“Uncle, please… take my sister. She hasn’t eaten for a long time…”
Igor had heard many voices over the years — voices of investors, journalists, desperate clients. But none stopped him in his tracks like this one. It wasn’t just a voice — it was a trembling, broken fragment of childhood.
He turned around sharply, his phone still pressed to his ear, ready to bark orders to his assistant.
And then… he froze.
A boy stood before him — no more than seven — gaunt, with dark circles under his eyes and hollow cheeks. His coat was oversized and soaked, clinging to his thin frame. In his arms, swaddled in what looked like a frayed curtain, was a tiny baby girl, her lips pale and chapped, eyes half-closed from exhaustion.
The boy looked up at him, his expression a mix of fear, trust, and something much heavier — responsibility far beyond his years.
“Please… she’s cold. We waited at the station… and Mama didn’t come back.”
Igor’s instincts, honed from years of corporate warfare, failed him. No spreadsheet or strategy meeting had prepared him for this. His legs moved before his mind caught up — he crouched down, removing his long wool coat and wrapping it around both children.
“What’s your name?”
“Maxim. This is Taya. She’s my sister.”
“How long have you been waiting?”
Maxim looked down, ashamed. “Since the day before yesterday.”
Igor’s breath caught in his throat. His mind screamed about meetings and stock deadlines. But his heart… his heart remembered the long nights of silence after Rita’s death. The empty house. The unopened nursery.
He scooped them both into his arms.
At the café, he ordered hot soup, bread, and sweet tea. For Taya, he bought warm formula and a small stuffed rabbit from the pharmacy. As Maxim ate with wide, desperate bites, Igor saw not just hunger, but fear — fear of being sent away, separated, forgotten.
“I’ll help you,” Igor said firmly. “You’ll stay with me for now. We’ll figure this out.”
That evening, as the children slept in his guest room — the room once meant for his never-born child — Igor stared out the window, his phone full of missed calls and angry emails.
He didn’t care.
For the first time in years, something meaningful had filled the silence Rita left behind.
And outside, the city carried on, unaware that a businessman had found something far more valuable than any deal — a reason to stay, to love, and to begin again.