“These aren’t my children!” the husband shouted, deeply shaken. “Lada, they’re… they’re dark-skinned! Who’s their father? Who’s your lover?! Never come back to my house again. Don’t even think about stepping over the threshold! And forget about any financial support—you won’t get a dime!”
Lada had never had an easy life. She grew up in an orphanage, with hardly any friends. Families looking to adopt always passed over the quiet, modest girl, no matter how hard she tried. Her only real support was Vera Pavlovna, a caregiver at the orphanage, who tirelessly tried to find adoptive parents for Lada—but all attempts failed. Eventually, losing hope, Lada resigned herself to waiting until adulthood.
Right before graduation, Vera Pavlovna decided it was time to tell Lada the truth about how she ended up at the orphanage. When she was very small, Lada had often asked about her parents, but Vera always avoided answering. Now the time had come, so Vera gently invited Lada for a walk through the blooming garden and began carefully.
“You were about a year old when you were brought here,” Vera explained softly, gazing at the orphanage building. “I remember that day clearly, like it was yesterday. It was spring; the snow had just melted, and the weather was getting warmer. We were cleaning up leaves in the yard when a police car arrived. They said you had been found by a group of Roma people near the river. They claimed they’d discovered you on the riverbank. Whether that was true or not, no one ever came looking for you. So you stayed here.”
Lada stared at Vera, eyes wide open in surprise.
“Is that all you know?” she asked softly. “You have no idea who my parents were?”
Vera Pavlovna sighed deeply and shook her head.
“Nothing at all—not about your parents or any other relatives. It’s as if you fell from the sky.”
Lada spent the rest of the evening on a swing, lost in thoughts, wondering about the mystery of how she’d ended up alone by the river.
After leaving the orphanage, Lada enrolled in a medical college. She received a small apartment and got a job as a nurse’s aide at a regional hospital to support her studies. That’s where she met Anton, a physician who immediately caught her attention. He was seven years older, always polite, kind-hearted, though with a slightly tired look in his eyes.
At work, Anton was surrounded by women—young nurses competed for his attention. There were rumors he’d previously dated a beautiful endocrinologist named Kristina. But against everyone’s expectations, Anton chose Lada, sparking jealous gossip among her coworkers.
“What does he see in her?” sneered Lera, one of Anton’s more persistent admirers. “She’s plain as a board, dresses horribly. Who would want someone from an orphanage anyway?”
Lada heard these hurtful remarks but pretended not to.
One day, Anton approached her at work with news.
“We’re having dinner with my parents tonight. They want to meet you,” he said.
Lada was taken aback. Meeting parents meant things were becoming serious—perhaps even leading to marriage.
At dinner, Anton’s parents immediately made her uncomfortable with intrusive questions. His father, Viktor Alekseevich, a professor, eyed her skeptically, criticizing her orphanage upbringing.
“Growing up without parents leaves deep psychological scars,” he said bluntly.
His mother, Ida Vitalievna, agreed. “It’s unusual no one ever adopted you. Why?”
Lada struggled to hold back tears. “I don’t know. It wasn’t my choice.”
Feeling overwhelmed, she quickly excused herself, leaving Anton’s parents behind. Anton followed her, comforting her by explaining his parents had difficult personalities.
Soon after, Anton proposed. They married a month later, when Lada was already two months pregnant. At the wedding, Lada sensed disapproving looks from Anton’s parents and colleagues. The only warmth came from Vera Pavlovna, who supported her through everything.
After marriage, Anton insisted Lada quit her job once her pregnancy became visible. Doctors suspected twins, but the couple decided not to confirm, preserving a surprise. Three weeks before her due date, Lada gave birth to twin boys. She was shocked when she saw they had noticeably dark skin. Even the doctors were startled but assured her their skin color might normalize within days.
Worried about Anton’s reaction, Lada asked the hospital to hold the babies temporarily while she prepared him. But when Anton saw the twins, he exploded in anger, accusing her of infidelity.
“I trusted you! Prepared everything—and you cheated on me!” he shouted bitterly.
Lada pleaded with him, asserting her innocence, but Anton wouldn’t listen. He abandoned her on the spot.
Vera Pavlovna picked Lada and the twins up from the hospital, offering them her home. The old caregiver lovingly took care of the twins—Igor and Sasha—as if they were her own grandchildren, insisting Lada rest.
One day, Vera Pavlovna recalled an old newspaper article she’d saved. It described a woman named Lidia Fyodorovna whose daughter Svetlana drowned, leaving behind a small child who disappeared from the riverbank. Vera suggested the article might be about Lada.
Initially skeptical, Lada eventually visited Lidia Fyodorovna. The elderly woman immediately recognized Lada, confirming she was indeed her lost granddaughter. She revealed that Svetlana had fallen in love with a young black man named Vincent from France, who studied at her university. Svetlana’s parents had opposed their relationship fiercely, leading to tragic circumstances.
After years of searching, Lada finally found her father, Vincent. He’d built a successful life in France but remained unmarried, always searching for his daughter. Reunited, Vincent welcomed Lada and her sons warmly, even financially helping her start her own private medical clinic, which quickly flourished.
Years later, Anton and his mother unknowingly came to Lada’s clinic as patients. Recognizing Lada, Anton requested to see the children, claiming he’d always known they were his due to a DNA test done secretly at their birth. But Lada refused firmly, informing Anton he’d lost any paternal rights after abandoning them.
“No,” she said firmly. “A father isn’t just biological. A father is someone who raises, loves, and supports. You’re none of those things.”
She decided to sever his rights completely, feeling confident she no longer needed his support. After all, she now had a real father—Vincent—and a true mother figure in Vera Pavlovna, who had always stood by her.