Nina stood in front of the women’s bathroom mirror and didn’t recognize herself. The dress felt suffocating, her face was unfamiliar, her eyes empty. In the hall, the master of ceremonies was shouting, the guests were laughing, and her father was probably already drunk. She, however, was unable to smile.
The door opened a crack. Matveics, the old hall steward, peeked in:— “My girl, don’t drink from your own glass,” he whispered. “Your fiancé put powder in it, I saw from the back room. White, from a bag.”Nina turned around, but Matveics had already closed the door.
She sat on the windowsill, her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming. Memories flashed through her mind: Sergei’s death, the truck accident, months of silence. Then Grigoriy appeared, her father’s friend, businesslike, assertive, helping her, watching over her.
Her father beamed with joy: “We found the right fiancé.” Nina hadn’t protested — inside, she was empty, there was no difference.But the powder in the glass… what was it?She went back into the hall. Her legs were weak, her ears ringing. Grigoriy was sitting at the head of the table,
his arm on her father’s shoulder, speaking loudly, everyone laughing. On the table were two glasses, tied with red ribbon — one for the groom, one for the bride.She sat beside him. Grigoriy leaned over, placed his hand on her leg under the table, squeezed — firmly, as a warning:
— “Where were you? The master of ceremonies is waiting. The main toast is coming.”— “I was fixing my dress.”— “Come on, stand up.” He smiled, but his eyes were cold. “You can rest later.”The master of ceremonies shouted: “Bitter!” Everyone raised their voices, and Grigoriy lifted his glass, nodding to Nina:
drink.Nina lifted the glass — then suddenly pulled back. The champagne spilled, the guests gasped.— “Oh, excuse me!” she jumped up, grabbed Grigoriy’s glass from the table. “Let me drink from your glass, fortunately! Right away!”Grigoriy’s face twisted for a moment — anger, pure icy anger.
But he couldn’t speak: her father was already shouting:— “Correct, my girl! One glass — it means a long life!”The guests applauded. Nina drank from the glass and didn’t take her eyes off him. She was pale, her hands clenched into fists under the table. Matveics brought a new glass for Grigoriy.
He slowly lifted it and drank, without looking away from Nina.Nina understood: he knows that she knows.An hour later, Grigoriy became ill. Pale, he asked Nina to escort him to the room. In the room, Grigoriy sat on the bed, his face in his hands. Nina stood at the door. Minutes of silence passed.
— “You deliberately swapped the glasses,” he finally said.— “Yes.”— “Who told you?”— “It doesn’t matter.”Grigoriy slowly stood. He approached her, stopping a step away. He spoke softly, almost kindly:— “Listen, Nina. From now on, you are my wife. Tomorrow your father will sign over the lands.
I have already explained everything to him, he agreed. And you will stay quiet, play the happy bride. Understand?”— “Why the powder?”— “So you could sleep calmly and not interfere with my work. Your father was already drunk enough today to sign. It’s a technical matter.” He leaned closer.
“But you were clever. We’ll deal with it. If you try to tell anyone — I’ll say you went mad.”— “You speak as if I am nobody.”— “You really are nobody. An empty space. For two years you were a zombie. I bring you back to life. And you’re ungrateful.”Something stirred in her — not fear, but anger.
— “Sergei knew you were trying to steal from the warehouse, right?”Grigoriy’s face hardened.— “What are you talking about?”— “He checked the shipments. You erased it because it was in your way. And I was just a tool to get to your father.”Grigoriy tried to intimidate her, but Nina stood firm.
The next day, in the garage, she found the evidence: photos, notes, Grigoriy’s signature on the sabotage. She called the police, every detail was documented. Grigoriy was arrested in the morning, screaming and trying to deny it. Her father watched quietly. Nina was finally calm.
A few weeks later, the mechanic confessed, everything was revealed. Nina attended the hearings, her gaze frozen on Grigoriy. The sentence: eleven years in prison.A month later, Nina sat at the grave, laying flowers in memory of Sergei. — “Now I know,” she whispered.
“I know who’s responsible. And he’s in prison.”Her father waited quietly at the car. They returned together to the base where Nina learned to manage the documents and warehouses. Life went on, but Nina no longer feared, she was no longer an empty space. She knew the truth, and that was enough.
