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Vitaliy covered his ears with his hands. He was so tired of his daughter's behavior. When he got married, he thought that Katya would become friends with his new wife, and that his new wife would become, if not a mother, then at least a friend to his daughter. But six months had passed, and their relationship was only getting worse. Vitaliy was torn; he loved both of them dearly but had no reason to doubt Katya, especially since he saw how Katya responded to his wife. "Enough! How long can this continue? I was hoping you would get along, but you're just getting on my nerves. I've been working all week, sleeping three hours a night. I come home thinking I can rest, and you put on this show for me?"
Katya immediately ran to her room. She stopped at the door, looked at her father through tears, and said, "Dad, work and everything else have always been more important to you than me." She slammed the door behind her. Anya came over, sat down next to him, and hugged him. "You see, she's completely out of control. She doesn't listen, she doesn't understand anything, and she lies a lot. You can't imagine the stories she makes up, and in all of them, I'm the main villain."
Vitaliy sighed. "What do you propose?"
"Don't think badly of me, but maybe we should find a boarding school for her. We can take her on holidays to teach her how to behave."
He turned to his wife. "Remember, Katya will live at home. But you're only making things worse for her, and later, you'll regret it."
Anya left, slamming the door as well. Vitaliy was left alone, feeling guilty towards both of his women. That evening, he made up with Anya, who didn't need much to forgive him—a transfer to her account and she smiled again. Things weren't so rosy with his daughter. He knocked on her door. "Katya, open up. It's me." The door swung open. "Oh, now I have no personal space, and the keys to my room were taken away long ago."
Vitaliy was confused. He looked at Anya, who shrugged. "The girl is very unstable. I'm worried something might happen."
Katya snorted and went back to her room. Vitaliy rubbed his forehead. "Anya, I think you're overreacting."
"Maybe it seems that way to you. Don't worry." She walked out of the room.
Vitaliy thought to himself that he couldn't give Anya money. As soon as she got any sum, she ran to the shops, even if she didn't need anything. "Katya, how about we go for a walk to our favorite café or along the promenade?" Katya put her book down. "Call her by her name. I won't." She picked up her book again.
Vitaliy decided he had to talk to his daughter, and to do that, she needed to calm down. "No, Katya, we'll go alone." She looked at him doubtfully, then hugged him. "Yes, Dad, we haven't been anywhere in a long time." They walked a bit and then had lunch at a café. Katya visibly transformed into a different child. After the café, they went to the pond to feed the ducks.
"Katya, we need to talk. You understand we can't continue like this. I care about both you and Anya. But what's happening now is impossible."
Katya shrugged. Anya was good at finding words to convince him of anything. Katya didn't try to justify herself or say anything—she just shut herself off. "When I'm not here, do you live like cats and dogs?"
"No, Dad, it's worse. You can't imagine how bad it is." Finally, she turned to him, tears in her eyes. "Dad, please send me to an orphanage. I don't want to live with her anymore. I'll manage; other children do."
Vitaliy hugged her in horror. "What are you saying? We'll figure something out."
That night, Vitaliy didn't sleep. He was leaving in three days and didn't know what would happen. Could his daughter be acting so much that she wanted to go to an orphanage? And why wouldn't she tell him what's going on? He hugged her. "Don't worry, I'll only be gone a week. Maybe I can come back sooner."
Katya nodded. "Please try, Dad."
Anya came out to see him off to the car. "Please, this is not me; it's always her who starts first."
"You're an adult. Can't you avoid conflicts?"
"I can't. If she senses she's allowed everything, she'll behave terribly. It's dangerous. You're not raising your daughter because you don't have time. So let's agree you won't interfere."
Vitaliy raised an eyebrow. Maybe this situation was new to them. He counted the days, even the hours until he returned. No one knew that he had installed hidden cameras in almost all the rooms. He wanted to see what was really happening between his women.
When the girl was only five, or already five, how should he say it? If she were younger, she wouldn't remember her mother and would accept Anya more easily. But on the other hand, she remembered her mother who loved her very much. With Anya's arrival, they stopped talking about Alyona—it would be disrespectful. Katya might think they betrayed her mother. He didn't know what to think. There were no reasons to distrust Anya—his wife had a teacher's education, so she probably understood children better.
He arrived home at night. All the windows were dark, everyone was asleep. Quietly, he went to his office, turned on the laptop, and watched the recordings. After an hour of rewinding, if he had hair, it would have stood on end. The first thing he saw was Anya slapping Katya for not taking her boots to the hallway. He wanted to wake everyone up but gritted his teeth and continued watching. Katya was in her room, doing homework or reading. Anya came in, clearly drunk, and started throwing her books and notebooks, repeating endlessly that it wouldn't matter because she'd live in an orphanage.
Vitaliy recoiled from the monitor. Anya was threatening to send Katya to an orphanage. Strange, in the end, the day before he returned, he heard only arguments. He concluded that they argued in the hallway where there were no cameras. Katya ran to her room and didn't come out. It was strange—no eating, no walks. Quietly, he went to Katya's room, pressed the door handle, and it opened. Katya lay on the bed, very pale.
"Katya, Katya." She opened her eyes, looked at him with a detached look, and closed them again. He started shaking her, but she didn't respond. He called an ambulance. Anya came out, with a hint of satisfaction, suggesting Katya might have taken forbidden substances. A young doctor examined Katya for a long time. "Don't you see anything yourself?"
"I warned you," Anya said. Vitaliy stood up, opened the door, and said, "Leave, Anya, just leave." Anya sneered. "This time, my forgiveness will be very expensive." Vitaliy shut the door behind her.
The doctor said, "Thank you. You know, I'm not a specialist in this area, but I think the girl has had a severe nervous breakdown. There's no trace of any substances, but I'm still taking her to the hospital."
Vitaliy had spent two days in the clinic. Katya indeed had a nervous breakdown, and something else had happened that he didn't quite understand in medical terms, but he knew it wasn't good. He sat by his daughter's bed, trying to talk to her to affect her condition. "Do you remember, kitten, when you were very young, and on your birthday, your mom and I took you to the park? Do you remember catching a duck and asking us to take it home? Mom said the duck had children, and you said we'd take them too. Then Mom asked where we would all fit, and you said you'd give them your room. Mom laughed and said we'd give them the giraffe and all your toys, and we'd live on the promenade. And then you cried and said you wouldn't give your toys to anyone and chased the duck away."
Vitaliy fell to his knees by her bed. "My darling Katya, I was so scared." "Don't worry, darling, don't worry at all. We will live together just like before."
Vitaliy sat in the car, staring gloomily at the house. The windows were lit, indicating Anya was home. He entered. His wife turned her head slightly and continued watching TV. Vitaliy smirked.
Today, his daughter had finally answered the question of why she hadn't told him anything in detail. Anya had threatened that if her father found out, Katya, in her childish fear, didn't want to lose her father too. "Pack your things."
Anya shrugged. "If you think a ticket will save you, you're wrong. You hurt me too much."
"A ticket is unlikely. Pack your things and get out."
Anya jumped up. "Are you out of your mind?"
Vitaliy walked towards her. "I've never hit a woman, but if I see you here for another ten minutes, I won't be responsible for my actions."
Anya backed away. "So that's how you repay me for raising your crazy daughter? If I leave, you'll have to beg for a long time before I forgive you."
Vitaliy was tired and couldn't talk anymore. He went to his daughter's room, locked the door, and fell asleep immediately.
The next day, he approached Katya's room and froze. Katya was laughing, not just laughing, but laughing heartily. He hadn't heard her laugh like that since Anya moved in. Vitaliy quietly opened the door. Katya wasn't alone. The woman who had arrived with the ambulance was with her.
"What are you talking about?" Katya asked. "We'll definitely go there."
Vitaliy looked at the woman and realized how much she reminded him of Alyona. Not in appearance, but in behavior, in her laugh. He even shook his head. "Of course not."
He opened the door wider. "Where are you going without me? I might want to laugh too."
Katya jumped off the bed, and the woman stood up, blushing slightly. "Dad, Dad came! Natasha says we need to go to the house of laughter. Everything that seems unfunny here will be very funny there."
"Alright, I'm coming with you too."
Natasha blushed even more. "I thought we were going with Katya. But if you're okay with going with her, then no problem. We'll all go together."
They visited all the places Katya wanted to go. With his daughter, it felt like he was also twelve years old, sometimes going crazy with them. Then he realized something: he had only felt this easy with Alyona. He truly loved her. And now with Natasha. It turns out Natasha liked not only his daughter but also him. Vitaliy never imagined his life without Natasha after half a year.
