8

In the blink of an eye, Maria's entire ordinary life was turned upside down. She decided to think about the accusers -who they were, what kind of enemies she could have. Yes, she named her daughter after Catherine the Great, the Russian empress, but she did not know that Kate's life would start off with scheming and intrigues.

The suspect pool had narrowed. Many families tend to built careers and houses first and only then planning on having a child. Only, having everything, they often no longer could have a child. Her casual friends paid three hundred grand to a surrogate mother. Children were becoming one of expensive pleasures.

After giving birth to her daughter, Maria got to know that her mother-in law was rich and possessed a few houses and other property. Her husband mother used to say that having a child in poverty is against nature. Though, it worth mentioning that poverty for her meant the two bedroom apartment…

The mother-in-law was reprehended by other relatives for being not only reach but also insatiable and wished not to have any grandchildren. The woman didn't want somebody to go after her assets… Of course, she hated Maria for giving birth to the heiress without even asking for her opinion…

Also, many people admired cuteness of little Kate and there could be a chance that some rich and powerful pedo could simply buy the girl, just getting read of her mother first, and then her father. Maria often had seen programs on TV showing stories about pedophiles.

Then, Maria remembered her greedy boss, the director of a small magazine in which she was working before the maternity leave. That man hated pregnant women and was extremely reluctant to pay maternity benefits to anyone. Maria recalled she had to sue him...

... In a white silk blouse and pantsuit, Maria was standing in front of the judge, her former chief and his lawyer. Bearing a child, she could not button up her blouse normally, at that time. Although she tried to blend in with other people in business suits, it was impossible to hide such a huge 17-kilogram belly on 8th month of pregnancy. With her fragile figure and 43 kilograms of weight, her belly proudly bulged and was hard not to notice.

Throughout pregnancy, Maria suffered terrible morning sickness. She fainted once. It happened right at the cashier's desk in the supermarket. All the customers were worried, and the security person helped her to get up. It was very hard for her to move and hard to breathe. Having pressure on her bladder she wanted she wanted to run to the toilet every minute. Maria's pregnancy was very difficult...

…Climbing the courthouse's marble staircase, Maria heard a horse laugh of her former boss. He was standing together with his lawyer and mocking the girl, as she didn't have money for a lawyer. To his mind, she didn't have a chance to win the case…

Yes, Maria did not have the money for a lawyer. She went to court alone but bearing her child. After 4 years of dedicated work at the company, the secretary kicked her out pregnant and, in addition, wrote a terrible recommendation. With such a terrible characteristic, it was impossible for her to find a new job to feed her child. The child's father was not rich, so Maria planned to start working again soon...

During the court hearing, Maria was crying, being emotional under the influence of hormones. The judge in his black toga, an attorney in an expensive suit, and her former boss – all of them were against her. Once in a while, Maria's child woke up in her belly and began kicking, right during the meeting. She tried to hide her anxiety, but all that terrifying injustice kept summoning the tears from her eyes…

...Of course, her former boss won the trial with the help of an expensive well-dressed lawyer. He did not pay a penny of maternity benefits and, in addition, e-mailed a terrible characteristic. One could read the message in it between the lines, stating that Maria was "not nice with to her colleagues". Yeah, sure, she had no right to sue the former boss and protest against any of his lies about her...

…December. Shiny Christmas toys were hung all over the city, People were decorating their apartment. Holiday was in the air and everyone wanted to believe in miracles. Maria didn't have any money for miracles or even for a small gift for her coming child. After the case was won, her former chief proudly told his wife and colleagues how clever he was to win the case against the pregnant woman. His wife could not bear a child and they had children from surrogate mothers. After the case was won, the wife started giving him dark looks and hard times. The company's staff decided to resign on the same day after hearing the story about the case. The boss could not sleep as he was afraid his company could collapse. And some time after the girl got fired, the firm's sales plummeted a lot. The whole glamorous life of that bastard began to crumble unexpectedly...

…Maria couldn't afford a lawyer. She hade someone better on her side – a woman named Karma.

This woman charged all the girl's or her child's offenders.