Elena wearily set the grocery bags down on the table. Another long shift, another dinner after nine in the evening. She hadn’t even finished unpacking the groceries when the doorbell rang.
Nina Borisovna was standing on the doorstep, her thin lips pressed together.
“They raised the rent again!” the mother-in-law blurted out instead of a greeting, stepping into the cramped hallway of the tiny one-room apartment. “Now they’re asking for nineteen thousand! Nineteen! And what kind of pension do I have? You know yourself.”
Elena silently nodded, continuing to unpack the groceries. Visits from her mother-in-law always started with complaints and always ended the same way — with hints of needing help.
“Lena, I can’t manage,” Nina Borisovna’s voice trembled. “Did Sergey say anything? Maybe you two came up with something?”
Elena sighed, closed the fridge door, and turned to her mother-in-law.
“Nina Borisovna, I understand everything, but…” she gestured around. “You see for yourself where we can put you? Sergey and I saved for three years for the down payment. We paid it off for five more years. Now at least we have our own roof over our heads, but nothing else.”
Her mother-in-law’s face froze.
“So, the husband’s mother is supposed to go out on the street?” Nina Borisovna adjusted her scarf with trembling hands. “Or to a nursing home?”
“What are you saying?” Elena frowned. “There just isn’t any extra money right now. Maybe we could look for another apartment? Something cheaper?”
“Where would you find something cheaper?” Nina Borisovna bitterly chuckled. “In some dump where hooligans roam under the windows? I thought my son and his wife wouldn’t leave me in trouble.”
Elena pressed her lips together. This conversation had been repeating for three months straight.
“I’d be glad to help, but we barely make ends meet ourselves…”
“I know all about your ‘making ends meet’!” her mother-in-law interrupted. “You flew to the sea, after all! And mother will be left homeless — what a small misfortune!”
“We haven’t gone anywhere for four years,” Elena said quietly. “Once, we allowed ourselves…”
“Alright, I get it,” Nina Borisovna abruptly stood up. “I see you only think about yourselves. Well, I’m going…”
The door slammed before Elena could say anything.
That evening, the front door flew open with a hard shove. Sergey stood in the doorway, his eyes flashing, his jaw clenched.
“What did you tell mother?” he demanded without even taking off his shoes.
“Hello, dear,” Elena crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m glad to see you, too.”
“Don’t joke around!” Sergey walked into the kitchen, leaving dirty footprints on the floor. “Mother calls, crying, saying you’re kicking her out and not giving her any money!”
Elena rolled her eyes.
“Sergey, let’s get this straight,” she said, walking to the sink and filling a glass with water. “Your mother came to complain that her rent was raised. I told her we have no extra money and nowhere for her to live here. Where is the ‘kicking out’?”
“You could have thought about how to help! She’s my mother!”
“And who am I?” Elena turned sharply. “A money-making machine? I work two jobs! Where were you when we were paying off the mortgage? Who gave half their salary?”
Sergey clenched his fists.
“Are you starting to reproach me?”
“I’m not reproaching,” Elena tried to stay calm. “Just stating the obvious. We have thirty square meters for two people. Where would your mother live? In the hallway?”
“In Europe, families live in apartments like this!” Sergey snapped back.
“Oh!” Elena smiled bitterly. “Brilliant idea! Maybe we should just give this apartment to your mother and rent a place ourselves? Pay rent happily, as long as Nina Borisovna is satisfied!”
“Don’t twist my words!” Sergey nervously paced the kitchen. “But we can think of something!”
“For example?” Elena raised her eyebrows. “Come on, share your brilliant ideas.”
“I don’t know!” Sergey shouted. “But we can’t just abandon mother!”
“You know, I’m tired,” Elena shook her head. “Tired of these endless complaints. From your mother. From your whining. We worked our backs off to buy this apartment. And now I have to apologize for not being able to support your mother too?”
Sergey stared silently out the window, his jaw muscles twitching.
“Maybe you should live with your mother?” Elena added quietly. “Since I’m such a heartless daughter-in-law.”
“Maybe I should,” Sergey muttered through clenched teeth, not turning around.
Those words hung between them like a heavy stone. Elena pressed her lips together, silently gathered the dishes in the sink, and went to her room. Behind the closed door, she stifled a sob, but Sergey did not come.
The next morning began in silence. Sergey had already left for work. Elena slowly walked around the apartment, getting ready, and for the first time noticed how many little things had been irritating her for a long time. Socks scattered under the bed. An unwashed cup on the table. The bathroom shelf her husband promised to fix six months ago.
“Was I really blind?” Elena muttered, picking up her husband’s dirty clothes from the floor.
A week passed in cold silence. Sergey came home late, ate silently, and slept facing the wall. Elena did not try to make peace — everything inside had frozen.
Then a phone call came that turned her whole life upside down.
“Elena Viktorovna?” an unfamiliar voice spoke on the phone. “This is notary Svetlana Pavlovna. I have important information for you. Your grandmother, Olga Nikolaevna Stepanova, left you an apartment. A three-room one in the Sokolniki district.”
Elena froze with the phone at her ear. She slowly said:
“My grandmother died ten years ago.”
The notary patiently explained:
“This is a great-aunt. By her will, the apartment passes to you as the sole heir.”
The news of the inheritance hit like lightning out of a clear sky. A three-room apartment! Elena vaguely remembered this grandmother — they had seen each other rarely, a few times in childhood.
“You need to come and process the documents. The sooner, the better.”
That evening Sergey came home. Elena told him the news. His eyes lit up.
“A three-room? In Sokolniki?” He clapped his hands. “That solves all problems!”
The next day, Nina Borisovna found out about the inheritance. The mother-in-law rushed over with a pie, radiating friendliness.
“What luck!” She gently patted Elena’s shoulder. “I was just wondering what to do about the apartment. The rent is so expensive…”
During the week while Elena was processing the documents, Nina Borisovna became a frequent visitor. She brought pies, asked about affairs, even helped clean. Sergey melted before his mother’s eyes and threw triumphant glances at his wife.
Finally, the day came when all the documents were finalized. Elena officially became the owner of the three-room apartment. That evening, the three of them sat in the kitchen — Elena, Sergey, and Nina Borisovna. The keys to the new home lay in the middle of the table.
The mother-in-law looked eagerly at the bunch. Then suddenly reached out, grabbed the keys, tossed them in the air, and caught them.
“Put the apartment in my name. And quickly. I want to start the renovations!” she said businesslike, as if announcing the weather outside.
Elena blinked, not believing her ears.
“Excuse me, what?”
“I said, rewrite the apartment to me,” Nina Borisovna repeated, jingling the keys. “Why do you need three rooms? Two people are fine here. And I’ll have somewhere to spread out.”
Elena glanced at her husband. Sergey was looking at the table, avoiding her eyes.
“Sergey, did you hear what your mother said?” Elena asked quietly.
“Well, that makes sense,” he mumbled. “Mom needs her own apartment…”
“Her own?” Elena leaned forward. “My inherited apartment should become her property?”
“Don’t twist it,” Sergey cut her off. “We’re family. What difference does it make whose name it’s under?”
“A big one,” Elena stood up. “A huge difference.”
Nina Borisovna pressed her lips together.
“And what’s with that tone? I, by the way, raised my son. Alone! Now I deserve rest and care!”
“At my expense?” Elena crossed her arms.
“And you’re selfish,” the mother-in-law declared flatly. “Only thinking about yourself! What do you need a three-room apartment for? To show off to your girlfriends?”
“Nina Borisovna,” Elena forced herself to speak calmly, “this is my inheritance. From my grandmother.”
“Sergey, explain to her!” the mother-in-law waved her hands. “Tell her it’s the right thing!”
Sergey finally looked up.
“Lena, really… Mom has done so much for me.”
“And me?” Elena’s voice was steel. “What have I done for you, Sergey? I worked six years at two jobs to pay off our mortgage! And now you suggest I give the three-room apartment to your mother?”
“Don’t yell at my son!” Nina Borisovna snapped.
“And don’t tell me what to do with my property!” Elena retorted.
“How cruel you are!” the mother-in-law theatrically pressed her hand to her heart. “Son, I told you — she only thinks about money!”
“Stop it!” Elena stood up sharply. “I’ve had enough. This marriage… it’s long dead. You’ve taken sides, Sergey. And it’s not mine.”
She grabbed the keys from the stunned mother-in-law.
“I’m leaving. To my apartment.”
The door slammed behind Elena, leaving Nina Borisovna’s outraged shouts and Sergey’s confused look behind.
The next day the nightmare began. First, threatening calls from the mother-in-law. Then Sergey’s tearful pleas. Then accusations that she destroyed the family “because of some apartment.”
“I’m filing for divorce,” Elena told her husband when they met. “And no, it’s not up for discussion.”
“Then I demand property division!” Sergey blurted. “And the three-room will be divided too!”
“Inheritance is not subject to division in divorce,” Elena replied calmly. “Consult a lawyer.”
The divorce turned into a battle. Nina Borisovna sued, claiming she had the right to part of the apartment since her son was married when he inherited it.
“You’re leaving me no choice,” Elena told her lawyer. “I’ll split our one-room apartment. Let me have half the money, and that’s it.”
The court ruled in her favor. The apartment was sold, the money divided equally. With part of that money, Elena began renovations in the three-room apartment.
The last time she saw her ex-husband and mother-in-law was at the final court hearing. Sergey looked gaunt. Nina Borisovna hissed curses.
“You know,” Elena said to her ex-husband at the end, “I’m grateful to your mother. She helped me see who you really are.”