather, while Sergey put Lena in the corner.
«Stand here for two hours and think about what you’ve done.»
«You love Marina too, but she’s not your daughter,» Lena smeared tears across her cheeks.
«You are both my daughters, but different. Marina doesn’t hurt you, but you, Lena, are mean. Why?»
«She’s not my sister. Her father is our grandpa.»
«What did you say?» Sergey didn’t understand at first, but Marina showed him her torn birth certificate.
«Why did you tear it? It’s an important document. You’ll stand in the corner for another two hours,» Sergey continued to scold Lena.
«And I will stand. You all love Marina more anyway.»
The family couldn’t handle Lena’s aggression, and Sergey took her to a pediatric clinic. There, he arranged for her to see a psychologist. The woman immediately understood and spoke with Lena privately. At the end of their talk, she warned:
«If you keep hurting your sister, I’ll come and give you an injection. And I have a big syringe and a thick needle.»
«I won’t do it again, just don’t come,» the girl sobbed, but the doctor knew that this wasn’t a method of upbringing, but simply persuasion would not have helped.
Lena calmed down, but still didn’t love her sister, not understanding why herself.
Time passed, and Elena became craftier. She entered her sister’s room with a cup of hot tea, and as if by accident, stumbled, and the contents splashed onto Marina’s laptop keyboard. Marina was preparing a homework assignment to send to her teacher’s page.
«Sorry, Marina, I really didn’t mean to.»
Elena’s clumsy incidents repeated, such as spoiled clothes, cut sneaker laces.
Marina sighed when she moved to Moscow. There she enrolled in an institute and lived in a dormitory. She rarely came home because of her sister. Each time, she feared a trick.
Marina graduated from the institute, and Elena dropped out of school. Initially, her father loaded her with homework and checked what she had done. Then he took her to a store to get her a job as a salesperson.
Marina graduated from the institute and came home not alone but with Kirill.
«Meet my fiancé; we have applied to the registry office, and the wedding is soon.»
Elena looked carefully at the handsome guy and felt envious in her heart. She wanted something like that too. And she kept thinking about how to ruin their wedding. It irritated her that everything was handed to Marina on a silver platter, while she was just a salesperson. And Kirill had brought Marina in an expensive car.
The next day, Kirill left, and Marina stayed. She had checked out of the dormitory but was not in a hurry to live with her fiancé. She would move in after the wedding.
Elena was restless, constantly thinking about how to disrupt everything.
Three days before the wedding, Kirill’s parents arrived and brought the bride her wedding dress, which they had previously ordered together in Moscow. This was so that when Kirill arrived on the wedding day, Marina would be completely ready.
In the evening, the groom’s parents left.
Polina worked at a hair salon in her hometown, where she was a versatile master. On the morning of the wedding, she would style her daughters’ and her own hair. The bride would look flawless when Kirill arrived.
Elena had previously purchased a beautiful dress and matching shoes. Her father Sergey had driven her to Moscow for shopping. Polina also went with them and chose a stylish summer suit for herself. Sergey did not forget about himself either: he selected a suit slightly darker than usual, a shirt, a tie, and shoes. The grandparents also prepared clothes appropriate for the celebration.
Elena had no intention of attending the wedding. The day before, she was supposed to hand over goods to a colleague at the store but deliberately postponed it for a week.
Early in the morning on the wedding day, Elena entered Marina’s room. A beautiful white dress hung on the closet door. Lace lingerie and a transparent veil lay on a chair, and white shoes were on the floor. Elena gathered all the bride’s wedding items into a bag and left the house.
Elena opened the store early and called a friend.
«Tan’ka, wasn’t your sister planning to go to a bridal salon in Moscow next week? The owner brought such chic stuff to sell. Bring her quickly, or I’ll offer it to others.»
Thus, Elena quietly sabotaged her sister by selling Marina’s wedding outfit for slightly less.
The bride woke up and found her belongings gone. The window was wide open. She ran into her parents’ bedroom.
«We’ve been robbed!»
At first, Sergey didn’t understand, and Polina was in the kitchen and heard her daughter’s scream and came running.
«What do we do, Sergey?»
«Let’s ask Lenka,» and he flung open the door to her room.
«She, I think, is involved, but where has she run off to?»
«Let’s ask her colleague at the store. They’ve been friends for a long time,» and Polina was the first to run out of the house.
How surprised the parents were to see their daughter behind the counter.
«Why are you here?» asked the father.
«There’s no one to hand over to. Sonya got sick.»
«Strange that you kept quiet when we went to Moscow.»
«So I was closing the store and hanging up the ‘closed for accounting’ sign. Must I explain every step to you? The owner will arrive soon and replace me.»
Sergey didn’t believe her, seeing her eyes darting around. He walked around the shelves, poking through the goods, then went to the warehouse. He searched for a long time but found nothing.
«What, daddy, conducted a search? You’ve suspected me all your life. I’m not going to that wedding. You’ve ruined my mood. It’s time for you to go, and I need to work,» and she pointed to the exit.
Already outside, Marina called Kirill and, crying, explained the problem.
«Don’t be upset. The registration is at five in the evening. I’ll come to you right now and pick you up. Later, a limousine will bring your family to the registry office. We’ll have time to handle everything. You’ll be the most beautiful bride.»
Everything turned out perfectly for the newlyweds both at the registry and in the restaurant.
A week later, after finishing her shift and with the money from the stolen goods, Elena went to Moscow. There, she entered a restaurant and ordered expensive wine with an appropriate appetizer. When the waiter brought it, a good-looking guy sat down next to her.
«Will you treat me, beauty?»
«Order, and I’ll pay,» Elena felt superior, sipping her wine in small gulps.
The guy named Eduard topped up her wine, and she thanked him.
Elena barely remembered her card’s PIN when paying the waiter, and on the third attempt, it went through. Drunk, she demanded a receipt, pretending to understand everything. Eduard struggled to help Elena out of the restaurant and, hailing a taxi, took her to his place. He didn’t know how much money she had on her card, but, judging by her order at the restaurant, he hoped to benefit from it.
Elena woke up in the morning in Eduard’s arms. She vaguely remembered him, but he was physically appealing. Removing his hand from her shoulder, she got up, gathered her clothes from the floor, and disappeared into the bathroom. There, she tidied herself up and headed to the kitchen. The fridge and cabinets were empty. She knew what to do. The keys to the apartment lay on the floor in the hallway. She picked them up and left.
Soon, Lena returned home with heavy bags. While Eduard was sleeping, she made breakfast and marinated chicken for lunch. She wanted the guy to appreciate her cooking skills and hoped it would lead to a relationship. Lena dreamed of marrying him.
Everything was ready, and Elena wanted to take a photo of the kitchen with herself in it to send to a friend. But she couldn’t find her phone in her purse. It seemed she had lost it. Then she shrugged it off. She was here to stay for a long time and there was no rush.
A few days later, Elena asked Eduard:
«Are we going to get married?»
«That’s why I met you. Let’s start by having fun at a nightclub. But I’ll get my salary on my card in a week. Can you pay there?»
«We’re almost spouses, so everything should be shared.»
They had a good time with friends, ordering dish after dish and drink after drink. In the early morning, everyone quietly said goodbye and left. Eduard was worried that Elena might not have enough money to settle the bill and whispered to her that he would step away for a moment.
A waiter approached Elena and presented the bill. She was slightly intoxicated and proudly handed him her card. It only had half of the necessary funds.
«Do you have another card?»
Elena shrugged.
Elena ended the evening in the police station. She couldn’t remember her father’s phone number, but they found it based on the data and address she provided.
That’s how Elena returned home in disgrace.
Some time later, Elena told her mother that she was pregnant.
«Whose is it, daughter?»
«His name is Eduard, but I don’t remember the address.»
«Looking for wind in the field. Maybe, Lena, the child will teach you some sense,» her father heard everything.
Years passed.
Everything was wonderful for Marina. She and Kirill were raising a son. They worked together at the company, and Kirill’s mother stayed at home with the grandson.
Elena was raising her daughter alone, but she had quit her job at the store. She led a reclusive life. Her parents had given up on her.
