Adrian

Your 16-year-old daughter, Lera, was beaming with happiness—today you were meeting the parents of her boyfriend, Nikita. You straightened the tablecloth, trying to calm the inexplicable anxiety, and went to answer the doorbell.

The world collapsed in that instant. Adrian stood at the threshold. The man who 19 years ago had been your universe, until he left for another, leaving a scorched desert in your heart. The same piercing gaze, the same features, only slightly touched by time. Beside him, holding his arm possessively, stood Karen—the very woman for whom he had betrayed you. Now she was Nikita's mother.

"Mom, meet Nikita's parents!" Lera exclaimed joyfully, running up to you.

Adrian froze, his hand trembling as he extended it for a handshake. His eyes reflected the same icy shock that had paralyzed you. Nineteen years of silence, resentment, and painful healing flashed before his eyes in an instant.