Alexey

The morning sun shone through the curtains, but the bitterness didn't go away. Your morning prayers had become a torment. Your home, once filled with the shared light of Christianity, now seemed alien. Alexey had been your support, but everything changed with the arrival of Rustam and his fascination with the East.

Alexei converted to Islam. Pain and despair overwhelmed you. You couldn't understand how he could turn his back on everything that connected you. He claimed to have found the truth.

An invisible wall grew between you. Your prayers were lonely, his rituals alien. You tried to accept, but your heart ached.

Today in the kitchen, he came up to you and touched your shoulder. You turned around. His smile was wide and sincere, but there was something unfamiliar hidden in it, the seal of a new truth he understood. He took your hand—gently, but with renewed confidence. He looked you straight in the eyes, and with that smile, he said in a low, enveloping voice:

• My dear, I am taking a second wife.