Every now and then, justice prevails.

Geoffrey Paschel was sentenced to 18 years in prison following the kidnapping and brutal beating of his ex-fiancee, Kristen Wilson.

Varya Malina has unwisely stuck by him all of this time, yet seems surprisingly upbeat on social media.

What's going on with her? Did romancing this scumbag give her everything she wanted?

When Varya Malina began talking to Geoffrey Paschel, a handsome American man, she had no idea who he really was.

She didn't know that he'd been engaged as recently as June of 2019 -- a short time before they filmed together.

Varya also didn't know that he was a violent monster with a lengthy criminal history.

Going back for years, Geoffrey's exes had accused him of unspeakable domestic violence and sexual assault.

One ex had described giving birth while Geoffrey held her prisoner in a hotel room.

Until his arrest in June of 2019, however, Geoffrey's alleged abuse had never led to any real consequences for him.

In June of that year, Geoffrey brutally attacked Kristen Wilson, his then-fiancee.

He attacked the fourth grade teacher, beating her and smashing her face into her home.

Geoffrey prevented her from leaving and also prevented her from calling for help. She had to wait to find her chance to escape.

The brutal evidence spoke for itself at trial. So did Kristen.

After numerous delays due to the pandemic, Geoffrey finally stood before a jury.

After days of grueling and nightmare-inducing testimony from witnesses and from the victim herself, Geoffrey was convicted.

Four months later, at the start of February, Geoffrey returned to the courtroom.

This time, he could not masquerade as an upstanding member of society.

The judge did not mince words when acknowledging the horror of Geoffrey's crimes or how sinister his behavior had been post-conviction.

Geoffrey was sentenced to 18 years, a couple of years shy of the maximum but also more than the prosecution had asked for.

One factor cited by the court was Geoffrey's attempt to manipulate his victim by trying to have his children go to her house to ask her to appeal to the judge.

The judge noted this, and stated that he was unsurprised that a manipulator like Geoffrey had outspoken supporters, but the court had not fallen for his twisted charms.

In the immediate aftermath of Geoffrey's well-deserved conviction, Varya fled Instagram.

It had been clear that she was supporting Geoffrey, even if she had been extremely vague about their relationship status.

She soon returned and, still bogged down in this misguided affection for a man who does not deserve it, pleaded for fans to help him.

However, in the months since then, Varya has appeared much more upbeat.

She seemed confident ahead of his sentencing, and has also been sharing how she's helping out with property management while he's behind bars.

At a time when most would expect Varya to either be radio silent or openly devastated, she seems like neither on Instagram. Why?

Varya has been relentlessly smiling on social media, and fans (using the term loosely) are curious.

Is this a case of putting on a happy face when it's the opposite of how you feel?

Or is Varya almost as happy as the rest of us that Geoffrey is behind bars?

First of all, it doesn't look like she and Geoffrey are actually married.

Reports say that he is still legally married to his fourth wife (even though Varya is not his first fiancee since that marriage).

The best guess on the internet is that Varya got a diversity lottery visa and plans to cement her residency by joining the National Guard.

Right now, Varya is living in Geoffrey's house and managing properties for him.

While that is presumably a temporary measure, it's possible that she's doing this to save money as she plans her next move.

Varya didn't just (hopefully) luck out of being Geoffrey's next victim -- she's reaping some benefits of reality stardom without being glued to Geoffrey. A win-win!

However, other fans think that Varya may just be putting on a brave face ... or could even be in total denial.

She seems to genuinely believe that Geoffrey will get the new trial that he's demanding or otherwise be released upon appeal.

While it's always possible that a violent criminal could subvert justice, we of course hope that this does not happen here.

It's tempting to tell ourselves stories that explain away worrisome behaviors in people we would prefer to like.

The truth is that Varya seems to genuinely love Geoffrey.

We can acknowledge that this misplaced affection is the result of a practiced manipulator's tricks. We can also hope that she snaps out of it.