“What’s happened?” I asked.

  “Grandma is very ill. We are waiting for a doctor and also a notary. Come in, take off your clothes. Hi John, have you just arrived?”

  “Yes, I came to look at the paintings and immediately came here.”

  Ae smiled at him:

  “Lately you’ve been coming here often.”

  “Well, I couldn’t miss this. Even I became curious what the result of her efforts would be,” he pointed his finger at me.

  “Hey, be careful!” I warned him.

  “I’ll go, it seems we have a lot to do,” Ae said and left.

  “Is it strange that this happened to our grandmother? I haven’t been gone not so long,” my brother asked.

  “Yes, but for the st week she hasn’t been feeling well and almost didn’t go out for lunch and dinner. I heard she had some health problems, but she certainly didn’t tell me about them.”

  “I see,” said John.

  “I need to change clothes. Tell dad to call me when he needs me.”

  “Okay,” he responded reluctantly.

  About an hour passed, but dad still didn’t come in. I decided to go out on my own and have some tea. I went down. There was no one in the dining room. I went into the kitchen, Marco, as always, did not leave the stove. He treated me to sugar cookies that melted in my mouth. After that, I decided to walk around the house. The door to grandma’s room was tightly closed, and a rumble could be heard from behind it.

  “Okay, Christina, this doesn’t concern you,” I told myself.

  I left the house. On the street I met the cleaner Marie and the gardener Cude. They were talking about something quietly. I came closer.

  “If they look for me, I will go to the gazebo in the forest.”

  “Okay,” they responded simultaneously.

  November turned out to be dry. There wasn’t much rain, but it was still cooler than usual. I put on sneakers especially for such a walk, and now the leaves rustled softly under my feet. Passing by the ravine, I paused on the bridge. Once upon a time, my grandmother’s pdog injured her paw here because of John. He and Amber also set my skirt on fire one time. But that was a long time ago and so unimportant. I was alive and well, and today I opened the first exhibition of my paintings. This is incredible. From a little defenseless girl she grew into a big, brave girl.

  “Don’t exaggerate, you still have to grow and grow,” an inner voice reminded me.

  Of course. I wonder why he came? Although, did it really matter? The main thing is that he showed up at all. Every time I saw him my heart sank.

  I moved on, the trees were so sad and empty without leaves. As empty as my life without him.

  “Comparisons are unnecessary,” my brain suggested again.

  Approaching the gazebo, I saw that someone was already sitting in it with his back to me. I came closer:

  ”Excuse me, can I disturb you?” I started.

  The man stood up and turned around.

  “Why is it that wherever I go, you always get in my way?!” — I got angry.

  “Please, do not go. Just sit next to me. You don’t even need to talk to me, we can just be silent,” he grabbed my hand.

  I was confused, but I didn’t pull my hand out. He looked straight at me with his dark chocote eyes, and I knew I couldn’t refuse him.

  “Okay, just let me go.”

  I went into the gazebo and saw that there was a bottle of whiskey on the table. I sat down opposite him.

  “I should leave quickly, it’s not clear what he can do in this state,” I thought.

  “This is Scotch whiskey, would you like it?” He asked, looking past me.

  “I think I’ll refuse. I didn’t know that you not only smoke, but also drink!”

  It was strange, but for some reason I felt superior because I was clean and led a healthier lifestyle than him. And it was nice. John didn’t answer, just took a sip from the bottle. Then he took out a cigarette and lit it.

  “Yes, I’m not an angel, don’t look at me so condemningly. You know this better than me.”

  He took a drag and began to blow out smoke in rings.

  “I know. And I never tire of being amazed at how you sink to the bottom of life. Why are you doing all this? Bad habits are called bad habits for a reason!”

  He patted me on the head, just like dad.

  “Do you think that you are the smartest?”

  He took another sip and stood up.

  But you are a child. Yes, I like it when you’re angry, so I provoke you, but that doesn’t mean I’m dumber than you. You just don’t know adult life. Wait, you’ll become just like me,” the tone of his voice rose, “and do you know why? Because you don’t deserve the attention you’re getting. I was the one who should have received it, you have no right to this!”

  “I am your sister, and I have the same right to attention. You wasted time to annoy me, but not to get the attention you needed!” I was indignant.

  “Shut up!!!” He roared.

  I didn’t notice when he was nearby. I tried to get up, but it was too te. It seems he had too much to drink and couldn’t control himself at all.

  “You will answer me for this!”

  He swung, it looked like he wanted to hit me.

  “What should I do? What should I do?” — I thought feverishly.

  He squeezed my cheekbones with his hand and began to shake. It was painful.

  “What should I do?” He said out loud, and his gaze passed through me again.

  My position was very uncomfortable. I sat and he hovered over me. It was impossible to kick him right away, so I took extreme measures. I looked straight at him and with my free hand pulled his sweater towards me. Out of surprise, he loosened his grip and sat down on the bench next to me. I let him go and grabbed the bottle.

  “I’ll break it now,” I squeezed through his hand.

  He seemed to have woken up.

  “Just dare!”

  He finally let go of my face. I put the bottle back on the table and started running. Finding myself at a safe distance from him, I shouted:

  “You’ll apologize ter if you remember!”

  And I went home.

  “ I hate you!!!” I heard after me.

  “How cruel he is towards me. This is unreasonable. How could I fall in love with such a monster? If we weren’t from the same family, I would definitely stop communicating with him,” I thought.

  ***

  Grandma was getting worse. She made a will that left the house to my father and half of her savings. The jewelry and the other half of the savings were to go to John, but on one condition… I didn’t get anything, but this was expected from my grandmother.

  One evening she called my brother, with whom we had not communicated for several days. Of course, I didn’t expect an apology from him, but they weren’t needed. This made it easier for me to distance myself from him. It just so happened that John did not close the door behind him, and there was a small gap left. I don’t know what they were talking about, but when I passed by, I heard:

  “... When you were young, the customs were different. Did you love grandpa?”

  I didn’t hear her answer and came closer. He continued:

  “It is important. Because in the end you fell in love with him, but I will never love her. You see her only from the side with which she shows herself. I see it from the other side. And I don’t like this other side.”

  I was about to leave, they were talking about Amber again. But something made me stop again.

  “I love you and respect your opinion, but you also understand me. Why is Christina not married off to anyone in advance, but I have to?”

  “Because you are my grandson, and we have a good pedigree, but it’s unclear where they brought her from. If it weren’t for your father, I wouldn’t have left her here for a day. And she would have grown up in this den of rootless people, as she should have…”

  I recoiled as if struck by thunder. So this is what he knew and what he was hinting at. That’s why the old dy treated me badly. And dad or what should I call him now? How did he live with this? He smiled, hugged, listened and always bought something, knowing that I was not his daughter. No, it was worth thinking about. I walked slowly and felt that I had no strength. And if it weren’t for Cude passing by by chance, I would have already fallen.

  “Are you okay?” He asked.

  “My head is spinning. Can you help me go outside? I want to breathe.”

  “Yes, sure.”

  I leaned against the cold wall of the house and closed my eyes. Life could no longer remain the same...