«And now the bride will gift her business to the groom!» — the emcee announced at the mother-in-law’s request, but instead of the deed, I played the video and the mother-in-law had to flee through the back door…….

They had complicated relations. Mother didn’t believe in business, thought a woman should be under a wing, not with wings. But maybe something changed in her too.

«Come in,» Anna only said. They sat silently for a long time. Then mother, without raising her eyes, quietly added «You’ve become stronger.»

I’m proud. Though I don’t always understand you. It was like someone quietly placed a hand on her back at a moment when she no longer hoped for support.

Sometimes at night, she went out to the yard, sat on a bench, and listened to the wires hum. The city slept, but her thoughts didn’t quiet. So much had changed.

So much remained. Inside her now were two people: the one who gave the business with a smile, and the one who took herself back without regret. The cafe started being mentioned in the news again.

Now as an example, as a story of how a woman managed to get back her own. The bride who gifted the business and took it back. Headlines were loud, almost fairy-tale.

But behind them hid sleepless nights, lawyer bills, and emptiness that couldn’t be shared in interviews. Once a man with a child came into the cafe. The girl looked at the display with interest, and he smiled, as if searching for something familiar.

«I was here a couple of years ago,» he said. — With my wife. — You treated us to gingerbread then.

— Remember. Anna nodded. Not because she remembered, but because she wanted to remember.

It was warm here then. And now the same. Thank you.

You’ve been through a lot, huh? She smiled. And you probably too. He said nothing, only nodded and bought two pies.

Leaving, he turned: hold on. It shows. When the door closed behind them, Anna approached the window.

Snow slowly settled on the glass. The street was almost empty. Lantern lights made the drifts golden.

Everything seemed frozen, but under this peace beat something alive. In her life there was betrayal, lies, loss. But there was the other side: truth, resistance, the chance to start over.

She didn’t become the old self. But didn’t break. And in that her victory.

That night, returning home, she lingered on the cafe threshold. Looked back. Turned off the light.

And in the glass reflection suddenly saw herself: not lost, not defeated, but quiet and alive. A woman with no more illusions, but with something more valuable. Herself.

Then she stepped into the darkness, not as into the unknown, but as into certainty that morning would come anyway.