Irina brushed crumbs off the windowsill, set down a cup of green tea, and sat at her laptop. Everything in this house followed a schedule: Friday evening was “paperwork time.” Opening bills, sorting receipts, balancing expenses — a familiar ritual for an experienced accountant.
“I need to file the declaration next week,” she thought, opening electronic documents. Among the bills, contracts, and old scans, some files with unfamiliar names were mixed in. One of them was titled “Contract_2024_OnlineCredit.”
Irina frowned.
“What bank is this anyway?” she wondered, seeing the logo of an online bank in the header — one she had never used.
The file opened slowly. Irina waited patiently but already felt a troubling ache in her chest. And there it was — a standard loan agreement. Amount — 600,000 rubles. Borrower — her. At the bottom — an electronic signature generated through the “Gosuslugi” portal (a Russian government services website).
She froze. Then suddenly stood up and went to her desk to check her passport, taxpayer ID, and other data that might have “leaked.” Everything was in place.
She knew she hadn’t signed this contract. But… could someone have used her Gosuslugi account to do it?
“Only Valera knows the password…” flashed through her mind. “And I know his. We both used these logins when we needed to quickly submit applications or handle things for each other. There was… trust.”
“Valera!” she shouted, her voice trembling from the cold spreading through her body. “Did you take out a loan in my name through Gosuslugi?!”
“What? What loan?” came his distracted voice from the kitchen.
She stormed into the kitchen. Valeriy was sitting at the table, biting an apple, holding an old newspaper. He looked at her casually over his glasses.
Irina silently put the laptop in front of him. He looked at the screen, and from his eyes it was clear: he recognized it.
“Ah, that… Well, I was going to tell you. Lena needed it.”
“You used my account, Valeriy? You signed a loan agreement through my Gosuslugi access?”
He gave a crooked smile as if it was no big deal.
“Come on, Irina. We have shared access. We’ve done this hundreds of times. You would have signed it yourself if I asked.”
“But you didn’t ask! You did it behind my back!”
“Why are you so worked up? It’s just a loan. Lena’s on the edge, her business is falling apart. She has a child, she needed it…”
“I don’t care,” Irina’s voice trembled. “You forged my signature. An electronic one. Through an official portal. Without warning. Without my consent.”
“Don’t dramatize,” Valeriy got up and stepped closer. “You’re an accountant, you can handle it. You’ll calculate it, pay it off. Then Lena will pay you back.”
“She will pay me back?” Irina almost laughed. “Are you sane? I just got a notice about a missed payment! The second payment on this loan is already overdue. And no one told me!”
Valeriy awkwardly looked down.
“Well… Lena was a bit late. She had some trouble. But it’s temporary.”
Irina looked at him like he was a stranger.
“Do you even realize what you’ve done?”
He shrugged.
“I was just helping my daughter. And you… well, you would have agreed anyway. You always helped us.”
That night Irina barely slept. She lay in the dark listening to Valeriy breathing peacefully nearby. But her mind was spinning with numbers, dates, interest rates. 600,000 rubles. 18% rate. Two months overdue. Fines and penalties. All of this was now her responsibility.
In the morning she didn’t make breakfast. She just got dressed and left the house. Walking to work, she decided — she wouldn’t stay silent. Let Valeriy think she “always smooths things over.” Not this time.
At lunch she called Lena.
“Hello, Lena,” she started coldly. “I need to meet with you. In person.”
“Oh, Irina, hello! Do you want to drop by? We’re having a sale — handmade candies, new shipments…”
“No, Lena. I want to talk to you not about sweets. But about the loan you took out in my name through your dad.”
There was dead silence on the other end.
“Um… Oh, yes. He said you knew about it…”
“I found out the day before yesterday. From a bank notice about the overdue payment. Can you explain how this happened?”
Lena sighed heavily, as if interrupted from something important.
“Listen, honestly, I was swamped. I didn’t think you’d react so sharply. We’ll pay it all back. Dad promised you’d understand.”
“Understand? That you forged my signature, used my personal data, and now the bank is threatening me with a lawsuit?”
“Well, you won’t be going to court! It’s just a formality!”
“No, it’s criminal. I’m filing a police report. And if the loan isn’t re-registered to your father or to you — the bank will sue me. Then you and Valera will have to explain yourselves to the investigator.”
“Wait! Why so harsh right away? We’re family…”
“No, Lena. We’re not family. We barely know each other. You didn’t call, didn’t apologize, didn’t offer to pay it back. You just used me as a source of money.”
“I thought it was with consent!” Lena raised her voice. “Dad said you agreed, you just went through him.”
“He lied. And you knew it.”
Irina hung up.
When she returned home that evening, she found Valeriy in the kitchen. He was cooking something, carefully avoiding her gaze.
“Did you talk to Lena?” he asked casually.
“I did. She thinks I’m exaggerating. That it’s a ‘formality.’”
Valeriy glanced at her.
“Well, to some extent, it is. I knew you wouldn’t make a scandal. You always solve things. You’re strong, smart…”
“No, Valera. I’m tired of being ‘smart.’ I’m tired of being the one who cleans up everyone else’s mess.”
He put down the spoon and wiped his hands.
“Well, don’t take it public. Why the police right away? It’s between us. We’re family.”
“You use ‘family’ as a shield every time you do something wrong. Then you hide behind the word ‘family.’”
He fell silent. Fear flickered in his eyes.
“Did you file the report?”
“Not yet. I’m giving you two days. Either you re-register the loan yourself, or I go to the police.”
“And if the bank won’t allow re-registration?”
“Then we go to court. We’ll sort it out legally. I’m not paying for someone else’s schemes. Especially done behind my back.”
Two days passed in a blur. Valeriy didn’t speak to Irina, pretending everything was fine, putting a cup of coffee before her in the morning, turning up the TV at night — creating an illusion of normal life. But Irina saw he was nervous: biting his nails, pacing at night, whispering on the phone from the bathroom.
On the third day, Irina received an email from the bank. The loan was declared problematic, collection proceedings started. At the end — the phrase: “If payment is not received, the bank reserves the right to take the case to court.”
She printed the letter and left it on the kitchen table. That evening, when Valeriy entered the kitchen, his face darkened.
“What kind of person are you, Ira…” he began hoarsely. “You really decided to report me to the police? For one mistake?”
“This is not a mistake, Valeriy. This is betrayal.”
He sat down, holding his head in his hands.
“I didn’t want to… I just… didn’t know where to turn. Lena was refused, she has rent debts, her bank won’t let her in. And you… you were always reliable. I thought — what could happen to you?”
Irina looked at him and thought: “God, how many years have I heard ‘you can handle it,’ ‘you’re strong,’ ‘you’ll figure it out’…” And all that was just a cover for his cowardice.
“Tell me honestly,” she looked into his eyes. “Would you have ever told me?”
He was silent.
“I thought so.”
That night she packed his bag.
“Do you want me to leave?” he froze at the door like a condemned man.
“No. I don’t want to. I just can’t live with someone who uses me as an ATM. I’m not a bank. I’m not a government service. I’m a person.”
He stood as if rooted to the spot. Then sighed and sat back down.
“I’m not leaving. This is my apartment too. We’re married, it’s joint property.”
Irina nodded. Her face was stone.
“Fine. Then I’m leaving.”
He looked at her — and for the first time in a long while, there was no confidence in his eyes. Only confusion. He didn’t believe she really would leave.
Three days later, Irina rented a one-bedroom apartment. A colleague helped move her things. Neighbors watched with surprise as she loaded boxes into the trunk. But she felt no shame or fear. Only relief.
That evening Lena called her.
“Why did you do all this? Dad is on the edge now, staying at a friend’s, my business is on hold. You could have just helped!”
“I already helped. For years. Endless. Enough.”
“You destroyed your family!”
“No, Lena. My family is me. And I finally decided to save it.”
Three months passed.
Life in the rented one-room apartment turned out unexpectedly comfortable. No nagging, no worries, no tension. Irina felt light for the first time in a long time. In the morning — silence and sunlight through the curtain; in the evening — her favorite tea and a TV show no one switched away from for news or football. A small, cozy life of her own.
The dispute with the bank dragged on. After filing the police report, Irina received official confirmation: her electronic signature was used by someone else without consent. The bank began an investigation. Then one evening there was a knock at her door.
Valeriy stood on the threshold. Disheveled, unshaven, but not aggressive. Even strangely calm.
“Ira, I… didn’t come to argue. I talked to a lawyer. I understand everything now. Just… please withdraw the report. I’ll pay myself. Honestly.”
She looked at him for a long time. Her silence weighed heavier than any shout. Finally, she nodded:
“Only on one condition: I’m no longer involved. At all.”
“Alright,” Valeriy nodded. “I won’t touch a single kopeck of your life anymore.”
A couple of weeks later, he came again — with a suitcase.
“I’m moving to Tver. To Slavka, my brother. Remember, he invited me a long time ago? He has a business — repairs, construction. I always refused… but now I think maybe it was wrong.”
He looked down, then added:
“I’ll leave the apartment to you. I don’t want this to end in court. You invested more in it. And I… well, I really regret it.”
Irina said neither “thank you” nor “good job.” She just nodded and, after he left, for the first time in a long time took the house key with a feeling of returning to where she belonged.
The next day Lena called. The conversation was predictable.
“You destroyed everything!” she shouted into the phone. “Now no one helps me! And dad left — you kicked him out!”
“He left on his own, Lena. He’s an adult.”
“It’s hard for him! And for me too! You could have just been patient. Just understood!”
“I understood myself. And that was enough,” Irina answered quietly and hung up.
A week later, a letter from the bank arrived. An electronic notification: “Dear client! Your payment of 17,800 rubles on the loan has been successfully received. Remaining balance — 568,200 rubles. Payer: Valeriy K.”
Irina looked at the screen feeling neither joy nor anger. Only relief. Everything had fallen into place.
She returned home, opened the window. Spring was coming into its own. Voices, smells, and the hum of life came from outside. Irina put on the kettle, smiled, and thought: “Now I can live again. And finally — for myself.”