In May, Lena and Ira began a series of exams that required a personal appearance.
Ivan woke up early in the morning, and while everyone was sleeping, he decided to record a preview for a new video in the hall. He set up video cameras in different parts of the room. He read out the text several times.
Soon the children and his wife woke up. He put away the video cameras, but forgot to turn off and put away one small action camera, which he hid so that it could not be seen.
"Vanya, I'm tired," Natasha began. - Will you take the kids to school?
"Of course, honey.
- Dad, I heard that you're taking us today? - Ira jumped out of the corridor.
- That's right.
- Let's go to the Porsche! - She suggested. - To make everyone stunned.
- Forget about the Porsche. Consider that this is not a car, but a means to pay off the garage.
"It's not clear right now," Irina looked at her father in bewilderment.
- Ira, this is the last naturally aspirated gasoline Porsche 911, released in a limited series in the twenty-first year. I barely snatched it on pre-order. He drove only fifty meters from the truck to the garage. In five years, if it remains intact, it will cost twice as much and just pay off the cost of building a garage. So consider it just a monument.
"It's not interesting," the teenager wrinkled her nose. - Then let's go in your Toyota Crown!
- It is possible.
"Vanya," his wife said to him, "I've found a new recipe. When you get to the regional center, buy me groceries. I've made a list.
The trip to the regional center and back took Ivanov two and a half hours. While I took the children to school, while I found all the groceries my wife needed, plus the way back. When he returned, he found his wife happy in the kitchen.
"What are you doing?"
- Here, - she turned around, beaming like a polished copper, - I think where to start... Did you buy groceries?
- I bought it. Vasilisa (the housekeeper) will soon move them from the trunk to the kitchen.
After kissing Natasha, he went to his office to edit the video. During the installation, he missed the action camera and went to the gym to look for it. The camera, of course, has run out of battery.
Returning to the office, Ivan continued to look through all the materials and mount them. When it came to processing information from the flash drive from the action camera, an unpleasant surprise awaited him.
He was frozen in his chair like a wax statue from Madame Tussauds. Bulging eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the homemade porn performed by his wife and the gardener.
After watching the video to the end, he stopped the video playback and leaned back in his chair. His soul was in turmoil. For the first time in a long time, he felt worse than ever. He felt spat on from head to toe, humiliated and crushed. I wanted to cry, yell at my wife, and physically abuse her and her lover.
He sat in an armchair for half an hour, trying to calm his frantically racing thoughts and indescribable rage. As soon as he calmed down, he rewound the video to the beginning of the explicit scene, turned off the monitor, got up and opened the door.
- Natasha! - he called out loudly, keeping an Arctic calm on his face.
- what?
"Come here, please."
Natalya approached Ivan. Her face expressed slight displeasure and annoyance.
"Something important?" I'm busy."
He closed the door and silently went to the computer. He turned on the monitor and pressed the space bar. His wife's moans came from the speakers.
Natasha fixed her eyes on the monitor. Her skin paled instantly. She froze in a stupor.
Vanya pressed pause and looked at his wife carefully. In response, she slowly, almost creakingly, turned to him.
- Unexpectedly... Someone likes to try someone else's yogurt...
- Vanya... - She drawled in a trembling voice.
"Just let's not make any fuss or excuses," he shook his head and closed his eyes. "I can't live with a man who betrayed me, no matter how much I love him.
- Vanya! That's not it...
"What am I thinking about?" - he cut off her speech, looking at his wife with a sad, painful grimace. - Also tell me that it's a montage or a person who looks like you...
- It's your fault! Natasha abruptly changed tactics.
"Guilty of what?" came Ivanov's sharp sarcasm. - That I once saved you from disability? That he loved you all his life, surrounded you with attention and care, provided you with everything you needed, like a fairy-tale genie, fulfilled your desires?
"You cheated on me too!"
- And yogurt on the lips is not hoo-hoo?! - He was genuinely indignant. "Unlike some people, I've always been loyal to you, like a loyal dog. He didn't even think about other girls, even though he could get any beautiful woman into bed. And I see you've been having a good time behind my back. And the most annoying thing is right in our house on the couch, where we spend time with the whole family. The only question that bothers me is why? What did you miss?
"Why not?".. Natasha bit her lower lip. - Because you are a collective farmer! Rich, but a collective farmer who has only cars and money on his mind. And I want something more than living in a remote village. This 'Tutub' of yours is already in the liver!
- My dear, I dare say that you are a collective farmer yourself. This 'Tutub' is not mine. He has made you popular and brings in income that you would not have seen in your Kremenskaya during the day with a fire. And not because I'd be blind as a mole... You should not distort and try to blame me for your unworthy behavior. At the very least, it's ugly and negates all the good and bright things that were between us.
"Do you want to know why I did it?" Boring... Yes, exactly, I'm just tired of everything. I wanted something new, thrills. But I love you anyway!
"No, honey, that's not how it works. You can't suck someone else's yogurt behind your husband's back and then tell him that it's all his fault or that you love him... You do understand that after such a betrayal, our lives will not remain the same?
Natasha seemed to have aged five years instantly. Her face was wrinkled from exertion. She slumped her shoulders wearily and muttered:
"You won't even yell at me?"
"I don't see the point," he shrugged. - At first I wanted to shout and wave my fists, but this is not the way out.
"And what do you suggest?" His wife looked at him hopefully. - Vanya, we have daughters... Think about them. I promise I won't cheat on you anymore.
"You should have thought about your daughters earlier," Ivanov said, barely noticeably shaking his head. - You can continue to pour anyone's yogurt into your peach, but not mine. I see two options: good and bad.
Natasha turned even paler and swayed. She clenched her jaw tightly and prepared to listen to the options.
- A good one - we are amicably negotiating. You get a hundred million dollars' worth of shares, a house in Spain, and a nice apartment in Chelyabinsk. You leave the children with me, we run away peacefully and live our own lives.
"Will I be able to see my daughters?"
- At any moment, if they wish it. In no way am I going to hinder your conversion.
"But how are we going to tell them?" "What is it?" she asked with anguish.
- Let's say we're just tired of each other. It is not necessary to take out the litter from the hut. They're not little kids anymore, so they'll come to terms with it and understand.
- And the second option?
- A bad option is when you decide to sue me for half of the property. A big scandal will break out. You might even be able to do it in part, although it's doubtful given the evidence," he nodded towards the monitor. - The children will receive serious moral trauma, you will be known all over the world as a cheater, I as a cuckold.
- And yet, if I try to sue, what will happen?
- Keep in mind that I have money on my side. I'll hire the best lawyers. I'm also going to Sweden with my daughters. This country does not extradite children from its territory to anyone. Even if you sue for something, then you won't see either Ira or Lena until you come of age. And then you can meet with them only if they wish it themselves. And I will try to prevent them from having such a desire. I'll show them this filth," he nodded at the monitor.
Natasha clutched her chest in the area of her heart, staring at the screen with wide eyes of horror. She slowly turned her gaze to her husband.
- Vanya, you're a good person... You won't do that, will you?!
- Not if we come to an amicable agreement.
"So be it," Natasha swallowed a sticky lump and barely managed to get the words out. - I agree with the first option, but...
"But?" Ivan raised his eyebrows questioningly.
- Let's live together for at least a couple of years for the sake of the children. Let's not hurt the girls. They will graduate from high school and go to study in another city. Then we'll split up.
After some thought, Vanya decided to agree with this decision. It was unpleasant for him to injure children. Just for the sake of his daughters, he was ready to continue to tolerate the cheater.
After an unpleasant conversation with his wife, Ivan went to the head of security. A respectable elderly man with short gray hair, a small belly and a bulldog face stretched out in front of the boss and reported:
- I wish you good health, Ivan Ivanovich. There were no accidents during the duty.
- Maxim Petrovich, you are a little wrong. Something happened that didn't get on your cameras, but it got on mine...
"What is it?" Petrovich frowned.
"The gardener doesn't work here anymore. Maxim Petrovich, please remove him from the estate. And more...
"Yes, yes..." the head of security devoured the boss with obsequious eyes.
- Do you have the personal information of all employees?
- Of course!
- Are there any acquaintances who are ready to carry out an assignment with a slight criminal connotation for a substantial reward?
- It depends on that... Petrovich tensed slightly.
- There is such a terrible epidemiological situation in the world right now... It seems to me that soon after the dismissal the gardener will get sick... For example, a broken leg...
"H-hmm... The head of security coughed into his fist. - It's easy! Some of my guys can help the poor guy 'not catch a cold.' Is it possible to find out what he did?
"This man has recklessly coveted something that does not belong to him. I picked a peach from the wrong tree... I put the yogurt in the wrong hole...
"H-heh, h-heh, h-hmm.".. Hiding his laughter and hiding his smile, Petrovich covered his mouth with his fist. Assuming a serious look, he cheerfully replied, "I got the hint, Ivan Ivanovich... Maybe that's what he needs...
The security chief made a scissor-like movement with his index and middle fingers. His hand, lowered to the level of his waist, clearly hinted that he was offering to cut it off.
"No, this is too much," Ivanov shook his head negatively. - He doesn't have any brains anyway, and you can also cut off what replaces them...
***
As a result, Ivan and Natasha secretly divorced from everyone. As promised, he gave his ex-wife shares of top companies worth one hundred million dollars, an apartment in Chelyabinsk and a house in Spain. At the same time, she still owned a car designed for her - another Toyota Land Cruiser Prado - she liked this model. Shares should bring her income in the form of dividends in the amount of at least one million dollars a year, often more than one and a half to two times. No matter how you look at it, it's a decent amount, which is enough for a good comfortable life.
Their relationship had cooled dramatically. From the very day Vanya found out about the betrayal, they began to live in separate rooms. Outwardly, they tried to maintain an even relationship, but the twins noticed that mom and dad were behaving in a different way.
New servants were selected more carefully. If a man was hired, they preferred either the elderly or the unattractive.
When the daughters graduated from school, Vanya gave them a decent apartment in the capital. They managed to enroll in Moscow State University (MSU) on their own without parental help, and on a budget, choosing the same faculty. But the girls cheated by choosing the Faculty of Anthropology, which has such a minimal competition that it's easier to say it doesn't exist. There is always a pathological shortage there and at the Faculty of Ichthyology. It's enough to pass the exams somehow to get there, after which you can brag to everyone that you study on a budget at Moscow State University. But with the knowledge that their tutors had drilled into their heads, they could have entered a more prestigious faculty.
In August of the year two thousand twenty-seven, the twins went to study in the capital. Immediately after that, Natasha moved out of Ivan's apartment.
Having suffered a crushing loss on the family front, Vanya plunged into the abyss of depression. He abandoned the channel on Tutuba and started drinking.
The black streak cannot last forever. The body of a forty-seven-year-old man did not allow him to drink for more than a week. He was recovering for a couple more weeks.
Ivan decided to overcome depression with hard work. He just didn't want to mess with his favorite cars. As a result, he turned his attention to the financial sector.
The bitcoin exchange rate has grown significantly after a sharp drop in the spring and summer of the twenty-first year. Now he was showing steady growth again, breaking the eighty thousand dollar mark.
Ivanov still has a million bits left. He decided to start getting rid of them gradually.
In order not to bring down the market, over the next five months he sold several pools, the size of which decreased from fifty to twenty-five bitcoins.
January of the year two thousand twenty-eight turned out to be eventful. Firstly, bitcoin broke the threshold of one hundred thousand dollars and its value continued to rise until the end of February, after which the exchange rate plummeted below hundreds of thousands.
By this point, Ivan had sold fifty thousand bitcoins, raising four and a half billion US dollars, and this was after taxes.
He invested all the money in various securities, betting on food, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence.
Even before that, being a co-owner of Astramedic, he was considered a billionaire with a fortune exceeding six billion dollars. The fortune floated up and down along with the value of the pharmaceutical company. That is, in fact, he has almost doubled his capital.
The situation with food in the world has been getting worse every year. The population was arriving, and the increase in agricultural production was slow. As a result, there was a shortage of food, which was reflected by high price increases and a decrease in the quality of food sold in stores.
Ivan himself did not feel this on himself. He always had fresh, natural products, supplied directly from farmers or bought for a lot of money in stores.
Secondly, the world's first virtual reality capsule was announced in January. That's just the cons of this technology were enough. To connect the capsule, you need to implant a neural interface chip in your head. The price of the device is sky-high. The software is raw. There are practically no programs or games yet. The operation is unsafe. In general, not for the masses, but only for rich geeks.
For example, Ivanov would not even think about buying a raw wirth capsule and implanting a raw neurointerfes in his head. That's when the technology is worked out and made completely safe, then you can buy yourself a similar device.
After his falling out with Natasha, Ivan hadn't had a woman for more than a couple of years. Unlike his wife, he was an old-school man, but in his heart he was thirty-five years older than his real age. Even just living under the same roof with the one he loved, his moral principles could not allow "betrayal". Then he plunged headlong into an alcoholic binge, then plunged into finances. But now the body has made itself felt.
It seems to young people that at forty-seven years old a person is already quite ancient. After thirty, it becomes clear that this is not the case. When a person reaches this age himself, he believes that he is not young yet, but he is not an old man either, but still wow... Just don't strain your back and make sudden movements.
Having been married twice, he was in no hurry to step on this rake for the third time. The children are already adults, he is insanely rich and single again. Why not live for yourself? Otherwise, it's all for others.
He had heard of specific agencies that supply mistresses to rich men who don't even know about it. But Vanya was not detached from reality. More than once or twice, articles by journalists have flashed on the Internet that rich Russians are under the thumb of private intelligence services.
Sex agents monitor the habits of millionaires, study their tastes, and compile dossiers on them. And then, exactly according to the "patterns", a girl who dreams of becoming the mistress or wife of an oligarch is adjusted. And they allegedly accidentally introduce her to an unsuspecting 'client'.
Surprisingly, the fact is that surveillance, hypnosis, and methods of psychoanalysis are useful for wallet hunters. All in order to fuck a rich guy.
They managed to come to an amicable agreement with Natasha, because she did not act like a predator, but began to fool around out of stupidity and boredom. Such a trick will not work with the fortune hunter of the oligarchs. Behind such a hunter, there is often a semi-bandit organization that does its best to help its agent get what she wants. Naturally, not for nothing, but for a substantial chunk of the predator's income.
Most of the regulars on the Forbes list are constantly being developed by employees of the marriage industry. The agency creates a dossier for each suitable wealthy man: a psychological portrait, an astrological chart, family relationships, habits, and the types of girls preferred by the "game". With the help of surveillance and wiretapping, almost complete information is collected about the subject of hunting. The future passion is "brought up" and selected taking into account the characteristics of a particular "client".
The oligarch from the file cabinet is in constant development. Because of this, his favorite places of residence are well known. He may meet a beautiful stranger at a resort, restaurant, office, nightclub, or favorite store.
The first meeting is organized in such a way that, under any conditions, the "victim" will definitely notice the huntress. For example, a girl can be put in the next seat on an airplane during a long flight or get a job in a businessman's company. Since she will look and behave like his ideal, he will not miss the chance to get to know her better.
When the hunt ends in victory, the lucky beauty transfers some real estate to the "support group" or gives away jewelry received as a gift from her lover, and if she is very lucky, from her husband. At the same time, there is no way for a girl to leave her mentors - she is completely hooked on them. Step left, step right, and the mystery will be revealed. They know everything about the girl, so if she shows defiance, they will tell the businessman the whole story of his passion and attach a pre-prepared video where the girl argues that for the sake of money she is ready to sleep at least with Quasimodo.
Knowing all this, Vanya was sure that there was a high probability that a girl of his type was already waiting for him somewhere. A predator, ready to cling to him for the sake of money. After all, unlike many rich people, it was easy to find out about him. A blogger is a media personality. He's putting his life on display. By watching his videos on the Internet, sex hunters can learn a lot more than through banal surveillance.
About ten years ago, a scandal broke out involving a famous Russian billionaire. A certain highly respected employee of an escort agency, following the instructions of her sex instructor, accused the oligarch of sexual harassment on social networks. On her Instagram page, she posted an appeal to the oligarch, in which she suggested that in order to resolve the piquant situation, marry her or come to a talk show and tell the whole country about what happened on his yacht. Then she wrote that it was a joke, but the businessman did not understand such a joke. He sued the girl.
This is far from the only case when rich and famous men suffer from young and cynical predators or offended ex-wives.
Vanya now understood Artyom much better, who could not find a normal life partner. He was afraid to start a relationship. Like any man, he did not want to find a specially trained lover or a free-range predator who hunts for his condition, but an adequate girl, avoiding possible problems.
Two marriages have taught Ivan that there are no perfect people. There is no mythical soulmate. If you're lucky, you'll find someone who tolerates you with all the quirks. You'll cling to him with all your limbs and won't let go of yourself. It is only necessary to give up, to let go of control over the raft of love, which is always bobbing on the waves, as family life can go downhill. If you make a mistake or look for the perfect match, you'll get older, fatter, and even more lonely. Then you will do everything possible to fill this hole with friends, work, hobbies, mental sex, but it will not help. And one day you'll look around and realize that everyone adores you, but no one loves you.
Ignoring everything, he decided to relax. He started a brand-new Porsche in the garage, which he was no longer going to store for sale. Vanya lost the point of straining for the sake of earning a couple hundred thousand foreign money. There is a cool rare car, there is a desire to unwind and have fun, so why resist?
He kicked out the Porsche and drove along a perfectly level village road. It is possible to meet the same in villages only if the same wealthy people live there, like him, who made the way for themselves.
The powerful engine roared fervently to the whole neighborhood. His power felt submissive to the driver. The Porsche raced across the recently thawed asphalt.
Approaching the house of the Ledge family, Vanya slowed down. A BMW X6 luxury crossover was parked on the side of the road near their yard, which temporarily blocked the road.
Ivan waited for the car to park, and then drove off. But after driving a few meters, he slammed on the brake. The Porsche stopped dead in its tracks.
The reason for the stop was the BMW driver, who left the interior of the crossover. Her appearance was painfully familiar to him. Older, but still looking like a beautiful peach. In her previous life, she had gained weight by this time, and immediately sported a slender figure and a facelift.
After leaving the Porsche salon, he attracted the woman's attention by calling out to her:
- Saule!
- Ivan? - she opened her eyes in surprise, recognizing her former classmate.