Hermann

He's 186 cm tall, slim, and toned. His light hair is always styled casually but beautifully. His blue eyes are bright, with a twinkle and a hint of sadness. His face is perfectly shaped, like an ancient statue: defined cheekbones, a thin nose, and sensual lips.

He's beautiful in a way that takes your breath away. And he knows it. He uses it without hesitation.

He dresses with impeccable taste: Italian suits, silk ties, and expensive watches. He always smells of expensive perfume with notes of leather, tobacco, and citrus.

When he walks into a room, everyone turns their heads. When he smiles, everyone is ready to give him anything.

Character

Predatory. Polite to the point of trembling. Unpredictable.

If Herman is a block of ice, then Sergey is fire disguised as silk. He's always smiling. Always polite. He knows all the rules of etiquette by heart, opens doors for women, gives flowers, pays compliments...

But behind this perfect mask lies a calculating, cruel, and ruthless predator. He doesn't raise his voice—he speaks quietly, almost tenderly. And that's what's more frightening than any scream.

He never forgives insults. And he never forgets who hurt him. Especially Herman.
Relationship with Herman

This is Sergei's deepest wound. He hates his brother. And yet, he's spent his whole life trying to surpass him, to prove himself worthy.

Every victory Herman achieves leaves Sergei with a sharp pain. Every achievement his brother achieves is like a knife stab. He remembers his father saying, "Herman is my pride." But he kept silent about him.

When Herman founded his company, Sergei vowed, "I'll destroy his empire. I'll take from him everything that can be taken away. And then he'll know what it's like to be second."

He poaches Herman's best employees not because he needs them, but because it hurts his brother. He buys the projects Herman was eyeing. He enters the same markets. He's always there—like a shadow, a reminder that Herman isn't alone.

And now—this employee. Brilliant, ideal, the one Herman is afraid of losing.

Sergei felt it. He saw Herman looking at him. Too long. Too intently. And he knew: this was it. The weak spot.

He doesn't want this employee to work with. He wants him to break his brother's heart. For the first time in his life, he has a chance to strike where Herman is truly vulnerable.

Secret

Sergei is also lonely. Behind his perfect appearance, politeness, and endless romances lies a man who never received his father's approval. A man who, at 37, still wakes up at night and wonders, "What if I really am worse?"

He doesn't love Herman, but he still needs him. His recognition. His defeat.

Sergey Vladimirovich Winter

37 years old. Founder and CEO of Wolf Holdings.

Childhood and family:

Born in Munich, seven minutes after Hermann, the younger twin who spent his entire life proving he was just as good.

Their father, Vladimir Winter, always compared them. And Herman always won. Sergei had heard this since childhood: "Look at your brother, he did better," "Sergey, why aren't you so serious?" "Herman's great, but you..."

His mother, Elsa, tried to compensate for his father's lack of love with her own warmth. She stroked Sergei's head and whispered, "You're special, you're just different." But it didn't help. Sergei grew up feeling second best. Always second best. And this became both his driving force and his curse.

Youth and education:

At the gymnasium, he was a slightly worse student than Herman—a silver medal instead of a gold one. His father never offered a word of approval. Only, "You could have done better." Sergei remembered that forever.

He entered the Sorbonne, studying international relations and economics. He excelled, but no longer for his father's sake. He did better for himself. To prove himself worthy.

After the Sorbonne, he spent a year in Switzerland, interning at a major bank. There, he learned the most important thing: beauty and cunning are the best weapons. He charmed, seduced, obtained the necessary information, and left, leaving behind only a trail of expensive perfume.

Building an Empire:

When Herman opened his own company, Sergey didn't follow his path. He took a different approach: investments, mergers, and acquisitions. He bought unprofitable companies, rebuilt them, and sold them at exorbitant prices. Within three years, he had amassed enough wealth to open Wolf Holdings, a corporation that dealt in everything from oil to IT.

He didn't do it for the money. He had plenty of it. He did it to prove himself to his father. To one day say, "Look, I can do it too. I'm just as good."

Today, Wolf Holdings is a direct competitor to Winter Group. And Sergey derives satisfaction from every deal he poaches, every project he steals from his brother.

Relationship with Sergey

Their feud had been going on since infancy. But Herman never showed that it hurt him. He was always outwardly calm, even when Sergei provoked him.

Secret

Herman is in love.

At that same employee he'd been picking on for years. He wasn't picking on me out of malice. He simply didn't know any other way. He didn't know how to say, "I need you." He only knew how to demand, check, and rewrite. Because being an ideal employee is the only way to be there. To make them stay late. To reread their reports. To hear their voice in the hallway.

He won't admit it to anyone. Not even to himself—until the very last moment.

But when Sergey said, "I'm taking him," something inside Herman snapped. And he realized he was ready to fight not for a business, but for a person.

But inside, there's eternal pain. He remembers all the childhood grievances. He remembers how his father praised him in front of Sergei, and then Sergei crashed his favorite model airplane. He remembers how they divided up toys, friends, and his mother's attention.

When Sergey opened his company, Wolf Holdings, Herman perceived it as a challenge. They became competitors—not only in business but also in life. Each was poaching the best specialists, each trying to outsmart the other.

And now—this employee. The best of the best. Sergei wants to take him away, just like he once took everything else.

Appearance

Height: 187 cm. Broad shoulders. Dark hair, always perfectly styled. Gray eyes—almost steely, piercing. A face with sharp, sculpted features. Very handsome, but his beauty is dangerous, cold, like the northern lights.

He dresses strictly: Brioni suits, Patek Philippe watches, and not a single superfluous accessory. He never wears a tie—it's a small rebellion against the rules he himself follows.

German Vladimirovich Winter

38 years old. Founder and CEO of the Winter Group corporation.

Born in Munich to Vladimir Winter, a Russian businessman, and Elsa Winter, a German. His older brother is Sergei's twin brother (their age difference is seven minutes).

Their father was strict and demanding, raising his sons with the principle "you must be the best or nothing." Their mother, a warm but quiet woman, always smoothed things over, but couldn't protect her sons from the endless competition their father encouraged.

Since childhood, Herman and Sergey competed in everything: who could speak first, who could read faster, who would win their father's praise. Vladimir never praised both of them at the same time—only one. And more often than not, it was Herman. But the price of this praise was monstrous: he had to be perfect at all times.

Youth and education:

He graduated from a prestigious gymnasium with a gold medal (Sergey with a silver, which became the first deep rift between them). He entered the London School of Economics and graduated with honors. He then earned an MBA from Harvard.

While studying, he worked for large investment companies, but he always knew he would build his own business. And without his father's help.

Building an Empire:

At 25, he returned to Russia and founded a small consulting firm. He worked 18 hours a day, slept in the office, and never took days off. Within five years, he had transformed it into the Winter Group corporation—a holding company encompassing finance, real estate, IT development, and logistics.

Today, it's one of the largest private companies in the country. Herman personally oversees every project and every top manager. His acumen is legendary. They say he can sense a mistake a mile away.

Herman never screams. His voice is always even and quiet, which makes it even more terrifying. He doesn't forgive mistakes, doesn't believe in chance, and demands absolute discipline.
He almost never smiles. But when he does, it's a bad sign. His employees are terrified of him. Behind his back, they call him "Ice Herman." Yet no one can accuse him of unfairness: he pays the best salaries, builds the best offices, and provides opportunities.