Maria was sitting in the kitchen in front of her laptop, checking work reports, when Yegor emerged from the room with a cup of coffee. Their evenings had become almost identical: work until late, a few words to each other, a little TV, and then work again. With each passing day, Maria felt her energy slowly draining away. But they had to keep paying for their apartment, so relaxing wasn’t an option.
The apartment they had bought in a new building initially seemed like a dream come true. Bright rooms, a large balcony, and a view of the park—it all seemed to signal a happy life ahead. But with this dream also came the burden of property payments, which quickly became their main load.
Now, their life revolved around payments, work, and saving. A vacation? Yegor would just dismiss his wife’s suggestions to take a short break: “We can’t afford it right now. Let’s just pay off our debts faster.”
They weren’t poor—their jobs allowed them to live decently, but after all the monthly payments and bills, there was little left for anything else. It was exhausting. Maria felt herself slowly burning out. There had long been no simple joys—no evening walks, trips to the movies, or dinners at restaurants. Everything was reduced to a routine from which there was no escape.
And as if that wasn’t enough, another problem darkened their life—Margarita Ivanovna, Maria’s mother-in-law. From the very beginning of their marriage, this woman had made it her duty to regularly visit her son. She came almost every week, bringing endless bags of food, which Maria thought were prepared only to highlight how poor a hostess the daughter-in-law was.
Margarita Ivanovna easily entered their home, inspecting it with the scrutiny of a professional inspector and always finding something to criticize. Maria was annoyed by everything: her comments, her looks, her manner of acting as if she owned the house, not they with Yegor.
Margarita Ivanovna looked kind, but as soon as she was alone with Yegor, she would slowly start asking her son about everything: how things were at work, why Maria came home so late, when they would finally think about having children. She especially hated how the mother-in-law could subtly yet persistently pry into personal matters.
Maria felt like an outsider in these conversations, as if it wasn’t her life being discussed, but some plot from a TV show where she played not the main role, but a secondary character. When she accidentally heard the mother-in-law asking her husband: “And how are things with money? Is it hard for you with Masha?”—she realized: the mother-in-law was not just curious; she was controlling. She needed to know what was happening in their family to have the opportunity to interfere.
Naive and loving son, Yegor saw no evil in this. He liked that his mother cared so much about him, surrounded him with attention. Maria tried several times to talk to her husband about this, but each time she faced his misunderstanding: “Come on, it’s just mom. She can be told everything, she’s not a stranger.” But Maria couldn’t come to terms with it. She felt that her personal space was gradually narrowing to the size of this apartment, in which she now did not feel “at home.”
One evening, returning from work, she noticed an unusual bustle in the kitchen. Yegor seemed to be waiting for her with some important message. He sat down next to her at the table, and without looking in her eyes, said:
“My dear, my mom will come to stay with us for a week.”
Maria looked questioningly at her husband.
“Why? She’s here every week already. What happened?”
Yegor smiled as if it were something self-evident.
“Nothing special. She just decided to stay with us for a while. She wants to spend time with us, like before. It’s just for a week.”
Maria felt everything inside her tense up. The idea of the mother-in-law living with them for a whole week only brought negative thoughts, and Maria couldn’t do anything about it. She knew that any objection would only cause a new wave of arguments with her husband. They rarely talked about their feelings, and when they did, the conversations ended in irritation and dissatisfaction. She didn’t want to aggravate the situation.
“Okay,” Maria replied shortly and tried not to think about it.
When Margarita Ivanovna appeared in their apartment with a suitcase and a casually thrown phrase: “Well, my dears, it’s cramped but no hard feelings!” Maria barely held back her irritation. The mother-in-law immediately started an “inspection”: looking into every cabinet, checking the fridge, her gaze full of the same criticism Maria felt every time they met.
From the first day, Margarita Ivanovna began to interfere in all aspects of their life. In the morning, she commented on Maria’s attire: “Don’t you have anything more respectable? Those jeans do not suit you at all.” At breakfast, the mother-in-law began pointing out the “flaws” in her cooking:
“It’s too salty, Masha. You know that Yegorik doesn’t like so much salt?”—she turned to her son, but Yegor just shook his head, unwilling to participate in the conversation.
Maria saw that her husband was avoiding conflict and simply trying not to pay attention to his mother’s words. This angered her even more. It seemed Yegor was ready to tolerate any antics from his mother, as long as she continued to demonstrate her love and care. With each passing day, the tension grew. Maria could no longer calmly watch how the mother-in-law literally conducted their lives, noting every little thing.
But one evening, when Maria returned from a particularly hard day at work, the situation in their family changed definitively. For dinner, she prepared her signature dish, which always turned out perfectly. But as soon as Margarita Ivanovna tasted it, her face contorted.
“Masha, you do realize this is completely inedible? I would have just ordered something from a restaurant if I were you. Yegorik, tell her! It’s impossible to eat!”
Maria froze, holding a fork in her hand. Inside, everything boiled up. She looked at her husband, expecting him to say something in her defense, but Yegor, as usual, just spread his hands. Her patience burst. She took her husband aside to express all her grievances.
“Egor, take your mother home. Right now,” her voice was even, but it had a steely tone.
“Mash, what’s the problem?” asked the husband, gently placing his hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Mom’s just advising, she wants to help.”
“I don’t need her help,” Maria firmly replied. “I can’t stand this meddling anymore. She has her own apartment, let her go back there.”
Egor sighed heavily.
“My mom has nowhere to return to, her house is sold. She will live with us,” declared the husband
Maria’s breath caught, and Egor continued:
“It’s all so we can pay off our apartment debt faster. It’s beneficial for both of us.”
Maria’s world collapsed. She couldn’t believe her ears. He sold his mother’s apartment and didn’t even consider it necessary to tell her?
“You… you sold her apartment?” she whispered, feeling anger rising inside her. “And didn’t consult with me?”
“Yes,” Egor casually replied, as if it were something insignificant. “We’re doing everything for our common future. Mom’s old, it’s hard for her alone. So she’ll live with us.”
That was the last straw. Maria was silent for a few seconds, gathering her thoughts, but inside everything was churning.
“I’m not going to live like this,” she said, looking straight into her husband’s eyes. “If your mother is so important to you, live with her. But I can’t take this anymore.”
Egor tried to say something, but Maria was no longer listening. With a fierce determination, she headed to the bedroom.
Maria quickly threw a few things into a suitcase, her movements were sharp, mechanical, as if she were trying to suppress the avalanche of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her from head to toe. Egor stood in the doorway of the bedroom, watching her with confusion.
“Mash, wait, where are you going? This isn’t a solution. Let’s calm down and discuss.” His voice was bewildered. He seemed not to understand how serious everything was.
“Discuss? When you sold your mother’s apartment without discussing it with me, what were you thinking? Why did you decide that you could make such decisions without me? Do we live together, or am I just an accessory to your life that you can ignore?”
Egor tried to step towards her, his voice conciliatory:
“Mash, you know I’m doing everything for us, for our future. I just wanted to make it easier for us. Mom helps us, isn’t that so bad?”
“It’s bad that you didn’t even bother to ask if I wanted to live with your mother!” her voice broke into a shout. “This is our home, and you made a decision for both of us, leaving me no choice. I’m tired of you putting her interests above ours. You always defend her, always agree with her, as if I’m nobody.”
At that moment, Margarita Ivanovna appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, crossing her arms and listening to the conversation. She was not going to stay out of it.
“What’s this scandal, Yegorka?” her voice was venomously calm. “Just look at her. Selfish. I helped you with the apartment, sacrificed my own home, and now she’s screaming. Look, son, whom you’ve brought into your life. She won’t appreciate your love or my financial support.”
Maria slowly turned to her mother-in-law. Her words pierced her most painful points. But she was no longer willing to stay silent.
“Support?” she began, barely containing her rage. “You call this support? This is not support—it’s manipulation. You decided you could control our life, interfere in everything, dictate how we should live, all under the guise of ‘care.’ But in reality, you just care that everything goes your way.”
Egor tried to intervene:
“Mash, don’t talk to my mother like that! She just wants to help us.”
“Help?—Maria sneered, almost hysterically. “Help destroy our marriage? Well, congratulations, she did it.”
This conversation further convinced Maria of the correctness of her decision. She zipped up her suitcase and, without looking at her husband, headed for the door. Egor ran after her, grabbing her hand, trying to stop her.
“Masha, wait! Don’t leave. We can resolve everything, please…”
She pulled her hand away and, without looking back, replied:
“I’m not going to live in a house where my opinion means nothing. If you’ve decided that your mother is more important than our family, then live with her. But I won’t be here anymore.”
Margarita Ivanovna smirked as she watched the unfolding scene, making no attempt to soften the situation. She apparently didn’t care that her son was losing his wife.
Maria left the apartment, slamming the door, and went down the stairs, barely holding back tears. She didn’t know where she would go, but at that moment, it didn’t matter. The main thing was to get as far away as possible.
She rented an apartment in another part of the city and in silence and solitude began to think about how she would live on. The first time was hard: a feeling of emptiness mixed with bitterness and disappointment. She couldn’t believe that the man she loved was so attached to his mother that he allowed her to destroy their marriage.
Several weeks later, they met in court to dissolve their union. The process was quick, without scandals and long clarifications. Maria insisted on selling the apartment and splitting the money equally. Egor agreed, although he did not hide his resentment. For him, this was still an unresolved conflict, which he hoped to resolve if Maria gave him a chance. But for her, their relationship was over.
When the apartment was sold, and the money was distributed between them, Maria felt she was finally free. She wasn’t rich, but she had her share, which allowed her to start a new life.
Months passed, and Maria began to regain her strength. She continued to work, but now paid more attention to herself, her rest, new hobbies. With each week, her inner state improved. Maria found joy again in simple things—in morning walks, in reading books she had long postponed, in a cup of coffee she could drink in silence and without unnecessary comments.
Egor tried to contact her several times. He left messages, called, tried to understand if anything could be fixed. But Maria had made her decision. She realized that their relationship was doomed as long as the mother-in-law interfered, and the ex-husband could not, or rather, did not want to see it. This was not just a marriage—it was a union where there was no room for her opinion, her personality. She was tired of having to fight for Egor’s attention while he constantly returned to his mother, making her the center of his life.
Maria no longer wanted to live in the shadows of other people, adjusting to their expectations. She wanted to live for herself, by her own rules, making her own decisions.
Soon she fully immersed herself in a new life. She now approached her work with a different attitude—not as a burdensome duty, but as an opportunity to realize her ideas and plans. She found new friends, traveled more, and found time for what brought her pleasure.
She no longer remembered Egor with pain. This was the stage of life that taught her to value herself. Life continued, and with each day, Maria felt stronger and more confident.
Now her future belonged only to her.