When Marina Yuryeva gave birth to a son, her husband Igor was stunned. The child, who was supposed to become the new member of their Slavic family, turned out to be dark-skinned, as if he had just arrived from the shores of Africa. «How is this possible?» Igor thought. His bewilderment turned into suspicion and then into anger. Believing that his wife had cheated on him with someone exotic, he packed his things and left.
Marina, who swore to her innocence, was trapped. Doctors merely shrugged, suggesting that ancestral genes might have played a cruel joke. But how could this happen if there had never been such genetic surprises in their lineage?
Rumors and Neighbors’ Guesses Soon, rumors about a local African began to spread in the small town. Fabien, a chemist-technologist from France working on contract at the local factory, became the object of general suspicion. The neighbors gladly pointed to him, and Igor, boiling with rage, went to confront him. He put on a leather jacket, took a crowbar, and, revving his motorcycle’s engine, raced off to find the «homewrecker.»
The Motorcyclist, Attack, and Police Intervention But on the same day, a tragedy happened to Marina. Returning home with her child, she was the victim of an attack. An unknown person pushed her down the stairs and disappeared. Passersby found the woman, and the baby was found in a stroller in the entrance of the building. Passersby called an ambulance, and the police began searching for the assailant.
Witnesses pointed to the motorcyclist. At that time, Igor was already accosting Fabien, demanding he confess to an alleged «affair» with his wife. It was at that moment that the police arrested the jealous husband, suspecting him not only of assaulting the foreigner but also his wife.
Alibi and an Unexpected Twist The next morning, an influential woman—Natalya Rudinskaya, holding a high position in the regional Communist Party committee—came to the police station and provided Igor with an alibi, claiming he was carrying out her orders at the time of the attack. But why was the influential lady so zealously defending her driver? This question remained unanswered.
The Hospital Secret: Where is the Truth? Igor and Marina decided to find out the truth and had blood tests done. The results shocked them: the baby was not their biological child. The tests showed that neither of them could be the parents. Everything pointed to the baby being switched at the hospital.
Amid these mysterious events, Dr. Evgenia Baryshnikova, who had delivered the baby, died under the wheels of a car. Then, the body of the midwife Irina Sonicheva was found in the hospital. Staff spoke of an «intern» who had appeared the night before the attack.
Fyodor Shapoval and Uncovering the Conspiracy Detectives discovered that the mysterious intern was Fyodor Shapoval, a reciist with a rich criminal past.
He was hired to eliminate witnesses to cover up the baby switch. During interrogation, Shapoval revealed the name of his employer—Natalya Rudinskaya.
Love, Envy, and Baby Switching It turned out, Natalya Rudinskaya was secretly in love with Igor. She devised a plan to break up his marriage, hoping to have a chance at happiness.
For this, she bribed the hospital staff and insisted on switching the babies. By pushing a dark-skinned child into the family, Rudinskaya hoped Igor would sever relations with his wife. But the situation spiraled out of control, and Natalya began eliminating anyone who could expose her.
The Denouement: Justice Prevails The court delivered its verdicts: Rudinskaya received seven years of imprisonment, and Shapoval was sentenced to the highest punishment. The Yuryevs took their real child back. The dark-skinned baby was adopted by his biological father—the French chemist Fabien.
It turned out that the child’s mother was a local resident who did not want to raise the baby due to fear of social condemnation. She abandoned the child, hiding her maternity.
Epilogue: Love Overcomes Intrigue The story of the Yuryevs is an example of how love and mutual trust can overcome any trials. Despite the malice, intrigue, and dangers, they remained together. And the child, unwittingly a part of this drama, found his family and a new life in France.
Everything could have ended tragically, but thanks to perseverance, justice prevailed.