Kirill walked into the apartment and immediately heard his six-month-old son Artem crying. The place was dark and quiet; he had no idea where his wife Alisa was.
Quickly shrugging off his coat and shoes, he headed straight to the baby’s room.
“Easy, easy, Daddy’s here,” he soothed the little one, picking him up. “Where’s our mom, huh?”
Artem gradually calmed down and was already smiling at his dad. Seeing that the baby had stopped crying, Kirill took out his phone and dialed his wife’s number.
“The subscriber is unavailable,” he heard in response.
Another man might have gotten worried: after all, the baby was only six months old, and his wife had disappeared somewhere. But instead of worry, Kirill felt anger.
Apparently, not everyone is given a maternal instinct. Alisa had always been rather selfish, loved herself a little too much. But she was striking, beautiful, quite witty, and Kirill had fallen under her spell. Over time, he started to realize that Alisa wasn’t exactly the heroine of his dreams. She was fun to spend time with, but he wanted to build a family with someone who valued a cozy home, who would support and understand him. Alisa, however, saw only her own benefit in everything, and preferred to talk mostly about herself.
But, apparently sensing his doubts, Alisa suddenly announced that she was pregnant.
“How is that possible?” Kirill had been stunned back then. “You’re on the pill.”
“Well, they’re not a hundred percent guarantee,” she shrugged. “Looks like something went wrong.”
He was sure she had planned it all. But Kirill wanted this child, and he even made peace with the deception. He married Alisa because she insisted the baby had to be born in wedlock.
He also believed that once their little son was born, Alisa would rethink her priorities. After all, women are supposed to have that famous maternal instinct. That’s what he thought at the time, at least. And now he understood how wrong he had been.
At first, Kirill thought Alisa had postpartum depression. She was in no hurry to go to the baby when he cried, and immediately refused to breastfeed him, saying she didn’t want to ruin her figure.
But Artem grew, and Alisa kept behaving as if the baby was nothing more than an annoying obstacle to her peaceful life.
Most of the time it was Kirill who got up at night, even though he had to work in the morning. During the whole week Alisa might not take the baby out for a walk even once, claiming it was inconvenient for her. Whenever Kirill was at home, she hurried to run off somewhere. To meet her girlfriends, go shopping, whatever. The whole time she was gone, she never once called, never asked how her son was. She just calmly enjoyed herself. Sometimes she would come home at dawn—and drunk on top of that.
Of course, Kirill tried to talk to her, but Alisa just snapped back.
“You try sitting here, locked up within four walls! And before that, waddle around for nine months like an elephant! Once you’ve been through all that, then you can complain to me,” she would say, thinking these were solid arguments.
But to leave the baby alone like this… Maybe she had done it before too; Kirill just hadn’t known. Today he’d come home from work early—apparently, Alisa never imagined she might get caught.
Kirill hoped she had just stepped out for a couple of minutes. Who knows, maybe she’d had to quickly buy something at the store. Although there are deliveries for that.
But Alisa came back only an hour later—and who knew how long ago she’d actually left.
She was met by Kirill with the baby in his arms. One look at his face was enough to see how furious he was.
“Where have you been?”
“Why are you home so early?” Alisa immediately asked instead.
“Well… That’s just how it worked out. I come in, and you’re gone. Artem is crying.”
“He was supposed to sleep for two hours. It’s not my fault he sleeps so little,” she shrugged.
“So where were you? What made you leave the baby?!” Kirill was already starting to lose it.
“Oh, don’t start! Nothing happened to him,” Alisa walked past them. “I just needed to get out and walk a bit!”
“How could you leave the baby?!” Kirill followed her. “What kind of mother are you? Do you really not worry at all?”
“Oh my God! Just get off my back! Let me breathe! What is there to worry about? Where’s he going to go?”
“He’s scared, don’t you understand?” Kirill barked.
“Whatever, it’ll toughen his character…”
Kirill looked at his wife and realized this was the end. He shouldn’t have married her at all. They could have had the child without the marriage. But Alisa had insisted back then.
“I can’t do this anymore…” he shook his head. “I’m divorcing you.”
Alisa spun around sharply and stared at him.
“Are you serious? Because I went for a little one-hour walk?”
“Because of everything. You’re a disgusting wife and mother…”
“Oh please, as if you’re perfect! Kir, calm down. Stop throwing a tantrum. If you’re so mad, I won’t leave the baby alone anymore.”
“His name is Artem,” the man said quietly. “You could at least call your son by his name. And I’m not throwing a tantrum, my patience has run out. Divorce, Alisa.”
Oh, how Alisa screamed! She threatened him, raged, begged. And in the end she declared that she would take Artem then.
“You don’t need your son,” Kirill shook his head.
“No, but you do. You want to keep the kid, then pay.”
It was so disgusting that Kirill even felt nauseous. But he knew his wife would stand on principle. And he didn’t want to leave his son in danger.
“Fine, we’ll make a deal. But in court the child’s place of residence will be determined with me. If you ever want to visit him…”
“I won’t,” Alisa cut him off. “But you must meet all my demands.”
It felt like blackmail. Actually, that’s exactly what it was. But Kirill didn’t have many options, and he agreed.
He was fairly well-off and could afford a lot. That’s why Alisa felt bold enough to push him. She forced him to give her one of his apartments, buy her a car, and hand over a pretty large sum of money. In exchange, she told the court she did not object to the child living with his father.
Kirill hired a nanny. And once mom was no longer around, Artem actually became more cheerful. The man had suspected his son was afraid of his own mother, and now he was sure of it.
And just when he thought it was all over, Alisa showed up again.
“I’ve been thinking, you should be paying me child support,” she announced.
“Why’s that? I’ve already given you enough!”
“Because I gave birth to your child!”
“Yes, but he lives with me.”
“And you should thank me for that too. So, you’ll be forking over a certain amount every month, and then everyone will be happy.”
Kirill didn’t say anything. When Alisa left, he went to see a lawyer.
She’d gone too far. The first time he’d let it slide, thinking it would be easier to settle everything peacefully, without scandals. But apparently Alisa decided she could do whatever she wanted. She was wrong.
On the lawyer’s advice, Kirill took footage from the security cameras showing Alisa leaving the child alone. He also collected all the receipts showing that Alisa hadn’t contributed a single ruble. And he met with her again and recorded their conversation.
The woman never imagined her ex-husband would go that far. She thought she could twist him around her little finger. So she repeated her demands again, more than once mentioning that she would take away the child she didn’t even want if Kirill didn’t agree to her terms.
You can imagine Alisa’s surprise when she was summoned to court. And then stripped of her parental rights and ordered to pay child support for her son.
Alisa threw such a tantrum that they had to escort her out of the courtroom. She threatened Kirill, threatened her own son. She still didn’t know that soon her ex-husband would throw her out of the apartment, since it still hadn’t been legally transferred to her. And he would also take back the car, which was registered in his name. The only thing he couldn’t reclaim was the money he’d given her the first time.
Alisa, of course, tried to cause trouble, but after a conversation with the police present, she backed off.
She never paid any child support, simply because she didn’t work. But Kirill didn’t continue to escalate the conflict anymore; he simply stepped back. Let her live how she wants—as long as she stays away from him and Artem.
Two years later, Kirill married a very sweet, home-loving girl who accepted his son warmly. And after some time, Artem started calling her “Mom.”
Kirill was glad his little boy didn’t remember the time when his biological mother was around. There was nothing good in those memories anyway.