Tony was a strikingly handsome child from the very start. At kindergarten performances, he was entrusted with reciting the most touching poems—mothers and grandmothers in the audience would always dab their eyes and coo in unison:
— Oh, what a beautiful boy! Like an angel! And the way he read that poem—brought us to tears!
But then Tony’s beautiful mother left for warmer lands, far beyond the horizon, like in a fairy tale. To live with a stranger. Tony’s father soon remarried a woman who already had a son, Andrew. Andrew wasn’t as handsome as Tony, but the boys got along well.
Together, they attended kindergarten, then school. At school, the story with the poems repeated: Tony recited on stage, and everyone clapped enthusiastically… But, to be honest, his grades weren’t stellar. Often, his marks came more from his charming looks than his efforts. Unlike Andrew, who had to study and memorize diligently.
When Tony grew up and started dating girls, his studies suffered even more. He had no desire to learn, no matter how much he tried. Fortunately, girls would solve his homework, whisper answers during exams, but college entrance loomed ahead!
His parents feared he’d fail the admissions. His stepmother, Valerie, was so anxious she took heart drops, already dreading the future diploma of her stunning, movie-star-like adopted son.
She worried less about her biological son, Andrew, who had long set his sights on maritime school, dreaming of navigation since childhood.
— Mom, don’t worry, I’ll manage! Andrew’s the one who has to grind, not me with my pretty face! — Tony would joke.
And indeed, luck was on his side. Girls secretly helped him pass the entrance tests, whispering the right answers. Tony got into a reputable university with a high ranking. But once again, studying took a backseat. He was too busy!
Over the years at university, Tony dated countless girls, each more beautiful than the last. How could it be otherwise? He was so handsome that girls flocked to him, giving him no peace. He didn’t even have to make the first move—just accept their eager attention and choose whom to favor.
Then, out of nowhere, a shocking piece of news shook the student and faculty community: Tony got married!
So many girls soaked their pillows with tears! Tony married Amy, a girl two years his junior. They didn’t have a big wedding: Amy was an orphan, and Tony didn’t care much for ceremonies. They just signed the papers, and that was it.
Of course, Tony wouldn’t have married an unattractive girl, but his bride wasn’t a stunning beauty either. Just pleasant. Her character, though, was pure gentleness and kindness. Her eyes sparkled with positivity, and her beauty was natural, authentic. No silicone enhancements, no fake curls or nails. She barely wore makeup.
Friends asked why he chose a plain little mouse when glamorous, polished women paraded around him…
He’d laugh it off:
— I like the real deal! No artificial stuff. None of that rubbery tuning on faces or figures, no plastic fakes! You can play with toys for fun, but for life, you choose something real.
Amy eagerly cooked delicious homemade meals for her husband—soup, main course, and dessert. She wrote his lecture notes, completed his coursework, while her young husband happily… cheated on her, just as before.
They say habits are second nature. How could he resist, with such a buffet of desserts around him? Blue-eyed, brown-eyed… Blondes, and redheads, for whom Tony had a particular weakness—he adored redheads! Women with a fiery, fox-like charm drove him wild… That’s why he married Amy—she was a redhead, covered in golden freckles. She was self-conscious about them, powdering her delicate nose, but he was enchanted.
He’d kiss the tip of her freckled nose, so densely sprinkled it looked dusted with pollen, as if Amy had been sniffing dandelions. For their first anniversary, he gave her a ginger kitten.
Valerie, however, grumbled that a redheaded baby boy would’ve been better than a kitten. But they decided to hold off on kids. Or rather, Tony decided. Amy quietly accepted his choice, even agreeing they’d decided together.
Tony wasn’t ready to settle down—still a big kid himself.
There were no hitches with his diploma either—Tony graduated (thanks to Amy, of course) and even landed a decent job. One of his flings put in a good word with her influential father.
By then, Andrew had married, and the family mourned the loss of their father, who couldn’t be saved after a stroke. Valerie was left alone. Well, with her daughter-in-law.
Tony was generally content with his married life. Mornings, he’d eat a tasty breakfast, kiss Amy goodbye, and head… to his fling, Laura, the one who helped him get his job.
Amy fed their beloved cat and went to her classes—she was finishing her final year. Tony, after Laura, went to the office, where, forgetting both Amy and Laura, he was entirely captivated by the boss’s secretary, Nina. Nina was a fake redhead, but still, absolutely stunning!
On weekends, he’d visit his mother in the suburbs, where he’d see a lively widow, Nadia. Nadia had married a tractor driver who fell through the ice on a lake, trying to take a shortcut… and never came back.
The rosy-cheeked, statuesque Nadia quickly got over her loss. She so enchanted Tony that he made every excuse to visit his mother nearly every weekend, claiming urgent chores.
He lied to Amy that he was helping his mother. He lied to his mother that he was relaxing from the workweek, escaping city noise, or hanging out with friends. But why would he need friends when a passionate lover awaited?
Tony lived carefree, his life perfectly suiting him. One day, he pulled a girl out from under a car, saving her from being hit. Then he realized she was drunk, too. She mumbled something about having no reason to live, while apologizing profusely.
Her drunken tears and remorse touched him. Perhaps she really was in trouble… He felt compelled to help, at least to listen. Tony called work, asking for a couple of hours off for unexpected circumstances.
He took the hapless girl to a café, ordered strong coffee for both, and listened to her outpouring. She sobered up, admitting she lived a reckless, meaningless life, and promised, in gratitude for his help, to get her act together. They met again for another “therapy session.”
And so, Tony accidentally started seeing Nellie! At first, to support her, but then, unexpectedly, he fell head over heels. Spring bloomed vibrantly around them. Tony and Nellie strolled along the riverbank, through parks, and he felt like a savior of lost souls.
He was thrilled she stopped drinking and no longer talked about suicide. Her life was stabilizing. At first, Tony was surprised he was holding her hand like a sister, caring and chaste. He forgot all his other flings!
They blew up his phone with calls and texts, but Tony was wholly absorbed in Nellie’s emotional balance…
Then, a romance sparked with the fragile beauty, and he lost his mind. He fell in love! He didn’t even notice how. Maybe because she was a redhead! But not like Amy. Amy was like a summer sun, warm and golden.
Nellie was like an autumn fox against a crimson forest. Her cascade of glossy hair was fiery red, like a blazing bonfire. Her skin was flawless, alabaster, without a single freckle. Laura, Nina, Nadia, and all the others, including his wife, faded away. Tony breathed love for the delicate, vulnerable Nellie every moment.
He decided to leave his wife. He couldn’t live a day without his fiery fox. Then Tony filed for divorce. It was quick: no kids, no shared property to divide… Well, except for Amy’s ginger cat, which no one would contest.
Amy stayed in their rented apartment, while Tony packed a suitcase and moved in with Nellie.
— Amy, should I leave you some money? — he asked, then mentally scolded himself. Idiot, she just got a job—how’s she supposed to live?
Amy, of course, refused. But he left some cash in the hallway drawer anyway.
Tony was soaring. He didn’t even notice that Nellie, besides being generally unprepared for life, couldn’t handle basic daily tasks. Even frying eggs turned into a small fire, with clouds of acrid smoke filling the apartment.
No matter! They had love! They could always order pizza or sushi.
Soon, Tony and Nellie applied at the registry office and got married. It was the most romantic evening of his life! Their evening.
The apartment was strewn with flickering candles, fragrant with exotic incense. His bride was delicate and ethereal, like an elven princess. They sipped red wine, gazing silently into each other’s eyes. In the mystical glow of candlelight, everything felt magical, unreal.
Then Nellie, eyes sparkling, dragged her husband to the rooftop to celebrate their happiness under the starry sky.
They admired the city’s nighttime views, the scattering of stars in the inky sky. Then Nellie suggested… holding hands, they should fly off the roof together.
— What?! We’re not birds! If we fly, it won’t be up! It’ll be straight to the pavement… — He cautiously peeked over the railing, feeling his legs go numb from the height. — Wow, it’s so far down! Even the cars look tiny from here.
— Perfect, — Nellie said mysteriously. — To feel happiness in flight and die in that moment of bliss—what could be better?
— Life, actually, is better! Seeing things you’ve never seen. Visiting places you’ve never been. Flying over the wilderness in a helicopter… Skydiving…
— Let’s skydive! — Nellie persisted. — Even without a parachute. It’ll be a long enough flight to feel otherworldly joy!
— You’re insane! — Tony kissed his new wife on the nose.
— Yes! I’m mad with love!
Nellie grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the flimsy railing at the roof’s edge. At first, Tony resisted weakly, thinking she was joking… But when he realized she wasn’t, his foot already felt the terrifying void beneath.
What followed played out like slow-motion. Nellie plummeted, arms spread, pulling him with her. Tony made one last desperate attempt to hold on, to save her, but it was futile.
He fell after her. They say when you face death, your life flashes before your eyes, every day and year in a vivid sequence. Is it a lie? No, it’s true.
In a split second, your entire life does flash by, bright as a lightning bolt. And so wisely you see every moment, as if a higher power shows you where you went wrong, where you can take pride…
But it’s a belated wisdom, useless in life… As he fell, Tony realized there was little to be proud of. Maybe only that he tried to save Nellie, for the second time… Though he failed. She succeeded in ending her life, as she’d long planned, and dragged Tony with her…
Then came the sound of impact, echoing like a million bells. A blinding flash, like a thousand suns, engulfed Tony… Then darkness.
Tony lay in the ICU. He no longer resembled the handsome Tony. More like a mummy, tightly wrapped in bandages. During the fall, he’d caught on someone’s bedsheet drying on a twelfth-floor balcony, billowing toward him in a gust of wind.
Tony tangled in the sheet. It tore free, and he fell, wrapped in it like a makeshift Superman. But this accidental hero’s cape wasn’t a flowing red… Another gust yanked the sheet’s edges, and the air current pushed Tony onto a van parked below.
A furniture van, its body covered not in metal but in thick polymer film with the store’s name and phone numbers…
If Tony had hit the pavement like Nellie, he’d have met the same fate. No one survives that.
By sheer chance, Tony survived. With a broken leg, a broken back, a traumatic brain injury, and seven fractures total, not counting minor bone cracks.
For three months, he lay unconscious in the ICU, periodically slipping away. After the fall, he endured two clinical deaths…
They say in the moment of death, a departing soul sees a bright light and loved ones who’ve passed. A lie? No, it’s true.
Tony saw a tunnel of light, with figures approaching at its end. As they drew closer, he recognized his father, grandfather, and grandmother! They didn’t call him to join them—just stood, looking at him solemnly.
He tried to reach them but kept hitting an invisible barrier, separating the world of the dead from the living…
For four more months, doctors patched and pieced him together, trying to restore his ability to walk, but eventually gave up.
— Sorry, bro. I’ve got a kid now. I can’t take you in… I’m always at sea, and who’d I leave you with? Mom? My wife with a baby? I… I can help you get into a care facility… They’ve got treatment and support… — Andrew sniffed guiltily.
Tony closed his eyes and said nothing. So much for help… He hesitated a long time before contacting his biological mother. She’d abandoned him and his father when Tony was five, remarried, and moved to Italy. Would she come? Would she help, even with money?
He mustered the courage and wrote. She called via Skype. She teared up, but Tony saw it was theatrical—wiping tears, but her eyes held no feeling. Dabbing at supposed tears, she was really fixing her makeup… What feelings could she have? She’d left him as a toddler and never reached out since. Any bond had long faded.
She promised to send money for meds. When she asked about his prognosis and learned he’d likely never walk again without a €200,000 operation in Europe—plus lengthy rehab—her eyes darted nervously. With a falsely cheerful tone, she wished him luck raising the funds, hurriedly said she’d call again, and signed off.
Tony knew she wouldn’t call. He wasn’t needed when he was healthy—why would she bother with a wheelchair-bound invalid?
The heartthrob, once chased by droves of women, was utterly alone. No one visited, no one called. He awaited the day transport would take him to a care facility…
Then fate took pity on Tony once more. His ex-wife took him home. Amy. She’d visited him a few times in the trauma ward. Tony was both glad and resentful… But he was so alone!
Amy brought him back to their rented apartment. Only then did he notice her prominent belly.
She waddled like a nesting doll, rounded and swaying like a duckling… When she’d pushed his wheelchair for walks, she’d always worn a robe and jacket.
Tony was still on heavy painkillers—his body felt sawed apart by a red-hot blade, and injections dulled the pain from injuries and stitches. The meds made him distracted, unfocused, his vision blurry.
On discharge day, when Amy left her robe at the hospital and wheeled him down the alley toward home, he finally saw she’d changed. It was a short walk, ten minutes from hospital to home without transport.
Amy pushed him slowly, staying behind, so he only heard her voice. At the building entrance, she turned his chair toward the sun, careful not to let it glare in his eyes, and sank heavily onto a bench to rest. Tony’s jaw dropped.
— You’re… pregnant?
Amy smiled, blushing. Even her pink ears turned crimson.
— Well, as you can see.
— We were divorcing, and you were already pregnant?! You knew and didn’t tell me?
— Would it have changed anything? Would you have loved me again, like before? — Amy looked into his eyes intently.
Tony was at a loss. They were divorced. The child would be born without a father. Amy took him in because no one else in the world needed him… Not his countless glamorous flings, not his wealthy biological mother, not his brother and his family… Even if not blood-related, they’d grown up as one family…
His father might’ve needed him, but Dad was gone… Tony had no one but Amy. Suddenly, he covered his face with his hands and sobbed, inconsolably, like when his mother left him as a child… Amy knelt beside his chair, hugged his head, and pressed it to her chest:
— Tony, my dear, don’t cry! We’ll manage! You’ll see! Just hold on, my love! Help me a little, okay? I can’t do this without you. Oh, God!
A pregnant woman, on the verge of giving birth, with no money or home, caring for an invalid, was begging him to help because she couldn’t cope without him! What heart could withstand that?!
Later, it turned out Tony was entitled to Nellie’s apartment, inherited from her parents. After navigating paperwork, he became its owner.
An old building in the city center, with thick walls and nearly twelve-foot ceilings, was considered elite housing. It was valued at a hefty sum, even in a sluggish market.
Naturally, Amy insisted they sell it—there was the money for the operation!
— Are you crazy?! This kind of place! We’ll never afford something like this again…
— Tony, if it gives you your legs back, to hell with the place. Even an elite one!
— Why am I not some hotshot coder who could build and sell an app for millions… — Tony fantasized.
— But you’re not a coder yet, so we work with what we’ve got! — Amy cut in, grounding him.
He sighed, promising to think it over carefully.
— Just don’t think too long. Time is money in your case. And we can’t dawdle in any sense: the baby’s coming soon. I’m more mobile with a belly than I’ll be with a newborn.
His Amy was, as always, the voice of reason! Meanwhile, his unstoppable ex-wife launched a flurry of negotiations with various foundations. Selling their elite apartment still wouldn’t cover the full cost of restoring his mobility.
Inspired by her determination, Andrew joined the fight. He brought an envelope of cash and, before continuing, told Tony he was a complete idiot.
— The biggest fool alive! You ditched a woman like that for a lunatic! And look at the mess you made, Casanova.
— I kick myself every day! But at least I didn’t lose her for good…
— We, uh… talked it over with my wife. We’ll earn for a new house and car someday. You’ll recover, help out too. Eventually. But I’d never forgive myself for leaving my brother legless forever! Get treated, bro! Go get that operation! Come back on your own two feet.
He leaned down, and the brothers hugged tightly. Amy stood in the doorway, smiling. Then she tied an apron over her big belly and announced:
— Who’s helping me in the kitchen? We’re making dumplings with potatoes and liver!
As Amy and Tony negotiated with apartment buyers, two unexpected things happened.
A renowned professor from Leipzig contacted Amy—well, Tony—offering to perform the operation for free, funded by the clinic. Tony’s case was complex, of scientific interest. Many doctors wanted to observe the procedure for future expertise. It was risky, and being a guinea pig wasn’t thrilling, but Tony agreed.
Then Tony’s mother arrived—someone he never expected to see. He thought they’d said all there was. She begged forgiveness, for everything! She regretted not being able to apologize to her late husband… And offered to cover travel, surgery, and rehab costs. Her husband, Vincent, had suggested it—they were wealthy, childless; what was the point of their money otherwise? You can’t take it to the grave…
Amy held Tony’s hand, silent. She hadn’t expected this either. They turned down the apartment buyers, who then started a bidding war. Before, they’d haggled absurdly low, exploiting Tony’s desperation, but now offered nearly one-and-a-half times more when they saw the deal slipping away!
When Tony declared there’d be no sale, curses, insults, and even threats followed… Amy calmly retorted:
— What can you scare me with? I wasn’t afraid to face life with a baby and a wheelchair-bound invalid, both on my hands. You think some greedy sharks will scare me now?!
She snorted and decisively wheeled Tony away. Then everyone scattered in different directions.
Tony—to Leipzig.
Amy—to the maternity ward.
Her ginger cat—to Andrew’s house until Amy returned.
The operation was a success. Rehab was long but effective. Tony walked with a cane at first, but soon didn’t need it. He remarried his wife and returned to work. In his free time, he joyfully pushed a stroller through park alleys.
He hugged his wife, and they cooed over their baby together. Andrew bought a new house and was finishing renovations, planning to invite Tony’s family for a housewarming. Tony’s mother and Vincent were coming soon to meet their grandson.
His mother looked younger, always smiling, cooing at the baby on video calls. She kept saying she couldn’t understand how she’d lived so long like a stone statue, having lost her heart somewhere.
Tony thought he’d never forgive her—but he did… Running into old flames around town, women he’d once charmed, he pretended not to notice them.
When particularly bold ones hinted at rekindling old sparks with such a heartthrob, he just smiled:
— Heartthrob? Trust me, beauty’s such an unimportant thing…
They didn’t believe him, of course.
But he knew better!
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