My husband got a lover and decided to leave the family. This girl was only two years older than our eldest daughter.

I was left with four children to feed. I didn’t have time to break down. My husband took all his things from home; he left only two beds and three chairs. I didn’t beg him to stay, didn’t throw a tantrum. I simply said, “Soon, we will have absolutely everything, and my children won’t need anything.” He looked at me with disdain and left. After several years, he came back.

I let him into the house, even offered him tea, despite him being an unwelcome guest. The children didn’t recognize him; he was all wrinkled and dirty. His appearance was just pitiful. Throughout all those years, he never visited or sought to meet the children. I managed to enter university, where I studied marketing – I always dreamed of higher education. At the moment, I have a profession as a marketer, earning a good salary, and fully providing for my four children. Now we have enough for even a vacation by the sea.

I fed my ex-husband soup; it was evident he was starving. The children didn’t want to hear about him; they didn’t care. They had no desire to communicate with him. He became redundant in his family. It became clear to him that there was no more room for him here.

After he ate, I asked him not to come back. He was left without a roof over his head, without a family – due to his own fault. It was his choice. I purposely let him in to show him that we have everything. When someone is abandoned or humiliated, they gather all their strength to fight and move forward – and their life changes for the better.