# The Secrets of the Two-Faced Maiden. Part 2

Diana Divnaya

In this book, the reader is given the opportunity to continue discovering the incredible life story of the Two-Faced Virgin, Natalia. Behind her lie a difficult childhood, an anxious youth, health issues, and debt troubles. Natalia had hoped that happiness awaited her ahead – the meeting of her true love, building a family, and achieving joy and prosperity. Yet fate had prepared new trials for Natalia: serious entanglements with the criminal world, fresh disappointments in people.

Translator Интеллект Искусственный


© Diana Divnaya, 2026

© Интеллект Искусственный, translation, 2026


ISBN 978-5-0068-9419-8 (т. 2)

ISBN 978-5-0068-8581-3

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

## Preface

In this book, the reader is given the opportunity to continue discovering the incredible life story of the Two-Faced Virgin, Natalia. Behind her lie a difficult childhood, an anxious youth, health issues, and debt troubles. Natalia had hoped that happiness awaited her ahead – the meeting of her true love, building a family, and achieving joy and prosperity. Yet fate had prepared new trials for Natalia: serious entanglements with the criminal world, fresh disappointments in people, and life-threatening situations.

## NEW TRIALS – THREE LINES OF LIFE AS A FATEFUL BULLET OF DESTINY

### Meeting with Alexander Kovalev


After six months, Natalia learned that her former friend Galina (Alla) Khomich was in a very difficult situation. She lost her apartment (she was deceived by friends of her ex-husband, who allegedly had to be bought out of prison), she drank herself and was about to be at the station with the homeless. Natalia again felt sorry for her, found her and took her to live with her temporarily until she recovered and stopped drinking. She lived with Natalia in her grandmother Irina Afanasyevna’s apartment and at the dacha for about 8 months. She stopped drinking, Natalia took away all her debts, using her connections. At that time, while Alla lived with Natalia in the apartment, through a mutual acquaintance, Alla met a certain man Alexander (Kovalev). Alla fell in love with him without memory. He often came to visit Natalia to meet Alla. When Natalia and her sister began to leave for the capital for sessions at the institute, Alla lived with her and looked after her dog – the marble Great Dane Diana. Then Natalia did not even assume that acquaintance with this Alexander would become fateful in her life and in the life of her sister. And she did not even guess that she had previously been acquainted with this Alexander, but at that moment she did not recognize him. It was acquaintance with this Galina and Alexander that for the next 9 years will turn Natalia’s life so that her life will hang by a thread, and old problems with crime will seem to her a lull before the approaching nine-point storm of passions, dangers and betrayals.


All this story began one evening when Alexander came to visit Alla. At the table during the conversation, Natalia, her sister and Alla discussed various prophecies of famous elders for the coming years, the fulfilled forecasts of psychics and fortune-tellers, to whom she and her sister went several times. Natalia told the case with her mother, to whom a certain woman Liza, even before 1986, had prophesied that her mother would take a relative by her husband from the village to the city and that she would receive a 2-room apartment on the 3rd floor in less than 2 years and even named the number – 10. And surprisingly, everything turned out that way. After the Chernobyl accident, Natalia’s parents took from the village, which fell under the program of mandatory eviction, grandmother Irina Afanasyevna to their apartment. And then Natalia and her sister, on the advice of acquaintances, put their grandmother on the apartment queue and registered her sister Elena as her guardian. Less than 2 years later, the grandmother received a new apartment with Elena on the 3rd floor under number 10. There was another amazing coincidence – the house number 131 in the village where the grandmother lived and the number of the new apartment coincided (d. 130 sq.10) In this very apartment, this whole story began. Alexander, silently, listened to the girls’ stories, and then asked: «And can clairvoyants find what is lost, for example, things, money?». Natalia replied that there are such psychics – searchers. But there are no such in our city, but there are definitely in Moscow.

That same evening, Natalia and her sister began to recall various unpleasant incidents from their lives. Natalia told how one day in the entrance where she lived with her parents, she was attacked by a guy who lost at cards. He scared her badly, almost strangled her, showed her passport, then raped her, escorted her to the apartment and even introduced himself to her mother. After Natalia felt safe, she told this scoundrel «Get out.» Natalia said that after this incident she was in a state of shock for several days, and only a glass of vodka relieved this stress. After that, Alexander asked her if this incident was in the house where Natasha lived with her parents, naming the house number and entrance? Surprised, Natalia asked him «how does he know where it happened and where Natalia’s parents live in another part of the city, where Alexander has never been?» He was silent. And Alla asked Alexander, but why did this guy who lost at cards attack Natalia? Alexander, lowering his head, replied that this happens and that the guy had no way out. After that, Alexander hurried to leave. And Natalia and her sister were at a loss from his behavior. Natalia also recalled that the passport of that guy was named Alexander Kovalev. She remembered him, because then there was a Soviet film with a hero named Koralev. And the replacement of one letter in the surname corresponded to the surname of the attacker. Realizing that Alexander’s surname was also Kovalev, Natalia and her sister realized that it was the same guy who lost at cards. Alla was in shock. Then Natalia decided that, maybe, he really had no way out. Moreover, she had known Alexander for more than six months and he had no maniacal inclinations. But she realized that he was connected with crime and seriously. In addition, at the first acquaintance, one of Alexander’s fellow travelers in a drunken state told her sister Elena that she and her sister should be careful in communicating with Alexander, since he is a certain thief in law. Then Elena told Natalia and Alla about this, but they took the words of the drunken guy for drunken delirium. After that evening, Natalia decided to still keep Alexander at a distance from herself and her family. She asked Alla to secretly look at Alexander’s passport to make sure that it was the guy who attacked her, since she still remembered his place of birth – either Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. Her suspicions were confirmed. Natalia decided to talk to Alla about the fact that it was time for her to return to live with her parents. Moreover, at that time Alla was already pregnant with Alexander. And judging by Alexander’s attitude to Alla, he was not very happy about this circumstance.

After that evening, Alexander K disappeared for almost a month. During this time, her sister Elena went to live with her parents, since her brother remarried and her parents bought him a 2-room small family house and he and his pregnant wife moved out of the parents’ apartment. Then Alexander suddenly reappeared again. He came to Natalia’s house very excited and asked her to show him her hands, or rather her palms. She showed. He suddenly changed his face and was very happy, as if he had won the jackpot. At the same time, he began to ask about the origin of her family, whether she was a countess or a queen, claiming that it was hidden from her and Natalia did not know her origin. Then he began to ask about large sums of money stolen once from people from the criminal world, claiming with complete certainty that Natalia knew and saw who and where hid this money. He also said that she and her family were in mortal danger, as the thief of this money would try to kill her entire family. He said that Natalia was sick and that it was a very large sum of money for which she could be examined and treated abroad. At that time, Natalia took his words as a ridiculous joke, since she only knew about her origin that there were only wealthy peasants in our family who were dispossessed. And Natalia, moreover, did not see anyone who would bury money or any kind of treasure in the ground. But Alexander continued to insist that Natalia think and remember – he was somehow sure that she knew exactly where and who had this money. He begged Natalia to tell him who had this money so that that person would not kill her. Natalia asked him to tell her where he got all this from.

But, unfortunately, Alexander did not explain anything more. He also said that Natalia had some personal problems with this person. At that time, she really only had problems with Yuri Semenchuk, who was the only one of her acquaintances who was connected with the criminal world, although he himself was not in prison. Natalia told the curious Alexander Kovalev about this, but for some reason he did not pay attention to her words. And he continued to inquire again and again. So he left, without getting from Natalia the coordinates of the buried treasure.

At that time, Natalia also had problems with one man, Nikolai Stefanovich, who had nothing to do with crime. Natalia also borrowed a small amount of money from him at interest. And when her spinal disease worsened, she gave him half the amount at once. And she asked him to wait for the rest of the amount and stop the interest. Then her sister Elena traveled and traded the remaining goods. But, human greed knows no bounds. Having lived for more than six months on interest, Nikolai Stefanovich, seeing a girl chained to bed, who is fit to be his daughter, decided not to lose his free income. Natalia’s father met with this man and was ready to give the entire remaining amount on the condition that Nikolai Stefanovich would return the deposit that Natalia had given him for that small amount that she had borrowed from him – documents for a 2-room apartment belonging to her grandmother and sister (borrowed 2000 y.e., the apartment cost 50,000 y.e.). On the appointed day, Nikolai Stefanovich met with his father, but did not bring the documents for the apartment. He said that he had lost them, although before that he had threatened Natalia and her sister that he would give these documents to the bandits. Natalia’s father said that since there was no collateral, there would be no return of the debt. But Natalia did not tell Alexander anything about this man.

In a week, Alexander said that his friends would come to him, and that he wanted to introduce her and Alla to them. Natalia and Alla prepared the table to treat the guests. Four men entered Natalia’s apartment at the appointed time – as it seemed to her, three of them willingly, and one man under duress. Three were aged about 50—60 years, criminals in appearance, but they were dressed in chic and very expensive suits. A frightened man of about 45 years of age, half bald or simply light-haired, but short-haired, all well-groomed and very intelligent in appearance, entered with them (or rather, he was almost pushed into the apartment). When he looked at Natalia, he suddenly raised his eyes to the sky and exhaled, calmed down sharply and, looking at those three men with a condemning look, asked – «Where should he sit?». Alexander asked Natalia not to do anything, but just to stand next to him. All four men simply devoured Natalia with their eyes and refused not only the treats, but even tea. After 10 minutes, suddenly the well-groomed man said that he was ready and that they could go. They got up and left. At the same time, this intelligent man, leaving the apartment, suddenly began to speak very loudly:

– Guys, who does that, dragged me out of a warm bed in the evening, shoved me into a car, drove me all night. I’ve already changed my mind, God knows what. I said that a photo was enough for me – I won’t tell you anything new – everything is the same. It was necessary to bring me from Moscow to this backwater – now give me a room in the best hotel – and I am waiting for an apology….


Natalia and Alla pretended to close the door to the apartment, but in fact just covered it and heard everything. One of the guests said to the intelligent man:

– Everything will be fine now: both a hotel, and a sauna, and a restaurant.


To all Natalia’s interrogations, whom Alexander brought to our house, she never received answers. But after this visit, Alexander returned to the topic of the missing money once again during the month. And for reasons that were unclear to her, he was sure that she knew who had this money and where.


During the time that Alla lived in Natalia’s apartment, some unknown people set fire to the front door in the apartment twice at night. Only thanks to the fact that Natalia was awakened by the dog Diana, all the residents of the apartment remained alive and did not get carbon monoxide poisoning. Criminal cases were opened, but they did not yield results. The arsonists were never found. After that, Natalia’s father installed a metal vestibule in the corridor, separating 2 apartments on the site. The arsons stopped. After some time, Natalia decided to send Alla to live with her parents, as Alexander began to accuse her of interfering with their meetings. And Alla began to be very jealous of Natalia to her lover. Natalia collected Alina’s things, called a taxi and sent Alla to her parents to solve their problems together with her cohabitant. All this time while Alla lived with Natalia at home and at the dacha, she did not work and was supported by Natalia and her sister Elena. After that day, Natalia no longer saw Alexander Kovalev. But he was very offended by her, called and threatened to deal with her entire family. What caused his aggression was not clear. Either Alla told him something, or he was offended that Natalia did not tell him about the mysterious treasure.

### Unusual Incidents in the Lives of Natalia and Her Sister

Natalia had already grown accustomed to the unusual incidents that happened to her and her sister, as well as to the influence of otherworldly forces. But what occurred one evening in the room of their grandmother, Irina Afanasyevna, was very strange and inexplicable. Natalia was sitting on the couch watching television, her sister was sitting next to her, and a carpet hung on the wall behind them. Suddenly, she felt as if someone were watching her from behind. She turned around and looked at the carpet – there she saw an oval white spot about the size of a small oval mirror. Her sister also turned and looked at this strange spot.

Natalia’s first thought was that it was a reflection from a mirror or some shiny object somewhere in the room (like a sunbeam). She and her sister removed all objects that could reflect light, but the spot did not disappear. Natalia tried moving her hand around to determine from which direction the reflection was coming. But she suddenly realized there was no external source of light. The spot did not fade from any angle. Natalia grew frightened when she understood that the spot was coming from the carpet itself.

She tried to touch it, but suddenly her hand was thrown back as if by an electric shock. After that, the spot curled toward its center and vanished. Her sister Elena also saw how the strange spot disappeared. Later, Natalia and her sister began to call it «the eye.» Natalia and her sister saw this «eye» a few more times in their room, but already on the ceiling. However, they no longer paid attention to it, deciding that if it was hanging there – so be it.

Since 1997, Natalia began to see a very strange turquoise light. It appeared suddenly and remained for some time in the form of a specific shape. Natalia’s parents did not see this light. Her sister saw the same turquoise color as well. And her young nephew also saw this light. Before the turquoise light appeared, there was always a feeling of inexplicable unease. Then, suddenly, a rectangle in the form of a stripe would emerge – its size varying from a small ruler or thin strip to a large rectangle about 1 meter by 50 centimeters.

This object hung in the air, completely transparent, as if a sheet of turquoise glass had appeared in the air. When Natalia moved her hand through it, she felt nothing – only air. The object remained for about 30 seconds and then slowly, point by point, seemed to disperse, without losing its original shape but gradually changing its structure to a more transparent one until it finally disappeared completely.

### The Case of a Fortune-Telling That Came True in the Life of Natalia’s Acquaintance

During the same period, another unpleasant incident occurred – one that may have had a profound impact on Alexander Kovalev. Natalia’s former classmate from Israel came to visit her with her children; she had been Alla’s best friend since their school years. The sister of the classmate’s husband also came to visit, along with her husband, Mikhail.

During a conversation, Mikhail joked that his wife should start ordering a coffin for him because all the fortune-tellers had prophesied to his mother that he would not live to see his 30th birthday, which was on March 9. And the date was already February 23. Everyone laughed at his words, since he was physically healthy.

Natalia’s classmate decided to invite her husband’s younger brother – who had recently been released from prison – to immigrate permanently to Israel, and she suggested that Alla enter into a formal marriage with him so that she could also move to Israel. Alla agreed, as she was already in the early stages of pregnancy. Alexander did not object to her departure, which was very surprising. Alla began gathering documents and preparing for the formal marriage. But immigration never happened.

On March 8, Alla and Alexander visited Mikhail. And there, a tragedy occurred. After taking a large amount of drugs, Alla’s future fictitious husband killed Mikhail with a single stab to the abdomen after Mikhail scolded him for using drugs in front of his children and for bringing various drug addicts into his home. The knife struck the liver; by the time the ambulance arrived, there was nothing left to save. Mikhail simply bled to death – one day before reaching his 30th birthday.

Alla’s trip to Israel was canceled, which greatly upset Alexander. But this tragic incident became further proof that the predictions of clairvoyants do come true.


### Natalia’s Poisoning with Toxin from an Orange and Its Consequences for Her Health

By that time, Natalia had already been seriously ill for two years due to spinal problems, and she could barely walk. She had simply been misdiagnosed and, because she was denied proper treatment, was essentially condemned to disability. Two months after the quarrel with her friend, Natalia was admitted to the hospital to determine her diagnosis and treatment plan, or to apply for disability status, since her health showed no signs of improvement. With support from someone walking beside her, she could walk no more than 20 meters. Then she needed a 15-minute rest before continuing.

While Natalia was in the hospital, Alla – whom she had argued with a month earlier – came to visit her, which greatly surprised Natalia. Alla came supposedly to make peace and brought Natalia only one orange. That morning, Natalia had finally decided to have a bad tooth removed, but the anesthesia affected her very strongly – her entire cheek drooped, and she couldn’t move her lips. The pregnant Alla «hovered» over her for seven hours, begging her to eat the orange, but the numbness would not go away – her cheek hung lifelessly. Later, Natalia’s sister Elena came and brought her some oranges of her own.

Only six hours later did the anesthesia slowly begin to wear off. Alla pleaded so insistently that Natalia finally tried one slice. It tasted very bitter, and Natalia assumed the bitterness was due to the anesthesia – and swallowing was difficult. So she set the orange aside, telling her friend she would eat it later. Seeing that Natalia had eaten a little bit of the orange, Alla quickly said goodbye and left. Elena, noticing Alla’s unusual persistence, threw the orange away – Alla had insisted far too anxiously that Natalia eat it.


Alla was already five months pregnant at the time. And who could have thought that a person in such a condition might bring poisoned fruit to a sick woman? It was also strange that Natalia suddenly decided to have her tooth pulled on that exact day. Later she recalled how she woke up that morning with the thought that she must finally remove the bad tooth. There was a clinic right next to the hospital. She went to the dental surgeon; there was no queue. Natalia made up her mind and had the tooth extracted. Only a year later did Natalia realize that if she had not done that, she would have eaten the entire orange, and she might no longer be alive. There was no doubt that God had protected Natalia from death in this way – although she did taste one slice.

That same evening, Natalia began feeling unwell – an unexplained weakness appeared, which grew worse each day. On the fourth day, an ambulance was called. By that time, Natalia had already been discharged from the hospital and was at home. What followed were three months of a life-and-death struggle. Natalia exhibited a full spectrum of intoxication symptoms. She lost a significant amount of weight, her pulse was almost constantly at 140 beats per minute, and she suffered from convulsive seizures. She was taken to an infectious disease hospital and underwent examinations at the regional hospital in Minsk after a complaint, but the tests revealed no infectious disease. The doctors diagnosed her with a «nervous system disorder,» having performed only a general blood test. Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality of our medical system, even though Natalia had requested testing for toxic substances in her blood. The only thing that helped her was drinking ten liters of water a day during severe attacks and convulsions. She was denied disability status, with doctors claiming she was not eligible. No one referred her for additional examinations. This is a separate story in itself, where the doctors seemed to be hiding their mistakes behind an incorrect diagnosis – or perhaps someone was attempting to conceal poisoning. Natalia had a dream in which she was told to drink valerian root tea while it was hot. She followed this advice. After two months, her severe symptoms subsided, though she still could not walk. Suspicions that Alla’s orange had been poisoned were further supported by her strange behavior. Following this incident, Alla never called or sought to meet Natalia again.

A month after the hospital visit, Natalia’s sister Elena saw Alla at the market. Her behavior shocked Elena. Upon seeing Elena, Alla became extremely frightened, did not greet her, and turned to run away. She ran so quickly with her large pregnant belly that Elena could not catch up. Alla jumped onto a trolleybus and left. Mutual acquaintances of Natalia and her sister, who knew Alla, reported similar behavior. Since then, neither Natalia nor her sister saw Alla again.

A year later, Natalia learned from a mutual acquaintance that Alla had given birth to a girl with a heart defect, who had to undergo a serious operation. Apparently, the sins of the parents still affected the child. The further fate of Alla and her daughter remained unknown to Natalia.

### Valentin’s Visit from Ukraine

At the beginning of the summer of the following year, a friend whom Natalia had met back in Poland – Valentin – came to visit her. He was a tall and handsome man from Donetsk. Valentin had long been calling Natalia at her parents’ apartment, but they stubbornly refused to say where she lived and did not give out any of her contact information. Back then, hardly anyone even had a mobile phone. Eventually, however, her parents gave him her number. Valentin had courted Natalia in Poland, and this time he came with serious intentions of marrying her.

When Natalia and her sister Elena went to meet Valentin at the train station, Valentin slipped on the train step upon the train’s arrival and fell under the rails. The scene was both tragic and comical at the same time. It took a long time to get the newly minted fiancé out from under the train tracks. When they got home, Valentin told a terrifying story of what had happened to him. After returning from Poland, his ex-wife had thrown him out of the apartment. One day, after returning home from visiting friends, he suddenly felt unwell. He stripped naked in the stairwell and began behaving irrationally for no apparent reason. His parents were extremely frightened and called psychiatric emergency services. He was hospitalized and treated for six months, during which he was practically sedated to the point of being like a vegetable.

Natalia noticed significant changes in Valentin’s behavior – he was sluggish, inattentive, sometimes sleeping for three days straight, and other times extremely agitated and barely able to sleep. Natalia decided to go with Valentin to her dacha. Since she could not walk on her own, she persuaded Elena to come along and help with the household chores. Valentin stayed at the dacha for about two months. He regained his strength, began sleeping normally, and returned to his former self.

Natalia told Valentin that, most likely, someone had laced his food during the visit with a substance that caused hallucinations and irrational behavior. At the time, Natalia thought Valentin’s ex-wife, who did not want to share the apartment with him, might have been involved.

During the same period of time, my mother’s sister, Aunt Lida, who had envied Natalia’s mother all her life, died. On this day, Natalia and Valentin were on the beach. Suddenly a seagull began to circle over them and scream like a madman. All the vacationers could not understand what this seagull wanted. At this time, her sister Elena came to the beach and said that her father had arrived and reported that Aunt Lida had died today at the dacha in the neighboring cooperative and that the funeral would be the day after tomorrow. That evening, another event happened that greatly frightened not only Natalia and her sister, but also Valentin. A heavy thunderstorm began in the evening. Suddenly a bird began to beat against the window with a terrible cry, it simply threw itself at the glass and beat against them. That night Natalia, her sister and Valentin all prayed together until the bird calmed down. Valentin only wondered what kind of aunt we had? The funeral was standard. Valentin did not go to the funeral, he stayed with Diana the dog at the dacha.


A week later, Natalia decided to return to the city and send Valentin home to Donetsk, as she realized that her former feelings for him had disappeared, she was more concerned about the state of her spine, and not about marriage games. Moreover, Valentin had previously committed an act that became the main reason for Natalia’s disappointment in him. When Natalia was carrying watches for sale to Poland, Valentin gave her some of his amount for the purchase, then he himself took the watches for this amount and those watches that Natalia bought for her own funds. In the next such trip, Natalia brought Valentin a watch for a large sum. He refused to take these watches, but demanded that he return his part of the money for which Natalia bought the watches. Natalia returned this amount to him only after she was forced to stay in Poland and sell such a large number of watches herself. Some of the watches had to be sold at cost to wholesalers in order to pay off with Valentin. And some of the watches that she purchased for her own funds remained unsold. On this fateful trip, Natalia and her friends Alla and Irina were robbed, and Natalia was left with practically nothing. After that, she stopped answering Valentin’s calls. 4 years later, when Valentin came, she thought that perhaps he would become the very «pill» that would put her on her feet. But Natalia became the «pill» for Valentin. One autumn day, her sister Elena went to the train station and bought Valentin a ticket in the opposite direction. Natalia put him before the fact. Valentin did not want to leave, said that he had a lot of money, that he wanted to live with Natalia. He cried and begged Natalia to think and break up with him. But Natalia had already made a decision.

### Elena’s Sister’s Dream about the Death of Her Brother and Sister-in-Law in a Car Accident

When Valentin left, her sister Elena began to have a terrible dream again that her brother and sister-in-law were in a car accident and died. And only her nephew remained alive, who at that time was 2 years old. She had such a dream three times. Then there were visions in reality as well. Natalia realized that Elena’s dreams always come true since childhood. Although she had very strained relations with her brother since childhood, she decided to warn him about the impending danger in order for him to refrain from driving until 40 days after Aunt Lida. At the same time, Natalia and her sister visited three Churches in one day and ordered akathists for the health of the entire family of her brother for 40 days. On the day when it was 40 days from the day of death for Aunt Lida, her brother, sister-in-law and son were driving in the old car of their father, «Zaporozhets», and got into an accident. Only by a miracle, all three of them remained alive, receiving minor abrasions and bruises. But this became the basis for Natalia’s brother to accuse her and her sister of having staged this accident themselves with their acquaintances, since they knew about it in advance.

### Saint Nicholas the Miracle Worker Heals Natalia in a Dream

Six months after the death of her aunt Lida, Natalia dreamed of Saint Nicholas the Miracle Worker, who healed her spine in the dream with a blessed fire that does not burn, using a huge candle. In the dream, Natalia saw a certain temple. On the temple’s table stood a thousand silver bells – the smallest only a few millimeters, with each subsequent bell larger than the previous one, forming a chain of bells.

Natalia observed the service from a distance, which was led by an elder in a red robe. He approached the table with the silver bells and struck the smallest bell with a small staff. The bell produced a delicate sound and pushed the next bell. In this way, the bells, pushing each other, created an incredibly beautiful chime, which grew in richness as the bells increased in size along the chain. Natalia stood frozen in awe at the extraordinary beauty of the ringing.

At that moment, the elder noticed her. He called her over and asked what was wrong with her spine. Natalia replied that she could not walk. The elder took a huge candle and lit it, asking Natalia to turn her back to him. She understood that he intended to move the candle’s flame along her back. She asked if she would get burned by the flame. The elder answered that it was blessed fire and it would not burn.

Natalia stood quietly. As the elder moved the flame along her back, she felt only warmth and a deep sense of peace. In the dream, she did not recognize the elder who was healing her. The next day after the dream, Natalia felt as if something in her back had been «switched on.» She stood up, walked around – there was no pain, and her spine was straight. Within a week, she was not just walking but running. A week later, Natalia went to Minsk for another session at the institute.

At the Troitsk estate, Natalia and her sister entered a church and saw, opposite the entrance, a huge icon of Saint Nicholas the Miracle Worker in a red robe. Natalia thanked Saint Nicholas for her healing. However, after the incident with the orange, Natalia could not even take a sip of wine without feeling unwell, and the same symptoms would return. This continued for more than ten years.

### Natalia Learns About the Fortune-Telling and the Search for the Girl with Three Life Lines. Meeting with Yuri Semenchuk

Three years later, when Natalia moved from her grandmother Irina’s place to live with her parents, a neighbor from her building, Vyacheslav Kolyadov, began courting her. His older brother was the best friend of Yuri Semenchuk. One evening, he invited Natalia and her friend Olga to a restaurant. There, they met a mutual acquaintance, Alexander Sovеl, who at that time was the chairman of a dacha cooperative where Natalia’s father had purchased a burned-down dacha from a friend and begun building a house.

Alexander was already quite drunk and began asking Natalia and Olga if they had seen a girl with three life lines on her palms. He explained that about fifteen years ago, a large sum of money went missing from their company – or rather, it had been stolen. A clairvoyant in Moscow had charged him $5,000 and told him that this money would be returned to him and his friends by a girl with three life lines on her palms, someone who had «two faces in one,» like a Janus figure.

The clairvoyant had also predicted that the girl came from a very high lineage on her mother’s side, though she was unaware of her ancestry. She belonged to a very noble, possibly even royal, family. When he and others discovered her lineage, they would be extremely surprised. The clairvoyant also said that she was currently living with someone who was practically a «thief-in-law,» that she was ill, and that she had personal problems with this man – the thief who had stolen the money. Furthermore, he would try to kill her.

Alexander added that he had already searched half of Belarus and Russia but had not found even one person with two life lines, let alone three. Alexander himself had two life lines on his palm. The clairvoyant had predicted that the girl would be entitled to 10% of the stolen sum. By the time she revealed the location of the money, he would have already spent one-third of it. Only two-thirds of the money would be returned. Alexander wondered why, if she was entitled to such a sum, she remained silent.

When Natalia heard about the search for the girl with three life lines, she hid her hands, sensing danger. Besides the three life lines, almost nothing in this fortune-telling matched her reality – she did not know anything about her noble ancestry, the company’s money, or who had stolen it. She remained silent. Moreover, Alexander was the best friend of Yuri Semenchuk, with whom Natalia already had serious problems.

However, her friend Olga, already fairly drunk, said that she had seen someone with such a palm. Natalia nudged Olga and told her to be quiet. Olga then explained that she had simply read in a book about three life lines, which supposedly indicated that the person was of royal descent. Alexander believed this explanation, and Natalia felt relieved. She thought that if she showed her hands now, they would start questioning her, and she knew nothing.

At home, Natalia told Elena about what had happened at the restaurant. Elena also concluded that Natalia had nothing to do with this fortune-telling or the money. At that time, Natalia had not yet connected Alexander Kovalev’s strange behavior with Alexander Sovel’s story about the fortune-telling.

Some time later, Natalia met Yuri Semenchuk near the entrance to her building. He began threatening her again. Natalia told him everything she thought about him to his face and said that if he did not want to forget about his America, he should forget about her. She told him, «You should fear me,» and that she would never forget all his proposals, and that he had beaten her «with his feet» while she was bedridden. All of this happened in front of her friend Olga, who was walking home with Natalia. Yuri became very frightened – extremely frightened. He apparently thought that Natalia was walking with Elena, not a friend. When he realized it was a friend, effectively a witness to his threats, he ran into the building entrance. However, he said the words:

– You’re all finished, your whole family – maximum two months left to live.

The next day, Zhenya Semenchuk came to visit Natalia. He suddenly became interested in palmistry and asked to see the palms of Natalia and her sister. Natalia instinctively sensed great danger. When Zhenya arrived, Natalia was peeling potatoes in the kitchen. She realized that as long as her hands were dirty, her palms were not visible. She remembered the incident at the restaurant and decided again to hide her three life lines. Natalia peeled almost an entire bucket of potatoes, but Zhenya did not leave. She showed Zhenya her dirty hands, and he asked her to wash them. Then her sister Elena showed him her hands, which had only one life line, and explained that her palms were the same as Natalia’s because they were twins and everything was identical. This argument alone convinced Zhenya, and he left. Natalia hoped that she had managed to outsmart Zhenya. However, she understood that he had been sent by his older brother, Yura. Whether Zhenya’s account had convinced Yura, Natalia could not know.

1.5 Months After the Meeting with Yura at the Entrance One and a half months after the encounter with Yura near the entrance, Natalia’s father was summoned by the chief prosecutor of the Novobelitsky District in the city of Gomel. The prosecutor told him that Natalia’s entire family had been targeted by hitmen from the criminal underworld for $20,000. He was puzzled as to why their modest family appeared on a list alongside the families of gangsters. The prosecutor also said that two families on this list had already been killed, and Natalia’s family was next. However, three days before the hit was to be carried out, the hitmen themselves were killed, and this list was found among their belongings.

Later, the prosecutor came to Natalia’s home and spoke with her and her sister. Natalia and her sister could not understand what he wanted from them. No one had any reason to target Natalia’s family, let alone pay such a large sum. Natalia assumed that the prosecutor was joking and did not believe him. She did not mention the threats from the neighbor, Yura Semenchuk, as she could not imagine he was capable of such actions. Still, certain doubts lingered in her mind.

### Natalia Receives Information About a Hidden Treasure in a Cottage

Later that same year, at the end of August, some local neighborhood guys came to visit Natalia and her sister. They occasionally came over to sober up. These were the neighbor from the floor, Igor Shaladonov, and his friend Yura. Both were highly agitated. Igor Shaladonov’s family had also suffered from the actions of Yura Semenchuk, because Zhenya had lent money to the wife of Igor’s older brother. Later, Yura imposed high interest rates and forced them to make an unequal exchange of their three-room apartment for a house in a small settlement 40 km from the city.

Igor and Yura recounted a strange event that had happened to them that night. Since the previous evening, they had been drinking in the company of Zhenya Semenchuk. Zhenya boasted that his brother owned a very luxurious cottage in the 5th microdistrict of the city, which he had purchased for $50,000. On a dare, Zhenya called a taxi, and at 3 a.m., they went to see the cottage. Igor Shaladonov, Yura, Oleg (nicknamed «Fat»), and Slava Kolyadov went along.

When they arrived, they saw some familiar guys from the neighboring yard, who at 3 a.m. in August were moving paving stones near the house under artificial lighting. When the visitors entered the house, they were shocked by the luxury inside. All the door handles were gilded, the fireplace grill was also gilded, and the furniture and entire interior were extremely expensive. This was not just a house – it was an emperor’s palace.

After some time, the owner, Yura, arrived. He began beating his brother Zhenya, kicked out Igor, Yura, and Oleg, and left Slava in the cottage. Later, the guys had to walk from one district of the city to another because they had no money for a taxi. Sitting in Natalia’s kitchen, Igor and Yura were so stunned by what they had seen in the cottage that they could not understand how Yura, living in such luxury, could oppress his former friends and neighbors, taking their last possessions.

When the guys left, Natalia was left with only one thought from their entire story – Yura Semenchuk had buried a treasure under the paving stones. However, the guys had not realized this, as they had focused on the wealth of the house rather than the actions of its owner.

A week later, Slava Kolyadov came to see Natalia and told her a strange story that had happened to him. He had been visiting Yura Semenchuk in his cottage and then remembered nothing. He woke up in the intensive care unit. The doctors barely saved him. Some people had found him on the street and called an ambulance. The doctors said it was 100% poisoning and that he had been extremely lucky to reach the hospital in time. He asked Natalia if he had called her that day. Natalia explained that the guys had come by and said that Slava had stayed at Yura Semenchuk’s cottage, who was the best friend of his older brother. Slava’s relatives had been searching for the person who poisoned him, but of course, no one could imagine Yura Semenchuk being involved. Natalia realized that it was Yura who had poisoned Slava to eliminate an unnecessary witness.

A few months later, the guys came to visit again and said that the people who had been moving the paving stones could not be found by their relatives. They had simply disappeared. The only thing known was that someone had called them to work somewhere, and that was all. Natalia realized that searching for these guys among the living was pointless. That’s when she understood the extent of what Yura Semenchuk was capable of.

### Fortune-Telling by a Clairvoyant About Buying a Car

Natalia decided to consult a clairvoyant man in the city of Yura to find out what awaited her in the future. The clairvoyant predicted that Natalia would personally bring a car from abroad, that she was being pursued by a man from the criminal world, and that he would create obstacles for her departure abroad. He said she would have problems at customs because of this, but she would deceive him and travel to England at the age of 36—38, but not earlier.

To Natalia’s surprise, he also said that she would manage large sums of money in Gomel, and when she went abroad, she would own and manage billions. Then he asked to see her hand. When he looked at her palm, rolling his eyes and barely holding his breath, he quietly exhaled and said, «It will happen exactly as I see it.»

He also said that Natalia’s female hormones were disrupted and that her illness was not in her spine, but inflammation of the sacrum. He cursed the doctors, calling them idiots, and advised her to check her hormones and treat the pelvic joints and sacrum in case of a new flare-up, and to

After all these events, Natalia lived for some time in relative calm without major problems. After dreaming of Saint Nicholas the Miracle Worker, who healed her spine, Natalia traveled to Minsk to study at the institute with her sister. Her father also arranged for her to work at a private company where he was serving as deputy director at the time. The company’s main office was in another city, so it made no sense to rent a separate office; her father worked from home, and Natalia helped him. This allowed her to continue her studies at the institute.

### Trip to Crimea in 1999 – Attempted Murder

In 1999, after September 15, shortly after celebrating her mother’s birthday, Natalia, her sister Elena, and their mother went on vacation to Alushta in Crimea. By that time, Natalia had mostly recovered from the effects of the poisoning, although she weighed only 45 kg. They decided to go to the sea to restore their health. The vacation was going well. They rented an apartment near the sea. Since Natalia did not drink alcohol and was self-conscious about her thinness, she and her sister chose nearly empty beaches and hardly went out in the evenings. It was the end of the season, and there were very few tourists.The vacation went well, except for three incidents that left a very unpleasant impression.

The first incident occurred on the beach. Natalia and her sister did not enjoy extreme water activities offered by the local young men and consistently refused, even when offered free rides on a «banana boat» or jet ski. On one of the last days, they were persuaded to ride the banana boat, under the condition that it would be slow and careful along the shore, as Elena was very afraid of deep water. Natalia and her sister were fitted with life jackets and set off.

However, they were not taken along carefully. Instead of staying near the shore, they were taken far out, where the beach was barely visible, beyond the buoys. With no choice, they were whipped along at high speed (the sea was rough, with a small storm) for about half an hour or more, while the operators tried to throw them off the banana boat. Natalia and her sister initially reacted badly to the speed, with only one thought – to avoid capsizing. After a few minutes, however, they adapted to the extreme ride and even began to enjoy it.

The person driving the motorboat ahead would cut the engine, stop sharply, cross almost directly in front of the banana boat, and then suddenly accelerate. Natalia and her sister clung to the banana boat like pendulums to maintain balance. They leaned at a 90-degree angle to the water, barely grazing it with their shoulders, but the banana boat kept returning upright. They traveled at very high speed, water hitting their faces, barely able to hear each other. Natalia kept telling Elena how to tilt her body to prevent the banana from flipping.

After about 25 minutes, Natalia felt her arms were very tired, especially Elena’s, as she was physically weaker. Natalia alternated hands to hold on, letting one rest while the other held tight, and shouted for her sister to do the same. Had they continued for another 15 minutes, they would have been too exhausted to hold on any longer. Fortunately, the driver lacked the endurance – or perhaps did not want to spend more fuel – and headed toward the shore.

As they approached the shore, a man was lying and sunbathing on a mattress near a buoy. Natalia asked him if she should tow him, knowing that during calm periods, a mattress could drift out to sea. Years earlier, Elena and a friend had almost been carried out to sea on a pedal boat. The man refused. When they reached the shore, the second young man servicing the water sports equipment was extremely surprised that Natalia and her sister were completely dry, meaning they had not capsized even once. It is unclear what Natalia’s mother told him, but the young men quickly packed up and left, staring at Natalia and her sister with strange eyes.

Natalia was pleased that she and her sister had, in a sense, «outsmarted» them. Everything turned out well, although if someone asks to be taken carefully, it likely indicates a serious reason. At the time, Natalia thought the young men’s behavior was harmless mischief. Many years later, however, she learned that these were not ordinary water sports operators, but trained hitmen. Apparently, guardian angels had once again protected Natalia and her sister from death.


### The Second Incident – A Few Days Before the Extreme Banana Boat Ride

The second incident occurred a couple of days before the extreme banana boat ride. As usual, after breakfast, Natalia went to the beach with her mother and sister. But when they arrived, they saw an ambulance. They approached to see what had happened. It turned out that a young man, about 23—25 years old, had dived into the water and hit his head on the rocks. He was being carried on a stretcher past Natalia and her sister. When he saw them, he became happy, even sitting up on the stretcher. He stopped the medics and said strange words to Natalia and her sister:

– «Get out of here. They want to kill you. Just trust me – you cannot be here. Go back to your city, home.»

Everyone nearby asked Natalia and her sister:

– Do you know this guy? Are you acquainted with him?

Natalia replied that she and her sister were seeing him for the first time and that he must have been confused or delirious from a concussion. The ambulance took him away. Nevertheless, the weight of his words left a very heavy impression on Natalia. She asked the locals about the young man and was told that he was a local, working at the beach, knew the seabed very well, and was a strong swimmer. Everyone was surprised that he had dived so carelessly, especially since there had been a storm warning and many beaches were closed.

A day later, Natalia learned that the young man had died in the hospital. The heavy feeling from his words deepened. Although she understood that she was in a foreign city on vacation, unknown to anyone, and it was unclear who might want to harm her and her sister, she initially thought it was a meaningless coincidence and forgot about it. Only later did she realize that the young man might have been telling the truth, and that the way the local athletes had taken her and her sister on the banana boat could have been their last experience in life. The man lying on the mattress near the buoy had likely been a deliberately placed witness to their potential tragic fate.

### The Third Unpleasant Incident – Departure Day

The third incident occurred on the day of departure. The evening before, the apartment owner called a taxi and said she would come in the morning to see them off. Natalia, her sister, and her mother even took a photo with her as a memento. In the morning, she arrived, but not alone – she brought an elderly man posing as her father. From the doorway, they began accusing Natalia and her family of leaving a phone bill of about $100 and demanded payment. The old man had a hammer, and the owner lunged at Natalia. Despite knowing about Natalia’s poor health, she had not told them that she had about eight years of experience as an entrepreneur and knew how to handle such situations. The owner was pushed back. She tried again but realized they were clearly outmatched. The old man did not intervene.

Natalia and her sister realized they had to leave the apartment, fearing accusations of assault. They carried their belongings to the entrance. The train was leaving in an hour and a half, and they needed to get from Alushta to Simferopol. At that moment, the apartment owner grabbed Natalia’s mother’s bag lying on top of their belongings and ran off with it, realizing she could not take the items by force. She apparently thought it contained documents or money, but the bag only had spare underwear and sanitary products. Natalia briefly imagined her disappointment upon discovering the contents.

Natalia, her sister, and mother stepped outside to wait for the taxi, but it didn’t arrive. Natalia realized the owner hadn’t called it. When the owner appeared outside, Natalia and her sister warned her that they would report the matter to the police and the Belarusian Embassy, as they were foreign citizens, and that she would be legally accountable for extortion. Within minutes, a law enforcement officer appeared – but Natalia immediately suspected he was a planted accomplice. She realized the best defense was offense. He began to speak, but Natalia and her sister explained that the phone had been disconnected for nonpayment when they moved in and was only reconnected a few days before departure. She showed the notice, but the officer hesitated. Natalia said the $100 they paid for two weeks was more than sufficient, as other tenants at the end of the season paid much less.

The officer began calming the apartment owner and pulling her aside. A quarrel arose between them. Natalia realized they were in collusion – the owner had concealed the payment from her accomplice. From the outside, the whole scene looked terrible. A crowd of onlookers gathered. Someone commented that the scammer should have been taught a lesson long ago, as she often treated her tenants this way. The officer quickly removed the apartment owner, leaving Natalia and her family alone.