Over the city, the sky was growing blacker, like a sheet burning at the edges.
The wind cut into her face, and Valentina walked slowly and heavily up the steps of the notary’s office.
There was nothing more to say.
Her mother was d.ead, then her father. And now her mother-in-law.
The only person who kept her in that large, cold house, where the laughter of her lover and Ostap still echoed on the walls.
In the wood-paneled hallway, smelling of old paper and expensive perfume, Ostap grinned like a well-fed dog.
He had the same arrogant expression as when he had told her in the kitchen that Sophia “understood her needs better.”
And Sophia, her hands on her knees, sneered at Valentina’s old shoes.
The notary read the will.
Everything—the house, the books, the jewelry collection—belonged to Ostap. Of course. Not to Valentina. Just… a letter.
A thick envelope, sealed with red wax.
The notary handed it to her without a word. Ostap laughed.
“A farewell poem, perhaps!” he joked.
Valentina did not answer.
She slowly removed the seal. Her hands were shaking slightly.
Inside was only a single handwritten page. She recognized Olga’s handwriting. Round and clear.
“My dear Valentina, if you are reading this, it means I cannot tell you what I know. The truth.
You are not just my daughter-in-law. You are my daughter. Yes, the child I gave birth to at nineteen and gave up for adoption to escape the shame of that time.
I could not keep you, but I will never forget you.
Fate—or God—brought us together a second time, as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. I never told you the truth… for fear that you would run away and hate me.”
But I loved you secretly, as if you were my own flesh and blood.
I left everything on paper to Ostap.
But what he did not know was that real wealth is not in the books.
In the basement of the house at 14 Eichenstrasse, behind a false wall, there is an old chest. The code is your date of birth.
There I hid my gold and my family documents from before the war. I don’t trust my son. Not even Sofia. But you… I trust. You carry my soul in you.
Forgive me for all the lost years.
Your mother,
Olga.
Valentina felt her knees buckle.
She gripped the edge of the table. Tears filled her eyes, not from pain, but from a late and unexpected love. And from anger.
Ostap stood up curiously:
“What does it say? What did he leave you?”
Valentina slowly folded the letter. She wiped her tears.
“A memory,” she said calmly. “Nothing that could interest you.”
She left the room without looking back, her heart pounding like a drum.
There was no despair on her face.
There was something new. A strength. A truth.
She knew what she had to do. Oak Street was waiting.
And there, in the silence of a dusty basement, she would find not only her legacy… but her identity.
The ending was no accident.
