“‘I’m afraid you’ll find what I have to say rather distressing. Sergei Nikolaevich will be arriving in a few days’ time.’” Read from Yuri Felsen’s novel Happiness, translated by Bryan Karetnyk.
https://lithub.com/happiness/
Happiness

You arrived with startling and terrible news, having decided to inform me of it immediately, audaciously, and forthrightly, banking on my staunch inner resolve, yet showing both pity and compassion…

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