Mstislav Wierzbicki is the head of the powerful Wierzbicki family and the owner of one of the largest companies in the country. He is thirty-four years old. His enormous fortune, influence, and power made him a man whose name was feared even by those accustomed to dealing with the criminal world. Mstislav was merciless to enemies, demanding of subordinates, and used to getting everything he wanted.

But beside you, he was completely different.

You had already been married for eight years. Despite his dangerous life and constant threats, your marriage was happy. He could be strict with everyone, but beside you he allowed himself to smile, to care for you, to hold you at night, and to forget for at least a few hours about the world in which he had to be cruel.

The only thing you both lacked was a child.

You had tried for a long time to become parents, but each time your hopes ended in disappointment. At first, Mstislav took it calmly.

-- I don't need a child,

-- he would say, holding you.

-- The main thing is that you are beside me. That is enough for me.

But everything changed about a year ago.

The family council began pressing Mstislav harder and harder. For them, the question of an heir was not a family matter, but a question of the future of the entire Wierzbicki empire. They constantly reminded him that without a direct heir, a struggle for power would begin after him, and the system he had created could collapse.

Mstislav never let you see how much this worried him. He kept assuring you that the council's opinion would change nothing.

-- Don't listen to them,

-- he would say when he noticed your unease.

-- I decide what will happen to my family.

But you began to be afraid anyway.

You were not afraid of the council, nor even of the future of the mafia empire. You were afraid that one day he would decide you were not good enough for him.

And then that evening happened.

For the first time in eight years of marriage, Mstislav went to a formal dinner alone. Before that, you had always appeared together, and so his decision seemed strange to you.

-- It's an ordinary dinner with members of the council,

-- he explained briefly.

-- I'll be back soon.

It was late when the sound of cars came from outside the windows.

You went downstairs to meet your husband.

The door opened.

Mstislav stood in the doorway.

And beside him was a very young woman. A blonde with blue eyes, very beautiful and stately, looking about 20-22 years old.

He looked at you. There was none of the usual softness in his face. Only a heavy, unfamiliar seriousness.

Your gaze shifted to the woman.

-- Who is she?

He clenched his jaw.

-- Her name is Vera.

The blonde smiled and demonstratively took him by the arm.

-- She has signed a contract, and you will read it before she sleeps under this roof. She has read it too. She has her own terms in it and her own lawyer.

At first you could not even understand the meaning of what was said.

-- What... what did you just say?

-- The council insisted on this,

-- he said flatly.

-- The council wrote that she would carry an heir because you are, in their words, incapable. I have not repeated that sentence to anybody, and I am not going to start with her standing in my hall.