Inheritance
Seven in the morning. Who the hell could be calling at seven on a Saturday morning? Marina groped for the phone on the nightstand without opening her eyes.
— Hello?
— Marinushka, dear, it’s me, Valeria Petrovna. Mikhail Semyonovich and I are already on our way up to you. Don’t worry, we have the keys.
Marina sat up in bed as if shocked by an electric current. Her mind wasn’t fully awake yet, but something in her mother-in-law’s voice made her uneasy. She sounded way too cheerful for such an early hour.
— Valeria Petrovna, who… who is Mikhail Semyonovich?
— Oh, dear, he’s the appraiser! We agreed with Igoryochka yesterday… Oh, it seems he didn’t tell you? Well, no worries, we’ll explain everything now!
The line went dead. Marina stared at the phone, feeling a tight knot form inside her. An appraiser? What kind of appraiser? And most importantly — why?
Next to her, Igor was snoring soundly after last night’s party. Marina shook him by the shoulder.
— Igor! Igor, get up immediately!
— Mmm… what… Marin, let me sleep…
— Your mother is coming here with some appraiser! What does this mean?
Igor opened one eye, and Marina saw something in it… fear? guilt? He quickly turned away.
— I don’t know… probably something about grandma’s inheritance…
— Igor, look at me. LOOK AT ME!
He reluctantly turned around. Marina had known her husband for five years and could easily tell when he was lying. And he was lying now.
The doorbell interrupted their conversation. Or rather, not a doorbell — a long trill, like someone decided to play Mendelssohn’s Wedding March on the doorbell.
Marina threw on a robe and went to open the door. Through the peephole, she saw her smiling mother-in-law and an unfamiliar middle-aged man with a briefcase.
— Marinushka, my sunshine! — chirped Valeria Petrovna as soon as the door opened. — How are you? How do you feel? Don’t worry, we’ll be quick and everything will be fine!
She walked into the hallway without asking permission and gestured for the man to follow her.
— Meet Mikhail Semyonovich Krylov, a real estate appraiser. A very experienced specialist, he’s been working for about twenty years.
Mikhail Semyonovich extended his hand and looked at Marina with an apologetic smile. It was clear he felt uncomfortable.
— Hello… Honestly, I thought you knew…
— Knew what? — Marina’s voice grew harsher. — Valeria Petrovna, please explain what is going on.
— Oh, what is there to explain! — waved her mother-in-law. — Igor and I decided to arrange a deed of gift. So that everything is honest, fair. The apartment is good, big, and what if something happens… God forbid, of course! But you never know…
Marina felt the blood drain from her face. The apartment was bought with her money. Money she had saved for three years working sixty hours a week in an advertising agency. Money from selling her mother’s jewelry after her death. Every ruble of that apartment was hers.
— Igor! — she shouted. — COME HERE!
Her husband appeared in the hallway, pulling on jeans. His eyes darted nervously, guilty.
“The apartment is mine!” — the mother-in-law brought an appraiser at 7 am. The daughter-in-law’s response shocked everyone
— Igor, dear, — the mother said softly, — tell your wife how we talked yesterday. She’s a smart girl, she’ll understand everything.
— Mom, I told you, we should’ve talked to Marina first…
— Oh, nonsense! What’s there to fuss about between family! And besides, Mikhail Semyonovich took the time and made an appointment with us…
Marina raised her hand, stopping the flow of words.
— Stop. Everyone stop. Mikhail Semyonovich, with your permission, I want to see the documents. Both yours and the appraisal request.
The appraiser glanced at Valeria Petrovna, then at Igor.
— Well… the request was submitted by your husband… as a co-owner…
— Co-owner? — Marina felt something break inside. — Igor, what did you tell them?
— I… well… we are married… it’s our common property…
— NO! — Marina shouted so loudly everyone flinched. — Not common! The apartment is registered in my name. In MY name alone. According to the purchase contract, with MY money!
She went to the bedroom and came back with a folder of documents.
— Mikhail Semyonovich, here is the certificate of ownership. See? The sole owner is Ivanova Marina Andreevna. Now show me the document that gives my husband the right to dispose of MY apartment.
The appraiser carefully examined the papers, then looked guiltily at Igor.
— I… Sorry, but here it really shows only one owner. If the spouse does not give consent…
— Marinushka, — Valeria Petrovna’s voice grew syrupy, — why are you acting like a stranger? We’re one family! And think about it yourself — what if something happens to you? You never know… Igoryochka might end up with nothing!
— What if something happens to Igor? — Marina retorted. — Am I supposed to go out on the street?
— Oh, come on! — her mother-in-law threw up her hands. — I’m his mother! I won’t let anyone hurt my son! And you… you’re young, beautiful, you’ll marry again…
Silence fell so heavy you could hear the ticking clock in the kitchen. Marina looked at her mother-in-law, then at her husband. Pain showed on his face, but he was silent.
— I understand, — Marina said quietly. — Mikhail Semyonovich, sorry for the trouble. No one will be appraising anyone. There will be no deeds of gift.
— But Marinushka…
— Valeria Petrovna, — Marina’s voice turned icy, — you brought a stranger into MY apartment at seven on a Saturday morning to appraise MY property without MY consent. To force me to give MY apartment to YOUR son. Am I right?
— Well… it’s not that categorical…
— Exactly that. And do you know what that’s called? Fraud. And extortion.
Valeria Petrovna flushed crimson.
— How dare you! I’m a mother! I care about my son’s future!
— You care about the apartment. A free apartment. — Marina opened the door. — Mikhail Semyonovich, all the best. Sorry for wasting your time.
The appraiser hurriedly gathered his papers.
— It happens… Goodbye.
When he left, Marina closed the door and turned to her mother-in-law.
— Now let’s speak frankly. Valeria Petrovna, have you ever invested a single kopek into this apartment?
— What does money have to do with it! It’s about family!
— Family? Fine. Igor, — she turned to her husband, — explain how you could make arrangements with your mother about MY apartment behind my back?
Igor swallowed.
— Marin, well… Mom worries… she thinks about the future…
— What future? About throwing me out of my own apartment?
— Not that! — Valeria Petrovna couldn’t take it anymore. — You see how he is! Soft, kind… Any woman would deceive him! And the apartment — it’s at least some guarantee!
— A guarantee from me, huh? — Marina laughed bitterly. — So I’m a threat?
— Well… things happen… divorces…
— Oh, I see! — Marina clapped her hands. — So you’re already planning our divorce! And want to protect your son in advance!
— Marinushka, what are you talking about! What divorce! We only want the best!
— The best? You want me to give the apartment, bought with my money, to your son. So I’ll live there like a tenant. Is that your “best”?
Valeria Petrovna pressed her lips tight.
— You’re ungrateful. Igor married you, gave you his last name…
— STOP! — Marina shouted. — That’s enough! Igor, — she turned to her husband, — you have two minutes to choose. Either you tell your mother right now that the apartment is mine and will remain mine, or you both get out of here.
— Marin, don’t be so hot-headed… let’s talk calmly…
— Calmly? CALMLY?! You burst into my apartment with an appraiser to take away my home, and I’m supposed to stay calm?
— Not take away, but… transfer the ownership…
— IN YOUR NAME! That’s taking it away!
Igor looked confused, glancing between his mother and wife.
— Mom, maybe it’s really not worth it… we can do it later…
— Later won’t come! — Marina cut him off. — Igor, I want to hear from you right now: whose apartment is this?
— Well… yours, of course…
— And whose will it be?
— Yours…
— And I won’t put anyone else on the deed?
— You won’t…
Valeria Petrovna looked at her son in horror.
— Igor! What are you saying! She’s wrapping you around her finger! You’re a man!
— He’s a man who respects his wife’s rights, — Marina said firmly. — Or should respect. Valeria Petrovna, it’s time for you to go.
— What — go? I’m his mother! I have the right…
— You have the right to visit us by invitation. At a time convenient for US. Not to barge in early in the morning with strangers.
— Igor, do you hear this? She’s kicking me out!
Igor fidgeted, shifting from foot to foot.
— Mom, maybe… come later…
— Later? — Valeria Petrovna exploded. — I have been here for you all my life! I raised you alone! I sacrificed everything! And this… this bitch…
— OUT! — Marina yelled. — OUT OF MY HOUSE!
— Don’t you dare shout at me!
— I will shout! THIS IS MY HOME! And if you don’t leave right now, I’ll call the police!
Marina grabbed the phone.
— Hello, police? I have a domestic disturbance, unlawful entry…
— What are you doing! — Igor snatched the phone from her. — No police!
— Then get out with your mommy.
— What — get out? Marin, I live here…
— You lived here. Until you decided to take away my apartment.
— But I didn’t want to… Mom said…
— Mom said! — Marina mocked. — You’re thirty-two, Igor! Thirty-two! And you still listen to mommy!
Valeria Petrovna took her son by the arm.
— Igoryochka, let’s go. It’s not worth dealing with such… ungratefulness. I have a sofa at my place.
— Fine, — said Marina. — Make yourselves comfortable on the sofa. And leave the keys.
— What keys?
— The ones you used to get in here without permission.
Igor reluctantly put the keys on the nightstand.
— Marin, this is silly… where will I live?
— That’s your problem. My problem is to protect my property from encroachments.
— But we’re husband and wife!
— Husband and wife are a partnership based on trust. And you betrayed that trust.
Igor looked at her, confused.
— Marin, it can’t be like this… because of an apartment…
— Not because of the apartment. Because of lies. Because you decided my matters without me. Because your mother’s opinion is more important to you than your wife’s.
— But she’s my mother…
— And who am I? A servant?
Valeria Petrovna pulled her son toward the exit.
— Igor, don’t humiliate yourself! Look how she’s become! She’s lost her mind over the apartment!
When the door closed behind them, Marina leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. Her hands trembled, her chest burned. Five years of marriage. Five years she thought she had a family.
But it turned out — she had an apartment. And that was apparently the main thing.
The phone rang around eight in the evening. It was Igor.
— Marin, hi… How are you?
— Fine.
— Listen… I thought… maybe we argued for nothing?
— Igor, did you think that yourself or did your mother?
— Myself! Honestly! Marin, let’s make up… I didn’t mean to hurt you…
— What did you want then?
Pause.
— Well… Mom worries about my future…
— Uh-huh. So again mom.
— No, not again! I understand myself that I shouldn’t have decided without you…
— Igor, answer honestly: if I had agreed this morning to transfer the apartment to you, would you have minded?
Long silence.
— Well… I wouldn’t have minded…
— I see. Igor, until you understand the difference between a wife and a temporary tenant, we have nothing to talk about.
— Marin, it’s not like that…
— Exactly like that. Good night.
She hung up and turned off the phone.
Outside, the city lights burned. Somewhere in one of the apartments, Valeria Petrovna was explaining to her son what a bitch his wife was. Somewhere else, Igor was thinking about how to return to the warm apartment without losing his mother’s approval.
And here, in her apartment, sat Marina. Alone. But in her own place. Bought with her money, her labor, her sacrifices.
And for the first time in many years, she felt truly free.
In the morning, she would change the locks. Then call a lawyer — to find out how to protect herself from situations like this in the future. And also think whether it’s worth tying her life to a man who at thirty-two still can’t choose between his wife and his mother.
But that’s tomorrow. Today, she just sat in her apartment, drank tea, and thought that sometimes losing a family is the only way to save yourself.
Money, of course, isn’t the most important thing in life. But when it comes to protecting your own dignity, even an apartment can become a fortress.
And Marina was ready to defend her fortress.