“I didn’t mean to, but…”: A story about redemption and the unpredictable repercussions of even the smallest choices (with illustrations)

Description

A novel blending elements from various genres, interwoven with social and philosophical themes that explore the enigmatic nature of humanity. The characters, driven by circumstances and personal ambitions, reach the limits of their mental resilience and belief in the healing of their emotional wounds. The fates of these unyielding, complex personas are entwined in a dynamic and multilayered plot. Drawn by their desires towards a stormy confrontation with a domino effect, each faces difficult, life-affirming choices and undergoes their own personal catharsis.

The novel begins with Kaloyan’s personal confession, and his return to his homeland of Bulgaria sets off a devastating whirlwind of events that engulfs all the other characters. At the core of the plot lies a long-kept secret, whose roots in time entangle complicated relationships that seem to have no way out. A secret that drives Kaloyan to self-destruction, affecting multiple lives. He resolves to uncover it at any cost when, upon returning home after six years abroad, he faces a complex decision. His conscience, as well as his life, are at stake.

In his effort to protect Kaloyan, his stepfather, businessman Stefan Miranov, becomes a pawn in the hands of the powerful and influential Boyadzhiev—a former partner and friend, now turned enemy. With an unyielding character shaped by his dark past and mired in despair in the present, yet still holding enviable social standing and contacts, Stefan Miranov resigns himself to compromising his principles in order to atone for Kaloyan’s guilt on his behalf.

The confrontation between father and son triggers the unraveling of a well-concealed truth, threatening to destroy the illusory security bought at the cost of personal sacrifice. A truth that entangles the characters in a complex web—Stoyan, torn between his duty to his wife and their paralysed son, and his loyalty to Miranov, his boss and friend; Stella, Boyadzhiev’s daughter, striving to understand the reason behind her mother’s disappearance; Kamen, an ambitious and unscrupulous man with sadistic tendencies; Irina, a prisoner of his terrifying nature and criminal schemes; and Spaska, a naive girl from the deep countryside, driven by her own fabricated moral compass, allowing her to frivolously navigate life and resort to any means to find her “multi,” with whom she plans to live carefree in luxury.