Alina stood still in front of the bedroom mirror, adjusting the folds of her blue dress. The fabric gently hugged her figure, emphasizing her waist, and the deep cut on the back gave the look an elegant touch. Tomorrow was the corporate party at the advertising agency where she worked as an art director, and she wanted to look flawless.
Maxim entered the bedroom, straightening his tie. At thirty-two, he still looked youthful, although in recent months faint wrinkles had appeared on his face — the result of constant stress at his IT company job.
“Beautiful,” he smiled, hugging his wife by the waist. “Mom should be here any minute for dinner.”
Alina felt her muscles tense involuntarily. Valentina Sergeevna came over once a week, usually with more gifts or money they hadn’t asked for but which her mother-in-law deemed necessary.
The doorbell rang exactly on schedule. Valentina Sergeevna was never late.
“Maximochka!” the woman in an elegant gray suit entered the hallway, holding a bag from an expensive store. “Alinochka, dear.”
The kiss on the cheek was formal, obligatory. In five years of marriage, Alina had never learned to decipher these gestures from her mother-in-law — whether they were sincere or not.
“I brought you a certificate to the hardware store,” Valentina Sergeevna handed over an envelope. “For fifty thousand. It’s time to think about fixing the bathroom; I saw the tiles coming off.”
“Mom, you didn’t have to,” Maxim began, but his mother waved him off.
“Nonsense. Money must work.” She looked around the apartment that Alina had inherited from her parents. A three-room flat in a good neighborhood, with high ceilings and parquet floors. “By the way, Alina, do you have something new?”
Alina involuntarily touched a silver necklace with a natural stone.
“Yes, I saw it on the marketplace and liked it.”
“I see.” There was a barely perceptible note of disapproval in her mother-in-law’s voice. “How much did it cost, no secret?”
“Mom,” Maxim tried to intervene, but Alina answered already:
“Three thousand.”
Valentina Sergeevna nodded as if confirming something to herself.
“I see. Maxim told me you’re thinking about a summer house. I saw a great option in Sosnovka — six hundred square meters, the house needs repair, but the location is excellent.”
“We haven’t decided yet,” Alina said cautiously.
“You need to decide faster. Good options don’t wait. I’m ready to help with the down payment if needed.”
Alina felt uncomfortable. Valentina Sergeevna worked as a chief accountant at a large company and earned well, but still not enough to throw money around so easily. Although maybe she had savings.
“Thank you, Mom, but we can manage ourselves,” Maxim said.
“Of course, you can. If, of course, you set your priorities right.”
After the mother-in-law left, a tense silence hung in the apartment.
“Did she mean my purchases?” Alina asked.
“Don’t pay attention. Mom is just worried.”
“Worried about what, Max? That I spend my own money on myself?”
“Our money,” he corrected. “And she thinks we need to save.”
“And I think we need to live. We both work, we don’t have children yet, we can afford small pleasures.”
Maxim was silent, but Alina saw the mother’s words stuck in his head.
The next day, getting ready for the corporate party, Alina felt more confident. The blue dress fit perfectly, the hairstyle was successful, and the new silver earrings completed the look. She was taking a selfie in the mirror when the doorbell rang.
Valentina Sergeevna stood at the threshold with a forced smile.
“May I come in? Maxim asked me to give him some documents.”
Alina let her mother-in-law in, but her gaze immediately stopped on Alina’s outfit.
“What is this?”
“A dress. For the corporate party.”
“I see it’s a dress. The question is — are you going to work looking like this?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
Valentina Sergeevna stepped closer, critically examining her daughter-in-law.
“Alina, you’re a married woman. Such a back cut, such a length… What will people think?”
“What people, Valentina Sergeevna? My colleagues? They think I look good.”
“And have you thought about your husband? About his reputation?”
Alina felt indignation boiling inside her.
“What reputation? Maxim doesn’t work at my company, and my clothes don’t affect his career.”
“They do, very much! Everyone in the city knows each other. They’ll see Maxim Vorontsov’s wife walking around like this, and what will they say?”
“They’ll say she has good taste and takes care of herself.”
“They’ll say she’s frivolous and doesn’t think about her family.”
“Valentina Sergeevna, with all due respect, this is my clothing, my choice, and my life.”
Her mother-in-law straightened up, something cold flashing in her eyes.
“Your life? And the family? And the husband? Or do you think you can do whatever you want because you live in your apartment, inherited from your parents?”
“What does the apartment have to do with it?”
“The fact is that family is not only rights but duties. Including the duty to think about how you look in the eyes of others.”
“I look fine.”
“Go change.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Change into something decent.”
Alina couldn’t believe her ears.
“Valentina Sergeevna, you can’t order me what to wear.”
“I can. As the elder in the family, as the mother-in-law. Go change, or I’ll call Maxim.”
“Call.”
They stood facing each other in the small hallway, and Alina felt a war unfolding between them that had been brewing for a long time.
“Fine,” Valentina Sergeevna took out her phone. “Maxim? Yes, it’s me. Your wife is going to the corporate party in an indecent dress. Almost naked. Yes, I talked to her, but she won’t listen.”
Alina heard her husband’s muffled voice on the phone.
“No, Maxim, it’s not okay. It’s a matter of respect for the family. Okay, talk to her yourself.”
Ten minutes later Maxim was home. He entered, looked at his wife, then at his mother.
“What’s the problem?”
“Look at her,” Valentina Sergeevna pointed at Alina. “Is this appropriate for a married woman?”
Maxim was silent for a long time, studying his wife with his eyes.
“The dress is beautiful,” he said cautiously at last.
“Maxim!” his mother protested.
“But maybe for a corporate party it really is… too much?”
Alina felt her world collapse. Maxim, her husband, took his mother’s side.
“So you also think I look indecent?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“What did you say then?”
“Lina, let’s not have a scandal. Maybe, really, you should change? You do have that black dress, the strict one.”
Maxim helplessly looked at his mother, then at his wife.
“Lina, please.”
“Please what? Please listen to Mom? Please don’t have your own opinion? Please live the way everyone but me wants?”
“Alina,” Valentina Sergeevna’s voice was stern, “don’t throw a tantrum. We ask you for basic decency.”
“And I ask you for basic respect for my boundaries.”
“What boundaries?” the mother-in-law sneered. “You live in a family, and all decisions are made together.”
“Including clothing choices?”
“Including everything that concerns the family’s reputation.”
Alina looked at her husband. He stood between them, clearly tormented but silent.
“Fine,” she said finally. “I’ll change.”
She went to the bedroom, took off the blue dress, and hung it in the closet. The black dress really was strict — long sleeves, high collar, length below the knee. Perfect for the office, completely unsuitable for a party.
When she returned, Valentina Sergeevna nodded with satisfaction.
“That’s much better. Decent and tasteful.”
Alina remained silent. At the corporate party, she felt like a gray mouse among brightly dressed colleagues but smiled and pretended everything was fine.
At home, the conversation she feared awaited.
“Lina, are you not angry?” Maxim asked when they were alone.
“Should I be?”
“Mom is just worried.”
“Worried about what, Max? Seriously, explain.”
“Well… she thinks we spend too much on nonsense.”
“What nonsense?”
“Your cosmetics, clothes. She says we need to save for the summer house.”
“What do you think?”
Maxim hesitated.
“I think Mom isn’t always right, but… maybe we should be more economical?”
“Economical in what? I spend my own money, Max. The money I earn.”
“Our money,” he repeated. “We’re a family…”
In the following days, the atmosphere at home was tense. Alina and Maxim talked about work, about everyday matters, but avoided serious topics. And a week later Valentina Sergeevna came again.
“Maxim, I wanted to talk to you,” she said, sitting on the couch. “Alone.”
Alina, washing dishes in the kitchen, heard the words and felt a prick of anxiety.
“Mom, we can talk with Lina present.”
“No, Maxim. This concerns your future.”
Alina turned off the water and listened.
“Son, I thought a lot after that dress incident,” Valentina Sergeevna’s voice sounded serious. “And I realized we’re approaching your relationship the wrong way.”
“In what way?”
“In terms of money. I constantly help you, give money, buy gifts. And Alina takes it for granted and spends even more on her whims.”
“Mom, that’s not true.”
“Maxim, in the last month she bought three dresses, a new bag, cosmetics for five thousand. I counted.”
Alina froze. The mother-in-law was monitoring her purchases?
“How do you know?”
“She tells herself. Brags about her purchases on social media. And then wonders why I consider her wasteful.”
“Mom, Lina has a good salary.”
“A good salary is no reason to throw money away. Especially when you need to save for the summer house.”
“We haven’t decided about the summer house yet.”
“Maxim, you’re a man, head of the family. You must make decisions. And the wife must support them, not spend money on clothes.”
Alina quietly moved closer to the door to hear better.
“I think this,” Valentina Sergeevna continued. “It’s time for Alina to take more responsibility. Let her pay her own expenses. Rent, utilities, groceries. And you will save for the summer house.”
“Mom, it’s her apartment.”
“So what? You’re her husband, you live here. But if she wants to be independent, let her be independent in everything.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Understand this, Maxim. If Alina thinks she can spend money as she wants, let her earn everything herself. And you save money for the summer house. We’ll put it in my name to avoid problems in case of divorce.”
“What divorce?”
“Maxim, you’ve seen how she behaves. Doesn’t listen to elders, spends money on nonsense, dresses provocatively. This isn’t a wife, this is a child.”
“Mom, you’re unfair.”
“I’m realistic. Make her understand that money should be earned, not spent. Maybe then she’ll become more responsible.”
Alina heard her son’s long silence.
“I don’t know, Mom.”
“Maxim, I am your mother. I want the best for you. If you don’t put your wife in her place now, it will be too late later.”
“Okay,” Maxim said quietly. “I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t think. Do. Tell her today.”
After his mother left, Maxim was gloomy and withdrawn. Alina pretended she hadn’t heard anything, but inside everything boiled.
In the evening, sitting in front of the TV, Maxim suddenly muted the sound.
“Lina, we need to talk.”
“About what?”
“About money.”
“What about money?”
“Mom said you have to pay your own bills,” the husband blurted out to his stunned wife and immediately regretted his words.
“What did you say?”
“Mom thinks that since you spend money on yourself, you should pay for the apartment yourself. And for groceries. And utilities.”
“Mom said that?”
“Well… we talked, and she said it would be fair. Lina, just don’t get upset. Mom just thinks we should be more economical.”
“And what do you think?”
“I… I guess she’s right. We need to save for the summer house.”
“For a summer house that will be in your mother’s name?”
Maxim looked at her in surprise.
“How do you know?”
“Doesn’t matter. Maxim, do you understand what’s happening?”
“What’s happening?”
“Your mother controls our family. Decides what I wear, how to spend money, where to live.”
“She doesn’t control. She gives advice.”
“Advice? Maxim, she made me change clothes. Now she demands I pay for my own apartment. What next?”
“Lina, don’t exaggerate.”
Alina got up from the couch.
“Maxim, I want you to answer honestly. Who is more important to you — me or your mother?”
“How can you compare? She’s my mother, you’re my wife.”
“Answer me.”
“Lina, don’t put me to choose.”
“I’m not putting you to choose. Life is. And you already chose.”
“What do you mean?”
Alina went to the bedroom, took a suitcase from the closet, and began packing men’s clothes.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing your things.”
“Lina, don’t.”
“Maxim, I’m asking you to move out. Live with your mother. Think carefully about whom you choose. Me or her.”
“Are you kicking me out?”
“I’m giving you the chance to choose consciously, not under pressure.”
“Lina, this is foolish.”
“Foolish? Maxim, your mother wants me to pay for my own apartment and put the summer house in her name. Don’t you see anything strange here?”
Maxim sat on the bed, watching his wife fold his shirts.
“Lina, stop. We can talk everything out.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. You made your choice when you agreed to pass on your mother’s demands. And not even as yours, but straight — ‘Mom said so.'”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Tell me, who will decide what we do next?”
Maxim was silent.
“There’s your answer,” Alina closed the suitcase. “Live with Mom. Think about whom you choose. If you choose me — welcome home. If her — so be it.”
“Lina, are you serious?”
“More than serious.”
Maxim took the suitcase and stood in the doorway.
“How much time do I have?”
“As long as you need. I’m in no hurry. I just want you to make an honest choice.”
“Okay.”
After he left, Alina sat on the bed and cried. Not out of pity for herself, but out of relief. For the first time in a long time, she felt she controlled her life.
The first days were hard. The apartment felt too big and empty. Alina worked from morning to night, met friends, read, watched movies. But every evening she thought about Maxim.
On the fifth day he came.
“May I come in?”
“Of course.”
Maxim entered the living room and put the suitcases by the couch.
“I thought. Thought a lot.”
“And?”
“You were right. Mom really tried to control our family.”
“Tried?”
“Controlled. And I let her.”
“Why?”
“Because it was easier. No arguing, no conflict. Doing what she says.”
“And now?”
“Now I understand that I’m not a son who must obey his mother. I’m a husband who must protect his family.”
“And what do you choose?”
“You. Us. Our family.”
Alina approached him.
“And Mom?”
“Mom will remain Mom. I will love and respect her. But we will make decisions about our life ourselves.”
“And the summer house?”
“If we want a summer house — we’ll buy it. With our own money, in our own name.”
“And the help?”
“If Mom wants to help — please. But without conditions and without a say in our affairs.”
Alina hugged her husband.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Forgive me.”
“For what?”
“For letting Mom come between us. For not protecting you.”
“It won’t happen again?”
“Never.”
“And what next?”
“Next, we’ll live our own life. Love each other, make plans, raise children when they come.”
“And Mom?”
“Mom will learn to accept our choice. Or won’t. That’s her right.”
“Are you ready for the possibility that your relationship with her may worsen?”
“Lina, I’m ready for the relationship with Mom to change. But I’m not ready to lose you.”
Alina smiled.
On Saturday, they went to the theater. Alina wore the blue dress, and Maxim wore a dark suit. They held hands, laughed, and felt happy.