The Oligarch's Daughter

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and substance use.

In a flashback to the initial stages of their relationship, Paul and Tatyana grow increasingly close, and they are both happy. They arrange a group dinner with several couples that each of them knows. It is a stressful night: Both Paul’s and Tatyana’s friends behave rudely. Rick’s wife accuses Tatyana of being a “gold-digger.”

After dinner, Tatyana is upset. She assures Paul that she doesn’t care about his money and points out how modestly she lives. He knows her too well to doubt her love for him, and the two share a passionate embrace. He asks about her family, and she reluctantly invites him to her father and stepmother’s upcoming anniversary party. She seems nervous on the day of the party. Paul is stunned to discover that her father lives in two connected townhomes on the affluent Upper East Side. Contrary to what Mary Louise thought, he realizes that Tatyana probably has more money than he does.

The connected townhomes are opulent. Everything is covered in gold leaf, the floors are marble, and signs of Tatyana’s family wealth are everywhere. Paul realizes that Tatyana is surely an oligarch’s daughter and that she has been keeping her family secret from him because she is ashamed of their wealth.