Summary:

Aleksei is seven when his father remarries. He is nine when Yulia is born.

If things had been a little different, he would have hated her. He was prone to envy at that stage: restless, anxious, without purpose. Jealousy would have eaten him through and left room for something uglier to move in. It doesn’t, because Yulia loves him first.

Aleksei is nine and furious at the world, and he doesn’t stand a chance. His heart cracks, breaks and swallows her whole.