The Wife He Betrayed

PART 3 — The Truth Behind Her Silence

Two weeks passed.

Mark had searched Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and every property registered under my name.

He found nothing.

Then, one evening, his lawyer entered his office carrying a thick folder.

“Mr. Seversky, your wife has filed for divorce.”

Mark slowly put down his pen.

“What?”

“She has also requested an independent investigation into the transfer of the foundation’s assets.”

His face turned cold.

“Bring her here.”

“She has refused to meet you.”

Mark slammed his hand against the desk.

“She is my wife!”

His lawyer hesitated.

“Not for much longer, sir.”

At that moment, Stella entered the office without knocking.

“Mark, are you coming? The director is waiting for us.”

He ignored her.

“Leave us.”

Stella froze.

“Mark?”

“I said leave.”

For the first time since her return, she looked genuinely uncomfortable.

After she left, Mark opened the folder.

Inside were the divorce papers and a formal statement from my lawyer.

There was also a photograph.

It showed me standing outside a music academy in Saint Petersburg, wearing a simple cream-colored coat.

My hair was tied back.

I looked thinner.

But I was smiling.

Mark stared at the photograph for a long time.

“She’s alive,” he murmured.

His lawyer nodded.

“There is something else you should know.”

“What?”

“Your wife is pregnant.”

Silence.

The room seemed to lose all its air.

Mark slowly raised his eyes.

“Repeat that.”

“She is approximately fourteen weeks pregnant. The information was included in the medical documents submitted to establish certain financial protections during the divorce proceedings.”

Mark stood so quickly that his chair fell backward.

“Why didn’t she tell me?”

His lawyer looked uncomfortable.

“Perhaps she tried.”

Mark remembered the wedding anniversary dinner.

The empty chair.

The little gift box he had never opened because he hadn’t come home.

He remembered countless missed calls and messages asking him to attend medical appointments.

Suddenly, he understood.

“Get the car.”

That same evening, I was teaching a group of children at Elena’s academy.

A little girl struggled with her violin, her small fingers unable to reach the correct position.

“Don’t be afraid,” I told her gently. “Music isn’t about being perfect. It’s about having the courage to try again.”

The children laughed.

Then Elena appeared at the doorway.

“Polina, there’s someone outside asking for you.”

My smile disappeared.

“Who?”

She hesitated.

“Mark Seversky.”

My fingers tightened around the violin.

Through the window, I saw a black Maybach parked outside the academy.

Mark stood beside it, wearing his familiar charcoal suit.

He looked different.

His hair was disheveled, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.

When he saw me, he took one step forward.

“Polina.”

I remained where I was.

“What are you doing here?”

His eyes moved toward my stomach.

For several seconds, he couldn’t speak.

Then he whispered, “You’re carrying my child.”

I looked at him calmly.

“I’m carrying my child, Mark.”

His face tightened.

“Please. We need to talk.”

“There is nothing left to discuss.”

“I didn’t know you were pregnant.”

“You never asked.”

He looked as though I had struck him.

“Polina, I made mistakes.”

I gave a quiet laugh.

“Mistakes? You missed our anniversary. You gave away my foundation. You spent months protecting another woman while your wife waited alone for you.”

“I can fix everything.”

“No, Mark. You can buy another mansion. You can purchase another company. You can put Stella’s face on every billboard in Moscow.”

I stepped closer.

“But you cannot purchase the years I spent begging you to look at me.”

His eyes became red.

“Come home. Please.”

I shook my head.

“This is my home now.”

Just then, the academy’s little girl approached me, holding her violin.

“Miss Polina, will you come tomorrow? You promised to teach me the new song.”

I smiled and gently adjusted her collar.

“Of course, sweetheart.”

Mark watched the little girl take my hand.

For the first time, he saw the life I had built without him.

And he realized that I was no longer waiting for his permission to be happy.

He reached toward me, but I stepped back.

“Mark, the divorce papers are with your lawyer. Please sign them.”

He stared at me.

“Is there really no chance for us?”

I looked directly into his eyes.

“Once, I would have given anything for you to ask me that question.”

Then I turned and walked back into the academy.

Behind me, Mark remained standing in the freezing evening.

His phone rang.

Stella’s name appeared on the screen.

He looked at it for a long moment.

Then, for the first time, he rejected her call.

But the biggest shock was still waiting for him.

Because the following morning, Alexander would send him a document proving that Stella had known about Polina’s pregnancy long before she disappeared.

And the woman Mark had sacrificed his marriage to protect had been hiding a secret of her own.