The woman before him, wild-eyed and feral, snarling like a cornered beastwas this really his mother? Her words, *”You were my youthful mistake,”* echoed in his skull. All his life, Alex had known only this: hed been found wailing from hunger and fear on the doorstep of a baby home, wrapped in a thick blanket and tied with a cashmere shawl. No note, no name, no trace of his past. Just a silver pendantan ornate letter “A”clutched in his tiny fist.
The pendant wasnt mass-produced. It was custom-made, bearing a jewellers mark. Investigators tried to trace it, to find the mother whod abandoned him, but the trail went cold. The jeweller had passed away, and his ledgers held no record of the piece. So Alex was christened *Alex Unknown*, another ward of the state.
His childhood was spent in the care system, aching for parents who never came. *Maybe something awful happened. Maybe shell still find me.* He clung to that hope, like all the other children there. When he aged out, his carer pressed the pendant into his hand and told him its story.
“Maybe she wanted me to find her!” Alex said.
“Or maybe you yanked it off her neck,” the carer mused. “Babies grab things. There was no chainjust the pendant in your fist.”
The state gave him a cramped flat. He enrolled in college, trained as a mechanic.
***
He met Albina by accidentliterally. They collided on the street, sending her fashion magazines scattering. When he scrambled to pick them up, their heads knocked together so hard sparks danced behind their eyes. They sat there, laughing through tears as strangers stepped around them. That was ithe was in love.
“Let me make it up to you. Coffee?” he blurted.
To her own surprise, Albina agreed. There was something familiar about him, this clumsy bear of a boy.
“I feel like Ive known you forever,” she confessed within minutes.
“Funny. I was thinking the same.”
They became inseparable, texting, calling, attuned to each others every ache. If Alex cut his hand at work, Albina would ring within minutes, asking if he was hurt.
“Youre me, and Im you,” Alex told her once. “Youre my fate. Shame I cant introduce you to my parentsI dont have any.”
“You have me,” she said. “And my parents will love you.”
***
“Your boyfriends from a *childrens home*? Are you mad? Those kids are feral!” Lydia, Albinas mother, clutched her chest and collapsed into a leather armchair.
“Mum, Alex is kind! You cant judge everyone the same!”
“Shes right,” said Ivan, Albinas father, a retired officer. “Meet the lad first. Then well decide if heart attacks are necessary.”
“Ivan! We didnt raise her to marry some rootless stray! What if his parents were degenerates?”
“Well find out when we meet him,” Ivan said firmly.
Lydia stormed off, slamming the door. Ivan winked at Albina. “Well manage.”
***
On the appointed day, Alex stood at their door, polished and nervous, clutching two bouquets and a cake. Albina beamed as she led him inside.
“Mum, Dad, this is Alex!”
Ivan shook his hand. Lydia took the flowersthen froze. The colour drained from her face.
“IIm just nervous,” she stammered, ushering them to the table. Over dinner, her gaze fixed on his pendant.
“Thats unusual. Not something youd buy off the shelf.”
“Its all I have of my mother. I was found holding it.”
Lydia said nothing more, staring at her plate until the evening ended.
“Hes a good lad,” Ivan said afterward.
“*Good?* Hes uncouth, ill-mannered”
“Lydia, whats gotten into you?”
But she was adamant. “Break up with him. *Now.*”
***
Alone, Lydia panicked. *How could this happen?* Her eyes fell on an old photograph tucked in the bookshelfher younger self, wearing the same pendant.
*So I didnt lose it. That little wretch tore it off me.*
She hid the photo. *Ivan and Albina mustnt see.*
That night, she resolved: Alex had to leave.
“D-darling, I behaved terribly. Could I have his number? Id like to apologise.”
Albina, unsuspecting, handed it over.
Lydia called. “Alex, could you come over? An hour?”
He arrived to find her red-eyed and trembling.
“We need to talk.”
“Alex, you must leave Albina. Swear my family will never know.”
“I swear,” he whispered, dread pooling in his gut.
“Alex… Albina is your *sister*.” She thrust the photo at him.
“Mum?” His voice cracked. “And Father?”
Lydia shook her head. “Ivan isnt your father. We were young. I was stupid. When I fell pregnant, the man abandoned me. I told Ivan the baby died. I left you at the home. Then I came back, married, and built this life. *You*you were a mistake. Leave. Dont ruin this.”
Alex stared, numb. *Is this snarling woman really my mother?*
“Goodbye, Lydia.”
“Ill tell Dad everything!” Albinas voice cut through. She stood in the doorway, shaking with fury.
“Youre *vile*.”
***
“Forgive me, sis,” Alex muttered, eyes downcast.
He ran. He wanted to dissolve, to vanish. Days later, he enlisted for deployment.
Ivan and Albina saw him off.
“Stay safe, son,” Ivan said, gripping his shoulders. “Were your family now.”
Albina hugged him. “Come back. We love you.”
For the first time, Alex felt warmth. He had a father. A sister.
Lydia was alone. Ivan left her, repulsed by her cruelty.
She still blamed Alex, of coursefor *daring* to exist.
