20 years later

Twenty years have passed since then and just look at Magdalena!

The young, naive, inexperienced, wild girl has become a real woman.

But leaving our biased opinions aside, do you remember where we left Magdalena?

After committing some of the most terrible crimes imaginable, she left her homeland, Bostana, and made her way to a small European country known for its medical innovations. There, her daughter underwent several highly successful operations and her face was completely reconstructed. Sara’s other health problems were also left in the past.

Sara grew into a beautiful young woman, with long black hair, long legs, and a full figure. Just like her mother, she never failed to attract attention wherever she went.

Can you guess what profession Sara chose? She was studying plastic surgery and was quite a successful student. But for now, let’s go back to Magdalena.

Magdalena… A young woman full of life, energy, hope, and sexual desire. The same woman who had committed horrific crimes, who had arranged for her lover to kill her husband, then killed her lover herself, dumped their bodies into a ravine, and burned them both.

She had also killed her mother-in-law and father-in-law, staging it as an unfortunate incident.

Then she had destroyed the evidence, lied her way through everything, and dealt with poor Niko, a mentally unstable man who suffered hopelessly from his love for her.

And who knows how many other terrible things she had done.

Now she was living in Europe, supporting herself building her own small business.

But don’t think she was struggling. Not at all! She had built a strong case for herself and had been granted asylum. The government supported her in every possible way.

Near her home, Magdalena had a small commercial space where she sold Eastern souvenirs and handmade crafts. Thanks to the business, she earned quite a good income and was able to provide her daughter with everything she needed. She also managed to make a little saving. 

And so Magdalena, the woman we have just described, was highly respected in the neighborhood and among the people closest to her. Everyone who knew her believed she was a victim and did everything they could to help and support her.

Of course, Magdalena had not given up on her personal life during all those years either. How she managed to keep all her affairs secret, however, remains a mystery.

Magdalena had slept with the husbands of almost all her closest friends.

Her method was always the same: she would become close to a married woman, befriend her, and earn her trust through kindness. She might clean her house for free, have a drink with her, listen warmly to her problems, and patiently discuss her troubles.

Eventually, these European women, accustomed to order and routine, became completely comfortable around her. They would let her into their homes and share their little family “idyll” with her.

Magdalena took advantage of that trust and began intimate relationships with their husbands.

As an example, I’ll tell you the story of how Magdalena “raped” Frank, the husband of her closest neighbor, Alberta.

Alberta and Frank had been married for more than twenty years. Frank ran a fairly successful small business, while Alberta had retired after years of working as a teacher and mostly devoted herself to her family and children. But the children had already gone their own ways and hardly remembered their parents anymore.

Alberta lived near Magdalena’s shop, in a pleasant, well-kept apartment building. She admired Magdalena’s humility and hard work. She was always telling her husband about her, saying that this immigrant woman was working honestly in their neighborhood and raising her daughter on her own.

She constantly encouraged her husband and the other neighbors to support Magdalena.

“Please, buy her things! We should stand by immigrants like her and help them, not those who come to our country and commit terrible acts,” Alberta would say.

And indeed, everyone who listened to her would enthusiastically visit Magdalena’s shop and buy her goods. Some people would even refuse to take their change, treating the purchase almost like a charitable donation.

Then someone would take a picture of Magdalena and her little shop and post it on social media. It was probably more self-promotion than promotion for Magdalena, but it still created a positive impression on the wider community.

Alberta found Magdalena and Sara’s story incredibly exotic. Whenever they had dinner together, she would ask Magdalena to tell it again.

The locals had practically idolized the two of them, almost turning them into heroes. Magdalena and Sara had even been invited as guests on a radio podcast.

Of course, Magdalena never mentioned Alex Weber’s story or anything of the sort. She told everything exactly as she wanted the public to perceive it.

Anyway, one evening Magdalena saw Frank park his car in the garage and start walking toward the house.

She had noticed his passionate looks before, and she decided not to let this opportunity pass. 

“Hello, Frank!” she called out to the man as he passed by her shop.

“Oh, hello, Magdalena. How are you? Where’s Sara?”

“Sara is at a lesson with her teacher. I have some fabric for  Alberta. I received it yesterday. It was a special order for her. You can take it with you while you’re here.”

Magdalena knew perfectly well that Alberta wasn’t home at that moment.

“Really? What kind of fabric? She never told me I was supposed to pick anything up.”

Frank stopped. He was tired, carrying several heavy bags, and sweating.

“It’s a surprise, Frank. I didn’t tell her either. She really liked my dress, so I ordered something similar for her.”

“Then why don’t you give it to her yourself?” Frank was already preparing to leave.

“You know, I don’t like making her upset, and  Alberta always gets angry when I do something for her. Please…”

“All right, all right. I’ll take the things upstairs and come back down, okay?”

“No, please, come in now. I’m planning to leave early today. Please,  Frank, come inside with me…”

Magdalena said the last words in such a suggestive tone that even a stranger would have understood the call of a female animal burning with desire for a male.

And yet, if you had seen Frank, he hardly looked like someone capable of inspiring such passion. He could have extinguished anyone’s desire and lowered their libido on the spot.

Where Magdalena’s “fire” came from was a mystery.

Anyway, Frank entered Magdalena’s shop with his bags. He placed everything near the door, then sat down for a moment, removed his glasses, and wiped the sweat from his face.

The space was quite small.

Magdalena began searching for the fabric. She bent down and searched through the lower shelves, deliberately pressing herself against Frank.

“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, Frank. I’m sure I put it here somewhere. I’ll find it in a moment.”

Silence settled over the shop. Every now and then, the only sound was the rustling of Magdalena’s movements.

Her supposedly accidental touches slowly turned into deliberate rubbing.

Frank couldn’t quite understand what was happening. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and he didn’t notice Magdalena lifting her dress and sitting down on his lap with her back toward him.

But he felt it.

He felt his body responding.

After all these years, it responded! He felt alive again.

Frank said nothing, so Magdalena continued.

With both hands, she lifted her dress, took Frank’s hand, and placed it on her body. With her back pressed against his sweaty face, she held his hand herself and guided it over her sensitive body part.

Frank followed without really thinking. He didn’t dare resist, completely mesmerized by what was happening. For a moment, he imagined himself the most desirable man alive.

Magdalena climaxed and didn’t try to hide it, leaning back against Frank for a few seconds.

Frank was completely consumed by desire. He lost himself. For so many years, a sexual encounter like this had never even crossed his mind.

When their intimate moment ended successfully for Frank as well, he quietly stood up, fixed his clothes,  said a couple of flat, meaningless words to Magdalena, something like, “it was amazing...” then picked up his bags full of gorceries and headed home.

His wife was already there.

“Why are you so sweaty, Frank? Are you ill?” Alberta asked warmly as she took the bags from his hands.

“What happened? Did you fall? The tomatoes are all crushed, and the eggs are broken. Are you okay?”

Alberta was genuinely worried. She put her hand on his forehead and felt his head, checking whether he had hit it somewhere.

“No, I’m fine. It was just hot, and I’m exhausted. I’ll take a shower and get some rest.”

Frank decided to tell his wife everything. But then how could he ever experience that pleasure again?

And he needed it so badly. He needed to feel young again, alive again, like a man.

In the battle between good and evil, Frank failed to defeat the evil within him and chose to remain silent.

He hoped he would have another chance to be alone with Magdalena.

But he was very wrong.

The next day, when he came to the shop and said that he had forgotten to take the fabric the day before and had come to pick it up, Magdalena acted as if nothing had happened.

She greeted him normally, went inside, and brought out the fabric.

She gave Frank no more chances. The man became intrigued. Had he imagined the whole thing?

Then, one evening, when Alberta had gone to visit their son, Frank went down to see Magdalena.

He lingered outside, pretending to examine something, because he was afraid the neighbors might see him. Then he entered the shop and wrapped his arms around Magdalena’s waist unexpectedly.

The woman was caught completely startled and let out a natural cry.

“Quiet! It’s me, Magdalena. Frank.”

“Mr. Frank? What are you doing here? And what are you doing?! How dare you?”

Then she slapped him across the face.

"get out now, help!" Magdalena yelled.

Frank was stunned. He could no longer find the words to explain himself. He rushed out of the shop.

Magdalena’s scream had not gone unnoticed. A neighbor who happened to be passing by heard it and was about to enter the shop to help her when he came face-to-face with Frank, his cheek bright red.

“Frank, are you okay? What happened?” the neighbor asked.

Frank said nothing and hurried away.

“Uncle Carl, is that you? Thank goodness you came! I don’t know what would have happened otherwise.”

“What happened?” Carl asked.

“What a perverted man Mr. Frank turned out to be! What he tried to do to me… I’m shocked!”

“What happened, Magdalena? You mean he tried to…???” Carl could hardly believe his ears.

“Yes, yes, exactly! That pervert Frank came into the shop and started grabbing me.”

Magdalena sobbed as she told the story of his alleged “attempt to rape” her with astonishing skill.

“But please don’t let this story leave the shop, Uncle Carl. I beg you. For the sake of your little grandchildren, I beg you don't say a word to anybody!”

“But why?”

“Can’t you understand? Because of Mrs. Alberta. I love her like a mother! She has done so much for me, and this would destroy her. Promise me, Uncle Carl, that you won’t tell anyone!”

She paused, then added:

“I’ll deny everything, and I’ll kill myself if you report this to the police!”

Carl never went to the police.

But by the next day, everyone in the neighborhood knew about Frank’s “behavior.”

Of course, Magdalena had been certain that would happen. That had been her goal all along.

Frank and Alberta were completely cast out by the neighborhood. After the incident, everyone avoided them. No one came to visit anymore. Although no one told Alberta the truth directly, people whispered about her behind her back.

Once, during an argument, one neighbor even shouted at her:

“What does your pedophile husband do for our neighborhood? It’s his turn to repair the entrance door this time!”

Alberta began asking questions, but she couldn’t find out much at first. Later, she heard Magdalena’s name mentioned in passing somewhere and began putting the pieces together. She was starting to understand what her husband had been accused of.

From time to time, she heard humiliating comments from other people as well, until eventually her mind could take no more.

She decided to sell the house.

But no one wanted to buy their beautiful two-bedroom apartment.

The story of Frank’s “heroics” had spread so widely that nobody wanted to live in the home of such an immoral man.

Magdalena seized the opportunity and slipped a letter under Alberta’s door.

It read:

“Dear Alberta, I have something I need to talk to you about. I would be grateful if you would meet with me.

Insulted and humiliated by your husband, 

Magdalena” 

By this time, Frank had already withdrawn from society and moved to his country house.

Alberta felt sick to her stomach after reading the letter, but she thought, "I’ll meet Magdalena and talk to her. Maybe there was some misunderstanding. I’ll explain to her that Frank isn’t that kind of man." Still, she had no idea how to reply to the letter. She didn’t want to go to Magdalena’s shop during the day, either, because the neighbors might accuse her of pressuring her. So she decided to visit her at the shop at night and talk to her.

But she didn’t get the chance. As soon as evening came, the doorbell rang. Sara and Magdalena were standing outside. Alberta awkwardly invited them in.

“ Alberta, I sent you a letter. If you’re willing to talk, we’ll come in. If not, we’ll go straight home.”

“Come in. I’m willing to talk.”

Magdalena walked straight into the living room as if she were at home, and the two women sat down on the soft nice sofa.

“I’m listening, Magdalena,” Alberta said impatiently. “What did you want to tell me?”

“Alberta, I’ll tell you everything right now... You know how much I love and respect you. You’ve done so much for me and helped me in so many ways. That’s why, at first, after that terrible incident happened, I didn’t want anyone to know about it. I begged Uncle Carl not to tell anyone. I was trying to protect you. But he turned out to be a gossip, and apparently he told the whole neighborhood. People started coming to me one by one, asking what had happened. I had to lie to them, but I’m terrible at lying. You know me.”

“What happened, Magdalena? What are you talking about? Everyone already knows something happened, so why don’t you tell me the details?”

Alberta began speaking loudly, but when she noticed Sara’s wide eyes and nostrils flaring with anger, she lowered her voice.

“Oh, what happened? You really want me to tell you the details, Alberta?”

Magdalena’s innocent tone suddenly changed. Now she sounded like an evil witch who was ready to tear up poor Alberta into pieces.

“Yes. I want you to tell me. What did he do?”

“Fine. I’ll tell you. He tried to rape me. My daughter is here, and I didn’t want her to hear those horrible details, she has already been through enough psychological trauma in her life, but you leave me no choice... Yes, yes, your husband Frank quietly came into my shop, locked the door, and attacked me like a madman. He kissed me all over my body, tore my clothes off, threw me to the floor, and he was almost about to get what he wanted when Carl arrived. He saved me. If you don’t believe me, ask Carl.”

Tears even rolled down Magdalena’s cheeks as she spoke, but she knew perfectly well that Alberta would never ask Carl what had happened. She was too ashamed.

“If something like that happened, why didn’t you call the police? That’s a crime, Magdalena.”

“Because of you. I was protecting you because I know how important your reputation is to you. Isn’t that right? I thought about how everyone would judge you and turn against you, rather than about the crime itself. So I kept quiet. Of course, the story still spread as a rumor, but nobody knows the exact details except me. And now Sara knows too.”

Sarah said nothing. She simply rubbed her mother’s shoulder, comforting her.

For several minutes, Alberta couldn’t speak. She buried her face in her hands and cried, sobbing uncontrollably. She felt completely trapped.

“What am I supposed to do now, Magdalena? Please, tell me what to do.”

“I don’t know, Alberta. But I can’t stay here anymore. Frank will probably come back someday, and seeing him every day would be more than I can handle. I’ve managed to save a little money. Maybe I could buy an apartment in another neighborhood. Then I could slowly get in touch with my old customers and maybe make something work out…”

Magdalena was playing the role of a hurt, miserable woman remarkably well.

“Wait. How is that supposed to help my situation, Magdalena? People will turn against me even more.”

“Am I responsible for taking care of your situation too, Alberta?”

“Of course not, but… Listen, I though maybe I will sell the house and give you some money as compensation. You could invest it in Sarah’s education. And then maybe you could forgive that idiot Frank for what he did. What do you say?”

“Forgiving him is out of the question, Alberta. I’m sorry, but…”

“But what?” Alberta looked at Magdalena as if she were her only hope, waiting for her opinion as desperately as if she needed air to breathe.

“But if you’re willing to give me compensation, and you’re planning to sell the house anyway, then I’ll buy it from you. I don’t have much savings, but I think it could work for both of us.”

Alberta was shocked, but she agreed to the deal without much thought.

The very next day, she transferred the house to Magdalena. Magdalena didn’t even pay a third of its market value.

And that was how Magdalena ended up moving into Alberta’s beautiful apartment. Alberta didn’t even take the furniture with her. She left the place so quickly that she took almost nothing with her.

The story of Alberta and Frank was only one of many notable cases. As I mentioned at the beginning, Magdalena had many similar experiences, though of course, not in the same neighborhood. She managed to “buy out” her commercial property in much the same way, through blackmail. She had caught the wife of her landlord kissing her lover in a park while her husband was away on a business trip.

Sara

Although Sara looked remarkably like her mother, her inner world was completely different. She spent her days and nights studying and working on herself and stayed out of her mother’s affairs, except when Magdalena herself asked for help.

She got into university on her own. She received a scholarship covering half of her tuition, while the university covered the other half in full. She was even given an additional scholarship as a member of a vulnerable minority group. Her professors respected her greatly, though the same could not be said about the other students. Sara had no friends because she was often withdrawn and didn’t know how to have fun. No one treated her badly, but no one really became her friend either.

She knew almost nothing about her own home country except from stories. She had almost no memories of her childhood. Listening endlessly to Magdalena talk about how medicine had helped her and brought her out of such a difficult condition, Sara decided that she wanted to become a doctor herself and help other people too.

No one could outscore Magdalena when it came to caring for her daughter, though she had her own way of doing it.

Sara had never been in love. She avoided getting close to men.

At first, she never asked to return to Bostana. But after she got into graduate school and successfully completed her first year, she asked her mother, “Maybe we could go and at least visit your family?”

“What??? I barely managed to escape that place, and now what would possibly take me back there? Where did you get that idea, Sara?” Magdalena snapped at her daughter.

“I don’t know, Mom. I just know I have relatives there, and I don’t know a single one of them. I find that a little strange. What’s wrong with getting to know them and maybe visiting them during the summers sometimes?”

“I don’t know, Sara. I don’t want to go there…”

“Mom, are you worried about the money? I have savings, you know. I don’t spend my scholarship money, so I’ll pay for the trip. Please, Mom.”

Magdalena avoided answering directly and told her daughter she would think about it.

“First, I need to call them and ask when they’d prefer us to visit so we can plan it around their schedule. We have nothing left there anyway, not a house, not any land.”

Sara was delighted and filled with hope.

“I love you, Mommy. You’re the best!”

But Magdalena was still dragging her feet and did not call Bostana. She wanted to buy time and hoped Sara would forget the idea of going there.

In the middle of July, while the university was still on holiday, a call came to Magdalena’s phone.

“Sonа, is that you?” Magdalena became agitated when she heard the familiar voice. It had been years since she had last spoken to someone from her own family.

“Yes, it’s me, Magda. I barely managed to find you. Social Services gave me your contact information.”

“Okay, I’m listening, Sona. Is everything all right?” Magdalena asked coldly, questioning her about everything.

“Eh, sister, what could be all right? We don’t have Dad anymore. He died yesterday after a long period of suffering, and we buried him soon afterward. His body was in bad condition.”

“I’m so sorry, Sona. How is Mom?”

“Mom is bad too. She keeps insisting that she’s going to die soon, and before she dies, she wants to see you. Can you at least talk to her?”

“No, Sona. I can’t talk to her right now. But… Sara needs to come down for a little while, and I’ll probably come with her.” At that very moment, Magdalena made the decision to go to Bostana.

“Really? That’s wonderful. It will make Mom so happy. All right, then, goodbye for now. Save this number and call me beforehand, so we can be there to meet you.”

“There’s no need for anyone to meet me. I’ll take care of everything myself.”

The sisters, who had not seen each other for years, ended their conversation just as briefly and coldly.

Did Magdalena want to see her native village? No!

But during these days, she often thought about Alex, Alex Weber, because he was the only person for whom she had ever had feelings. Yet she had also cruelly condemned him to death. But for Magdalena, love had never meant complete submission or forgiving everything. She could not forgive Alex for abandoning her either, and she could not allow him to live happily with another woman after her.

The mother and daughter set off for Bostana after all. A long and exhausting journey lay ahead of them, but the time passed quickly because they were both overwhelmed with emotion.

Sara was happy because she would finally meet her cousins and other members of the family. Magdalena, on the other hand, was preparing herself to come face-to-face with memories of the past. She also brought along Alex’s glasses, which she had taken off his corpse and kept as a trophy. 

Her father’s death did not trouble her at all. She had not even thought he was still alive after all these years. She did not think much about her mother either, although she had never held any bitterness toward her. The only person who made her decide to go there was her aunt, Tamia. She felt that she had been unfair to her because she had abandoned her and had not called her even once throughout all those years.