1980
The young man knocked on the door of a roadside motel room.
A minute later, a rather beautiful girl with long, blonde curls and a light, short dress appeared on the threshold, her face filled with surprise.
«Why are you here? Where’s your brother?» she asked, glancing around.
«He’s not coming.» The tall, dark-haired man narrowed his eyes and, without waiting for an invitation, stepped inside.
Startled by his audacity, the girl instinctively moved to the side. Meanwhile, the visitor stopped in the middle of the room, noticing an open suitcase on the bed, filled with neatly folded clothes. His gaze swept over the surroundings before he spoke in a commanding tone:
«You need to go back home and forget about him forever.»
Looking at him in confusion, the girl immediately responded, «That will never happen!»
«If you truly love him, you’ll listen to me.»
He turned to face her, his black eyes locking onto her large, blue ones.
His gaze made her take a step back. Yet, in a quiet but firm voice, she said, «That’s not for you to decide.»
«You don’t understand. Family bonds mean everything to us. If he stays with you, he will suffer. He’s going against our father because of you,» he growled, his brows furrowing as his voice took on a harsher edge. «This won’t end well. Disaster will follow. Leave and forget about him!»
He was trying to make her see the seriousness of the situation. But she was stubborn, snapping back at him with a defiant «No!»
Yet at that moment, a shiver ran through her body. A strange, unsettling feeling washed over her—an anxious fear, as if something terrible was about to happen.
She kept backing away until she felt the cold press of the wall against her back, right next to the window. Her wide eyes never left him.
Noticing her distress, the man was momentarily puzzled. He hadn’t moved from his spot—his hands were casually tucked into his pockets, and he was simply talking. And yet, she was trembling.
With bated breath, she cast a desperate glance out the window, as if hoping for salvation. The day had dragged into the evening in endless waiting for her beloved. Until the very last moment, she had clung to hope, listening intently for his footsteps. But they never came.
Meanwhile, the man stood still, analyzing the situation. Leaving things as they were and walking away now seemed impossible. Since he had come this far, he had to at least try to change something. He saw it as his duty to save his brother from the looming threat—no matter the cost.
As he studied her closely, an unsettling realization formed in his mind. His brother’s chosen woman was undeniably alluring—her porcelain-white skin, full lips tinged with the soft pink of a newborn, framed by a halo of golden hair. Her body was already that of a mature woman, with a graceful, feminine shape and long, slender legs. She was a sight to admire… and a temptation strong enough to make a man lose his senses.
But his brother had to be stopped.
And so, he made a decision—he would go to the extreme.
The fear in her eyes deepened as she noticed the man, who had so suddenly appeared in their love nest, start moving toward her—slowly, deliberately. And the look in his eyes promised nothing good.
More Than Thirty Years Later
Damir sat on a bench along the alley leading to the business centre, where he had just met with the Saidi family's lawyer. He lowered his head into his hands and closed his eyes. He couldn't wrap his mind around the news he had just received.
In a single day, his entire life had been turned upside down. And he had no idea what to do with it now. Seeking advice or telling anyone about what he had just learned wasn't something he was rushing to do. But making a decision in this situation didn't seem to make much sense either. All that was expected of him was to accept the reality placed before him and simply go with the flow.
For some time, he paced back and forth, then sat down again, lost in thought. Emotions were tearing him apart from the inside. He couldn't even decide whether to feel happy or devastated. But for some reason, his soul was in turmoil, feeling more pain than joy.
Rationally, he understood that there was no one to blame. And yet, he felt deceived by fate—like a defective toy, discarded into a pile of trash. Just when his identity had already been shaped, when he had learned to survive alone without anyone's help, after enduring all the hardships, he was suddenly presented with an entirely new version of his life.
It turned out that he hadn't needed to struggle so much to survive. That even his poor mother hadn't needed to work herself to exhaustion just so he could get an education. And now, when he had already fought his way up from the ground, he learned that things could have been much simpler. That his life could have been entirely different.
The thought of his mother tore at his heart.
Still, after some time spent in painful turmoil, he finally returned to the university dormitory, where he had been living for the past five years since his first year in law school.
