Here is the translation of the full story into English:
Eva was cleaning the living room when she suddenly heard the piercing, enraged voice of the young mistress of the house, where she had been working as a housekeeper for two months. She froze, holding her breath, and listened closely to the tense conversation between Alla and her husband.
«Yura, my earrings are gone!» cried the mistress of the house, flailing her arms. «Not just any earrings, the ones you gave me for my last birthday. I’ve already searched the whole house. The earrings have disappeared as if they evaporated. What are we going to do now?»
«Calm down, my darling, I’ll buy you new earrings. What’s the problem?» murmured the man, putting down his mobile phone and tenderly embracing his wife’s slender waist.
«You don’t understand!» said Alla in a vexed tone, pouting in annoyance. «Those earrings, you gave them to me on a very special day. They are tied to my warmest memories; they are a symbol of your love for me. I can’t accept that they simply disappeared. I am sure that one of the people working here has set their sights on that precious piece of jewelry with the large diamond. I don’t understand how you can be so calm when there is a thief in our house. Today it’s the earrings, and tomorrow it will be cash or documents that disappear. We need to know who stole this jewelry. Ask all the servants to gather in the living room and search them.»
Yura, who had total confidence in the people working in his house, did not want to conduct a search. He would have gladly agreed to buy new expensive jewelry for his wife, but she insisted, and her husband had to summon the cook and the old gardener to the living room, where Eva was cleaning. Eva stood among the other servants and looked at her hosts, distraught.
Just two months ago, she was living a carefree life that she found perfectly satisfying. She was studying at university and living with her mother. But one day, misfortune struck their small, close-knit family.
Her mother fell seriously ill, and after extensive tests, it was revealed that the woman needed an expensive emergency operation, otherwise she would die within the year. Eva was in deep despair, not knowing where to find the money for the operation. After long reflection, she decided to leave university and look for a job. A friend’s mother told her one day about a housekeeping position in a wealthy household. Eva realized it was a sign and that she had to get hired as a servant for the well-known, wealthy businessman. Shortly after, she passed her interview and was hired, with the promise of decent pay for honest and diligent work. Eva worked seriously, hoping to save enough money in a few months to save her mother’s life. The work didn’t bother her. She had always been used to cleaning and organizing a home pleasantly. The only thing that disturbed and confused her was the lack of respect from the master’s young wife, who clearly showed that all authority in the house was in her hands.
Alla was a typical socialite. She was rarely at home and spent her time with her husband. The young woman preferred to spend her husband’s time and money in fashion boutiques, high-end beauty salons, expensive restaurants, and entertaining herself at noisy parties. For some reason, Alla hadn’t liked Eva from the first day and never missed an opportunity to provoke or humiliate her. Alla was looking for an opportunity to get rid of the young housekeeper and complained constantly. Eva endured her unfair attacks for her mother’s sake.
That evening, Yura calmly asked each staff member present in the living room to empty their pockets and place their bags on the table. The cook, the gardener, and the housekeeper exchanged astonished looks but obeyed. The man began to check each of them in turn. Soon, it was Eva’s turn. She froze, stunned, when Yura pulled the missing diamond earrings from the pockets of her old coat. The young woman stared at the couple in amazement and stood frozen in horror.
«I told you the earrings were with one of them,» said Alla in a satisfied tone, with obvious contempt, staring Eva in the eyes.
«How do you explain this?» asked Yura in a stern voice, fixing her with an indignant look.
«Yura Grigorievich, I swear to you that I didn’t take the earrings!» cried Eva in a broken voice, ready to cry at any moment. «I have never touched anything that didn’t belong to me.»
«On top of that, she’s a brazen liar. If you stole, at least have the courage to admit it openly,» said Alla, sniffing with contempt. «Why waste time talking? Kick her out right now. Thieves have no place in this house.»
«Leave this house immediately. You are fired,» said Yura in a firm voice. «I will make sure that no respected man hires you in the future. I will also contact the police.»
Eva left the house where she had worked honestly, heartbroken. It was unbearable for her to accept the cruel and unjust treatment she had just suffered. The young woman had never taken what was not hers and was content with what she had. She and her mother lived modestly but honestly. Eva was afraid that Yura would file a complaint against her with the police and that she would be punished for a crime she had not committed. She was convinced that the earrings had been slipped into her pocket by Yura’s wife, who, for a reason that escaped her, did not like her. But Eva could not prove any of this.
She spent a week in tears and despair, not knowing how to save the life of her mother, who was fading before her eyes. Eva did not show her true feelings to her mother and, each time, she put on a mask to hide her tears and pain.
One evening, after this difficult week, someone rang the doorbell of their apartment. Eva jumped with fear and surprise upon seeing Yura on the threshold. Her heart clenched painfully. The young woman thought that Yura had come with bad intentions. She took a deep breath and opened the door, knowing she couldn’t hide forever in her apartment.
«Hello, Eva,» murmured the man softly, looking intently into her eyes. «I wanted to talk to you. It’s very important. May I come in?»
Eva nodded, bewildered, and gestured for him to enter their small but cozy living room.
«Eva, I want you to come back to work,» announced Yura suddenly. The young woman stood open-mouthed with surprise.
Eva was convinced that Yura had come to threaten her, yet he was proposing she return? She didn’t understand such a change in behavior. After swallowing hard, she asked incredulously: «Not long ago, you said you were going to file a complaint against me and ruin my reputation. What could have possibly changed in a week? Are you making fun of me?»
«I have neither the desire nor the intention to joke. I am speaking seriously. I came to ask you to return. I am entirely satisfied with how you performed your duties. I am accountable to you. I shouldn’t have treated you like that in the heat of anger. I should have investigated and conducted my own inquiry first. I know you didn’t steal my wife’s earrings.»
«I am sorry that it took you time to realize that. I told you I never touched what didn’t belong to me.»
«The truth came out thanks to my driver. Sergei has worked for me for over five years. Yesterday, while he was driving me to work, we had a serious conversation. He showed me the recordings from his dashcam. Honestly, I was horrified by what he told me. It turned out that after you were fired, Sergei took my wife to the mall. While driving, she was talking on the phone with a friend. The camera captured their conversation, and what she said not only shocked me but also upset Sergei. Alla deliberately planted her earrings on you, wanting to make you leave. She was jealous of you. She thought you had come to work for us to take her place. It hurt me to learn this, just as it hurt to know I am living with a person who loves me not for myself, but for my money, a person capable of hurting and humiliating someone weaker. I don’t know why Alla saw you as a threat, but she wanted to drive you out, and she succeeded. But be assured that I will not let this go unpunished. Now I know who I wanted to share my life with. I will handle this. I came to apologize and ask you to return. Alla will never bother you again. She will never be in my house again.»
Shocked, Eva remained speechless, unable to believe what had just happened. Since her arrival in the house, she had felt Alla’s hatred toward her. She didn’t understand why Alla had seen her as a rival and decided to eliminate her. Eva had never had any guilty thoughts toward her boss. She respected Yura and sincerely admired his human qualities, but did not see him as a romantic interest. Eva sighed with relief, silently thanking the heavens that justice had triumphed. She agreed to return to work for him, as she still needed to save money for her mother’s operation.
«Thank you, Yura, for coming and telling me the truth. That meant a lot to me. Very well, I agree to resume my job. I hope this won’t happen again.»
Yura’s face lit up with a kind and satisfied smile. Suddenly, he noticed a photo hanging on the wall. It was an old family portrait. He froze, his eyes fixing on the photo. In the photo, a man and a woman were smiling while holding small children in their arms. The young and beautiful woman held a little blonde girl about one year old in her arms, and the imposing man carried a boy about two years old. Yura stood there, hands on his temples, observing the image closely. At home, in an old family album, he had one half of the same photo. Yura often took out the album and looked for a long time at the cut half, where his father was, holding a two-year-old son in his arms. He had never understood why that photo had been cut or who the other person was. Now, he had found the answer to his questions.
«Where does this photo come from?» asked Yura, dumbfounded, staring at Eva with questioning eyes.
«It’s a photo of my parents,» answered Eva, bewildered. «Why, what is wrong with this photo?»
«But in this photo, I see myself!» cried Yura, eyes wide. «That is my father, and that is me. But I don’t know who that woman is and who she is holding in her arms.»
«That’s not possible! In this photo, those are my parents. My mother is holding me, and my father is holding my older brother. You are mistaken, Yura. My parents divorced when I was one. After the divorce, I stayed with my mother, and my brother stayed with my father. I don’t remember my father because I’ve never seen him since. As for my brother, I don’t even know him. My mother didn’t want to talk to me about him or Dad. It was only recently that she decided to tell me about it and put this photo on the wall.»
«My father never spoke to me about my mother. I never knew I had a younger sister. When I was five, my father remarried a woman who refused to accept me. She constantly showed me that I had no place in the house. Shortly after I turned eighteen, I left home and started leading my own life. I only have this half of the photo left as a memory of my father, who couldn’t protect me from my stepmother,» said Yura in a sad tone.
Eva and Yura remained in shock for a long time after the revelation of this unexpected truth. They discovered they were brother and sister. The confirmation came from Nina, their mother, who had had them a year apart. She explained to them, in tears, that after the divorce she had been forced to separate her children. But she bitterly regretted that decision.
«Forgive me, my son, if you can,» she whispered in a trembling voice. «If I could go back, I never would have agreed to separate you. I would have wanted you to grow up together and love each other. It is fate that brought you to us just before my death. I am so grateful that it allowed me to look into your eyes before leaving. Please, take care of your sister. Don’t leave her. She is alone in this world. I am afraid someone will hurt her, break her heart. Protect each other. May God keep you both!»
«Mom, don’t say that,» begged Eva, stroking the woman’s hand. «I won’t let you die. I’ll find the money and save you. Everything will be fine.»
When Nina fell asleep under the influence of the medication, Eva explained their mother’s situation to Yura. The man, without hesitation, promised that money would not be an obstacle to her recovery. He quickly found the best private clinic for their mother, and after the operation, the woman’s health improved rapidly. Yura, having divorced his wife, invited his mother and sister to come live in his large, comfortable house. They accepted, dreaming of finally seeing the family reunited.
Eva couldn’t stop thinking about her brother’s driver, thanks to whom her life had changed radically. If Yura hadn’t learned the truth and hadn’t come to her home, she never would have found her brother, and Nina wouldn’t have received proper care. One day, Eva spoke to Sergei and thanked him for showing the video recording to Yura. He confessed that he had never believed Eva was capable of stealing and was very saddened by her dismissal. Eva was sincerely touched by the shy, adorable driver, who had always wanted to know her but never dared. From that day on, they started dating, and six months later, they got married. Yura organized an unforgettable celebration for the newlyweds and was happy to see his sister in the wedding dress. At Sergei and Eva’s wedding, the young woman’s close friend, who had immediately captivated Yura, attended the ceremony. A few months later, another wedding took place, that of Yura and his sister’s best friend. Yura and Eva never lost touch again. They cherished and strengthened this bond, which united them forever.
