Anna stood by the large window of the master bedroom, staring out at the moonlit garden. Her hands trembled slightly as she pulled the last pin from her hair.
She knew what was coming. She had been bracing herself for this moment ever since her parents announced the “big news”: her engagement to Ivan Sergeyevich—a businessman three times her age but ten times wealthier than anyone her family had ever known.
She heard the bedroom door creak open and footsteps approaching. Anna didn’t turn around.
“Anna,” his voice was surprisingly gentle, “please, sit down. We need to talk.”
Slowly, she turned and saw Ivan Sergeyevich standing beside an armchair. He had taken off his wedding jacket but was still dressed sharply in a crisp white shirt and elegant trousers.
His silver hair was neatly combed back, and his gray eyes watched her with a look she couldn’t quite read.
Her heart pounding, Anna perched at the edge of the enormous bed, steeling herself for what she believed would be the most humiliating moment of her life.
Ivan Sergeyevich remained standing, hands casually tucked into his pockets, studying her carefully.
“I know you didn’t want this marriage,” he said, cutting straight to the point. “I know your parents convinced—or rather, forced—you into it.”
Anna blinked in surprise at his honesty.
“Before anything else happens,” he continued, pulling a folder from the nightstand, “I want to ask you for something.”
Anna’s throat tightened. Here it was—the dreaded moment.
“I want you to promise me one thing,” he said, handing her the folder. “Finish your education.”
Anna stared at him, stunned.
“Excuse me?” she whispered.
“Your studies. Medicine. Third year, if I’m not mistaken.”
She nodded numbly, still struggling to process his words.
“I’ve set up everything for you,” he said, motioning to the folder. “There’s a bank account in your name with enough to cover all your expenses—tuition, living costs, everything—until you graduate.”
He looked at her with quiet seriousness.
“I want you to become the doctor you always dreamed of being.”
With trembling hands, Anna opened the folder. Inside were bank statements, papers for an apartment near the university, and other documents she could barely see through her tears.
“I… I don’t understand,” she choked out. “Why are you doing this?”
Ivan Sergeyevich sat down slowly, suddenly looking older and wearier.
“My wife, Ekaterina, passed away five years ago,” he said, his voice distant. “She was an oncologist. One of the most dedicated people I’ve ever known. She saved hundreds of lives but couldn’t save her own.”
He rubbed a hand across his face, as if trying to erase the memory.
“The night I first saw you—at that charity gala where your father was desperately trying to catch my attention—I saw the same fire in your eyes that Ekaterina had. That same determination to help people.”
Anna listened, stunned.
“But… the marriage?” she asked quietly. “Why marry me if you only wanted to help?”
He gave a sad smile.
“Your father is drowning in debts. Too many to count. He made me an offer: forgive the debts in exchange for your hand in marriage. It wasn’t my idea.”
Anna’s heart twisted.
“But when I realized how desperate your situation was—and that you might have to give up your dreams just to help your family—I agreed.”
He stood and walked to the window, staring into the darkness.
“I have no intention of being your husband in any real sense, Anna. I’m sixty years old. You have your whole life ahead of you.”
He turned to her, and for the first time, Anna saw a softness in his steely gaze.
“You’ll live in the apartment near your university. I’ll remain here.
Publicly, we’ll appear together at events when needed. But otherwise, you’ll be free to study and live your life.”
He paused, then added:
“When you complete your residency and become a full-fledged doctor, we’ll quietly divorce. You’ll be free to live however—and with whomever—you choose. All I ask is that you use your talents to help others, as Ekaterina would have wanted.”
Anna clutched the folder against her chest, tears streaming freely now.
“But why? You don’t even know me,” she whispered.
Ivan Sergeyevich smiled—a real, warm smile that transformed his entire face.
“Because I’ve seen too many lives ruined by greed and pride,” he said. “Because Ekaterina would have wanted me to do something meaningful with everything she left behind.”
He gestured vaguely toward the grand house around them.
“And maybe, just maybe, she’s still watching. And I want to be the man she would still be proud of.”
He moved toward the door, pausing with his hand on the handle.
“Oh, and Anna… congratulations on scoring first place on your anatomy exam last semester.
Ekaterina would have been proud of you.”
With that, he quietly left, leaving Anna standing alone in the center of the room, overwhelmed by a storm of emotions.
For the first time in months, she felt a spark of hope—hope not born from desperation, but from genuine kindness offered when she least expected it.
As she walked toward the guest room he had prepared for her, Anna thought of the woman she would never meet—Ekaterina—and silently thanked her for inspiring compassion that transcended even death.
That night, Anna fell asleep not dreading the future, but dreaming of the lives she would one day save.
Three years later, Dr. Anna Sergeyevna stood proudly in her white coat, facing her first patient as a medical resident—confidence and determination radiating from her like a beacon.
In her heart, she carried immense gratitude for the man who had given her more than just a second chance—he had given her the freedom to chase her destiny.
Ivan Sergeyevich had never asked for anything in return.
He had only asked her to become the doctor he believed she could be.
And now, with every patient she treated, Anna honored the promise she made—both to him and to herself.