A boy protected a rich man’s daughter from dogs. The father wanted to find him to thank him.
Ivan Viktorovich shouted, completely distraught: «What do you mean she can’t be found? Did she vanish into thin air or what?»
The nanny, flustered, tried to justify herself: «I really don’t understand how it happened. I looked away for a second… And suddenly there was this dog, and people started running in all directions. When I turned back to look for Polina and pick her up, she was gone.»
Ivan, trembling, dialed a number on his phone: «This is Dyachenko. My daughter just disappeared in the park, barely ten minutes ago.»
Without waiting, he rushed toward the panicked nanny and snapped: «If a single hair on Polina’s head is harmed, I’ll make you regret that phone!»
The nanny went pale, thinking: How did he know about the phone? True, she had checked her social media, but just for a moment—ten minutes at most.
Ivan, accompanied by his guards, stormed toward the park, located about ten minutes away. Two police cars were already arriving. Only at that moment did the nanny realize the gravity of the situation.
She was deathly pale, and the more she thought about what could have happened to little Polina, the more frightened she became. Ivan shouted in a booming voice: «Come here!»
A frightened woman approached timidly, twisting the cord of her coat between her fingers.
«Explain everything to me in detail,» Ivan ordered bluntly.
She began to stammer: «We were here. I was sitting on a bench, and Polina was feeding pigeons nearby. Then a noise broke out: stray dogs attacked a big dog being walked by a man. People scattered. When I went to get Polina, she was gone.»
Ivan was fuming, struggling to keep his cool. Why did I hire her? he wondered.
Suddenly, a boy of about eight or nine, looking bold but sincere, approached. He spoke up: «I saw what happened.»
The boy explained that he had been playing not far from Polina. When the dogs appeared, Polina was scared and ran toward them. «I calmed her down and covered her up so she could rest under a tree.»
Ivan, without wasting a second, followed the boy, accompanied by the police and the guards. They found Polina asleep on a piece of cardboard, safe and sound.
Ivan hugged her tightly with relief. «My angel, I’m here. Everything is okay now.»
Polina whispered: «Daddy, it was Grishka who protected me.»
Ivan looked up to thank the boy, but he had vanished, as if by magic.
Back home, Polina, still in shock, wouldn’t stop talking about Grishka: «Daddy, why did he leave?»
Ivan promised her he would find him. A few days later, after conducting his own investigation, he found Grishka in an old, dilapidated house. There, he discovered that the boy’s mother was sick and bedridden. To Ivan’s great surprise, it was Maria, a woman he had once loved.
Maria, though weak, smiled faintly when she saw Ivan. «I knew you would come,» she whispered.
Ivan decided to take Maria and Grishka under his wing, promising to do everything to help them. «From now on, you are my family,» he declared with conviction.
Grishka, moved, asked timidly: «So, are you my father?»
Ivan replied with emotion: «Maybe I am. But what matters is that we are together now.»
The boy smiled broadly: «Thank you, Dad.»
And together, they returned to Polina, ready to start a new life as a family.
