“Valya! Valentina! What’s happening to you?” Boris’s voice faded with each passing second. Within moments, his wife could no longer make out his words. Everything around her blurred into silence. Overwhelmed by emotion, Valentina suddenly felt lightheaded and collapsed.
She regained consciousness as a pungent scent filled her nostrils. Boris had placed a cotton swab near her nose, its sharp, acrid aroma jolting her awake.
“What happened?” Valentina asked, looking all around the room as she tried to piece together the last few moments. “Did I collapse? Right onto the floor?”
“Are you serious?” Boris set the bottle aside, gave her a quick glance, and smirked. “You think passing out will make me stay? Is that your plan?”
“What are you talking about?” At first, Valya didn’t grasp his meaning, but then the memory came rushing back.
Just moments ago, Boris had admitted to having an affair for nearly five months. He had been secretly seeing a younger woman and had finally decided to leave for good.
“We’ve spent twenty-five years together, and just like that, you throw it all away?” Valya whispered through her tears, struggling to grasp the reality of his words. Despite the distance that had grown between them, she still loved Boris.
“There’s nothing to throw away,” he muttered. “We’ve been nothing more than roommates for years. The kids are grown and gone — there’s nothing left tying us together.”
“Nothing connects us? What about love, Borya? Do you really feel nothing for me?”
“Did you hit your head when you collapsed?” he scoffed, smirking. “Have you even looked at yourself in the mirror? My Natasha—now she’s different. Stunning, intelligent, slim, full of life… And you? Let’s not even go there.”
“How old is Natasha? Twenty? Twenty-five? You really think she won’t change? That she’ll stay young forever?”
“She won’t change,” Borya snorted. “She’ll always be beautiful in my eyes!”
Believing he had found happiness, Boris packed his bags and left to be with his young lover, while Valya was left alone in her parents’ apartment. After the painful divorce, she wasn’t truly living—just existing. Consumed by heartbreak, Valentina fell into a deep depression, unable to come to terms with her husband’s betrayal. Once plump and rosy-cheeked, she lost a significant amount of weight, and her complexion grew pale and lifeless.
“My dear, what’s wrong?” Her mother, Antonina Igorevna, visited her regularly, worried about the daughter she barely recognized. They lived in neighboring districts, and for months, she had watched Valya slowly wither away. “What’s happening to you? Why are you punishing yourself like this? Come on, get up. Let’s have lunch together.”
“I don’t want to eat. I feel nauseous, and my head won’t stop spinning.”
“It’s because you’re starving yourself,” her mother said, her voice trembling. “You’re weak, and that’s making you dizzy. You look awful, my dear. You need to eat.”
“It’s not just that,” Valya whispered, sitting up in bed. Her eyes filled with desperation as she met her mother’s gaze. “And the nausea… it’s not from hunger.” She swallowed hard before uttering the words that made her whole body tremble. “I have cancer, Mom…”
Antonina Igorevna felt a sharp ringing in her ears. She had thought her daughter was simply heartbroken, but now she realized the pain ran much deeper—Valentina was sick.
“I found out just hours before Borya admitted to his affair,” Valya murmured.
“Does he know? Did you tell him? Or did you spare his feelings?” her mother demanded.
“I was going to that day, but I never got the chance. He spoke first… and after that, what was the point?”
“What do you mean, pointless?” Antonina Igorevna’s voice rose in disbelief. “That’s nonsense! You should have told him anyway!”
“Why? Do you really think he would have stayed?” Valya shook her head bitterly. “And even if he had, why would I want that? I want to be loved—not kept around out of pity.”
“Forget about that Borya!” Antonina Igorevna scoffed, spitting to the side as if to rid herself of his name. “Tell me instead—how are you treating it? What do the doctors say?”
Antonina Igorevna’s breath caught in her throat. She grabbed Valya’s hand tightly, her voice trembling.
“Don’t say that, my dear… How can you just give up like this?”
“What’s the point, Mama?” Valya whispered, staring at the ceiling. “I have nothing left. No family, no love, no reason to keep going.”
Tears welled in her mother’s eyes. “You have me, Valya. And you have yourself. That’s more than enough to fight for.”
Her daughter’s response stunned the woman. She had assumed Valya was rejecting treatment because there was no hope, but the truth was far more painful. Valentina had lost her will to live, shattered by a husband who betrayed her after twenty-five years together.
«What are you saying?!» Antonina Igorevna cried out. «How can you think there’s no reason to fight? What about your children? And me? And your father? Don’t we matter more than that unfaithful man? You’re willing to let yourself fade away because of that scoundrel? To miss your children’s weddings and never meet your future grandchildren? Is that really what you want?»
«I feel awful, Mom!» Antonina Igorevna’s words struck a chord. For the first time, Valentina broke down, sobbing uncontrollably as she collapsed into her mother’s embrace. «Why did he do this to me? What did I do to deserve this?»
«No, my dear, you didn’t deserve any of it!» her mother insisted, shaking her head while wiping away Valentina’s tears. «You deserve a long, joyful life! You have to fight, do you hear me? If you give up, I won’t survive it either!»
Sitting together on the bed, mother and daughter wept and talked for hours. At last, Antonina Igorevna convinced Valya to seek treatment. The next morning, frail and exhausted, she finally reached out for medical help.
Over the following months, Valentina spent much of her time in the hospital. She endured hardships beyond words—relentless treatments, losing her hair, overwhelming fatigue… yet she also gained a fresh perspective on life. These were the most difficult days she had ever faced.
In the end, Valya underwent surgery to remove the tumor. The doctors refrained from making predictions about her prognosis, but slowly, her body started to heal.
When Valentina first stepped outside after the surgery, she took a deep breath of the fresh spring air and wept. But this time, her tears weren’t from sorrow—they were from pure joy.
For months, she had suppressed so many emotions, and now, they all came rushing out. She no longer cared about her appearance or what others might think. All that mattered was that she was alive. And for the first time, she felt life as it truly was—clear, raw, and unfiltered.
As remission set in, Valentina experienced true happiness. Not long ago, she had refused to see doctors or even think about surgery. But now, everything had changed.
Throughout this challenging journey, Valentina reexamined her beliefs. Only now did she fully grasp that life is the most precious thing a person possesses—a Great Gift. And no betrayal, no Boris, was ever worth giving up that Gift.
Valya didn’t arrive at these realizations right away. She only began to truly understand the worth of her life when she saw the unwavering support of her beloved children, parents, relatives, and even colleagues. Each of them cared for her in their own way, standing by her side and hoping to see her regain her strength.
But what impacted Valentina the most was the birth of her first granddaughter. While she was in the hospital, recovering from a difficult surgery, her daughter welcomed a baby girl into the world. The moment Valya laid eyes on the child, she finally understood the true purpose of her life. It wasn’t Borya or any other man—it was her family. Her parents, children, and now grandchildren, whom she loved with all her heart. Without their unwavering support, she knew she wouldn’t have found the strength to battle the terrible illness.
Valentina hadn’t heard anything about her ex-husband for quite some time. During the first six months, rumors circulated that Boris had moved to another region with the younger woman. But a couple of years later, he resurfaced. He reached out to their children and began reconnecting with them.
«Mom, would you be upset if my brother and I kept in touch with Dad? He wants to meet his granddaughter and be part of her life,» her daughter asked cautiously during a visit.
«No, of course not. Why would you even ask? You and Kolya are grown-ups—you should decide for yourselves who you want in your lives,» Valentina replied. «Wait, has your father come back? I thought he had left town for good.»
«Yes, he returned recently. He’s working here now and renting an apartment on the outskirts of the city.»
«Oh? And his beloved actually had the nerve to leave everything behind and come back? What went wrong?» Valya asked with a hint of irony.
«Actually, Dad came back alone. He left his partner. Turns out, the young woman found herself a younger fiancé. Dad ended up all alone.»
«How surprising!» Valya smirked. «You’re free to keep in touch with your father, but please, don’t involve me. I have no desire to relive the past. I only want to focus on the future.»
After battling illness and undergoing surgery, Valentina’s entire perspective on life shifted. Yet, she still felt a deep sense of guilt toward her mother. If not for Antonina Igorevna, she wouldn’t be here today. She would have missed the birth of her granddaughter, a moment so precious to her. She also wouldn’t have been there for her son’s wedding — Kolya got married shortly after her recovery. Valya was able to witness these beautiful milestones only because her mother had convinced her, just in time, to seek treatment.
Valentina never allowed herself to fall into despair again. She had learned that nothing in this world was more precious than life itself and the people she loved. No matter how difficult things got, she now understood—there was always hope for a brighter tomorrow.
