Mila grew up amid cold and pain: her mother’s drunken fights, beatings, and constant reproaches—like she was extra and nobody needed her. The only island of care was Aunt Zhenya—someone who knew how to warm and support.
Meeting Robert—successful, restrained, and in his own way magnetic—changes her life. But behind his outward confidence hides a long-standing terror: he believes in a family curse, because of which men in his family don’t live to old age.
His salvation seems to be an ancient talisman—the turtle amulet created by Alfred Tiling. And if only Mila had known about it from the very beginning…