Galina was standing by the mailbox, flipping through the papers. The usual routine—utility bills, ads, some certificates. Then she stopped at an envelope from Rosreestr. Strange. They hadn’t filed anything.
She opened it. Read it. Read it again. Her world turned upside down.
“Seryozha!” she shouted, bursting into the apartment. “Seryozha, where are you?”
Her husband poked his head out of the kitchen with a sandwich in his hand.
“Why are you yelling? The neighbors will hear.”
“I don’t care!” Galya waved the document. “Explain to me what this is!”
Sergey went pale. The sandwich slipped from his hands.
“It’s… well…” he hesitated. “Listen, Gal, it’s hard to explain.”
“Hard?” her voice cracked. “The apartment belongs to your mother now! When did you manage to pull that off?”
“Don’t shout like that…”
“I will shout! I’ve lived in this apartment for twenty years! I pasted wallpaper, changed the floors, remodeled the kitchen! And you just went and transferred everything to your mom!”
Sergey backed toward the wall.
“Galya, wait… She’s my mother. She won’t throw us out.”
“Your mother?” Galina almost choked with indignation. “And who am I—some random woman off the street?”
“Don’t exaggerate.”
“Exaggerate? Are you out of your mind? When did you do it? I was supposed to sign!”
Sergey was silent, rubbing crumbs between his fingers.
“Seryozha, I’m asking you. When?”
“Last month,” he whispered.
“How last month? I didn’t sign anything!”
“Well… it turns out you don’t always need the spouse’s consent.”
Galina sank into a chair. Her legs gave out.
“So now I’m basically homeless in my own apartment?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Mom is kind. She understands.”
“Understands what?” Galya jumped up. “That you dumped me? You decided to secure yourself in case of divorce?”
Sergey flinched.
“What does divorce have to do with it?”
“Nothing at all!” she laughed hysterically. “You just felt like giving your mom a nice little present. Out of the goodness of your heart!”
“Galya, calm down…”
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do!” She jabbed a finger into his chest. “You’re a traitor! A snake in the grass!”
“It’s only temporary…”
“Temporary? And what—your mom will transfer it back later? To me?”
Sergey looked away.
“Well… we’ll… see.”
Galina understood everything. Her husband had sold her out—completely and irrevocably. Twenty years of marriage, renovations, loans, sleepless nights with a sick child—down the drain. With one stroke of a pen he had crossed her out of his life.
“You… you do realize I won’t let this go, right?” she hissed.
“And what are you going to do?” Sergey grew a little bolder. “The documents are legal.”
“Legal?” Galina grabbed the paper. “I’m going to a lawyer right now! We’ll see how ‘legal’ it is!”
“Waste your money,” Sergey shrugged. “You still won’t prove anything.”
Galya rushed out and slammed the door so hard plaster dust fell from the ceiling.
“A deed of gift, you say?” lawyer Andrey Mikhailovich turned the document in his hands. “Yes, it’s prepared correctly. But you’re saying the apartment was privatized jointly?”
“Yes! In 2004! Me, my husband, and our son Kostya!”
“And where are the privatization papers?”
“They’re at home. Seryozha always hid the documents.”
“Bring them tomorrow. Without them I can’t say anything.”
Galina sprinted home. Sergey wasn’t there. She tore through closets, drawers, storage cabinets. Finally she found a folder in his desk. She pulled out the privatization papers and froze.
The apartment was registered to all three of them:
Galina Petrovna Morozova — one-third share,
Sergey Ivanovich Morozov — one-third,
Konstantin Sergeyevich Morozov — one-third.
“So not all is lost,” she muttered.
“Kostya, it’s Mom.”
“Hi, Mom. What happened?”
“Come over urgently. Your father is breaking the law.”
“Drinking again?”
“Worse. He signed the apartment over to your grandmother.”
Kostya fell silent.
“How?”
“Like this! He secretly made a gift deed. Now I’m supposed to live in my own home only by someone’s mercy!”
“Mom, what about my share?”
“Exactly! Your share didn’t go anywhere! He could only gift his part!”
“Got it. I’ll come tomorrow.”
“Look,” the lawyer said, spreading the documents on the table. “Under privatization, each of you has one-third. Your husband drew up a gift deed for the entire apartment, but legally he could transfer only his own share.”
“So…?”
“So right now, one-third belongs to you, one-third to your son, and one-third to your mother-in-law.”
“And does Sergey know that?”
“I doubt it. Otherwise he wouldn’t have taken such a risk.”
Kostya leaned toward his mother.
“So we can pin him down?”
“You can,” the lawyer nodded. “The gift deed was drawn up incorrectly. Your husband had no right to dispose of other people’s shares. That’s a violation.”
“So what do we do?”
“File a lawsuit. Demand that the gift deed be canceled as it relates to your shares.”
“And he won’t find out?”
“He’ll find out when he gets the court summons.”
Galina rubbed her hands together.
“Perfect. Let him worry for a change.”
They came home in the evening. Sergey was sitting in the kitchen, gloomy.
“So, did you get advice?” he asked.
“We did,” Galina answered calmly. “Kostya, say hello to your dad.”
“Hi,” the son nodded. “I heard you evicted us all.”
“I didn’t evict anyone!” Sergey jumped up. “The apartment stays in the family!”
“In what family?” Kostya smirked. “Grandma has her own family now?”
“Don’t get smart!”
“What’s there to get smart about? You shoved Mom and me out onto the street.”
“Kostya’s right,” Galina cut in. “We’re tenants in your mother’s place now.”
“Oh, stop it!” Sergey waved his hands. “Mom won’t kick anyone out!”
“And if she does?” Kostya asked. “Then what?”
“She won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Sergey didn’t answer. Galina sat down across from him.
“Seryozha, did you tell your mother that you didn’t give her the entire apartment?”
He went pale.
“What are you talking about?”
“About the fact that my share and Kostya’s share are still ours.”
“What share?” he tried to look surprised.
“Don’t pretend. When we privatized, the three of us became owners. You could only gift your one-third.”
Sergey swallowed.
“That… that’s not certain…”
“It’s very certain,” Kostya said. “Tomorrow we’re going to court.”
“Court?” Sergey shot up. “For what?”
“For deception,” Galina replied. “You listed the entire apartment in the gift deed, but you only had rights to one-third.”
“But… but…”
“No ‘buts.’ You’ll explain it to the judge.”
Sergey paced around the kitchen like a trapped animal.
“Galya, why court? Let’s settle this as a family.”
“As a family?” she snorted. “Was it ‘as a family’ when you secretly filed paperwork behind my back?”
“Mom’s right,” Kostya pulled out his phone. “Dad, did you even think what you were doing?”
“I did! I was thinking about you! About the family!”
“What family?” Galina stood up. “You betrayed us!”
“I didn’t betray anyone!”
“Then why did you hide it? Why didn’t you say you were going to gift the apartment to your mother?”
Sergey stopped, wiped sweat from his forehead.
“I… I thought you wouldn’t understand.”
“Wouldn’t understand what—that you wanted to dump me?”
“Galya, what does dumping you have to do with it? We’re not getting divorced!”
“And if we do?”
“We won’t!”
“How do you know? Maybe I’ve already decided!”
Sergey turned even paler.
“Are you serious?”
“What do you think—after a ‘present’ like this?”
Kostya put his phone away.
“Dad, does Grandma know she didn’t get the whole apartment?”
“What does Grandma have to do with it?”
“Everything. She thinks she’s the full owner now. But in reality, only one-third is hers.”
“It’s… temporary…”
“What’s temporary?” Galina leaned toward him. “That you lied to her?”
“I didn’t lie!”
“Seryozha, she really believed she got everything! What happens when she learns the truth?”
Sergey sat down and buried his head in his hands.
“She won’t.”
“She will!” Kostya slapped the table. “When we file in court, all the documents will come out!”
“Why do you need court? Let’s figure it out ourselves!”
“How exactly?” Galina asked. “You already ‘figured us out’ once.”
In the morning Galina went to her mother-in-law. Lidiya Pavlovna opened the door in her housecoat.
“Galya? Why so early?”
“Lidiya Pavlovna, we need to talk.”
“Come in, I’ll put the kettle on.”
They sat in the kitchen. The old woman fussed with cups.
“Seryozha told you about the apartment?” Galina asked.
“He did. Such a good son. Caring.”
“And did he explain that he didn’t give you the whole apartment?”
Lidiya Pavlovna stopped.
“How not the whole?”
“Like this—only his one-third. My share and Kostya’s share are still ours.”
“I don’t understand…”
Galina pulled out the papers and showed her the privatization documents.
“Look. We privatized it together, the three of us. So each has one-third. Sergey could gift only his part.”
Her mother-in-law took the documents and turned them over in her hands.
“But Sergey said the whole apartment is mine now.”
“He was mistaken. Or he lied.”
“Why would he lie?”
Galina shrugged.
“Ask him.”
Lidiya Pavlovna put the papers aside.
“So what happens now?”
“Nothing special. We live as we did. Only now you have one-third, I have one-third, Kostya has one-third.”
“And what if I don’t want that one-third?”
“Why not?”
“What do I need it for?” the old woman waved her hands. “I live in my own apartment! I don’t need someone else’s!”
Galina was surprised. She hadn’t expected that reaction.
“Lidiya Pavlovna, did Sergey tell you why he did the gift deed?”
“He said it was better. For the family.”
“For what family?”
“Well… for ours…”
“And did you consider he might be planning to leave me?”
Her mother-in-law flinched.
“Leave you? But you’re not even fighting!”
“Not fighting?” Galina laughed. “He deceived me, filed documents in secret! Isn’t that a fight?”
“But he was trying for the family…”
“For the family? Then why hide it? Why not tell me?”
The old woman looked lost, tugging at the edge of her robe.
“I don’t know… Sergey knows better…”
“Sergey doesn’t know a lot,” Galina replied dryly. “For example, he doesn’t know he deceived you too.”
“Me?”
“You. He promised you the whole apartment, but he could only give you one-third.”
Lidiya Pavlovna was quiet for a moment.
“So what will happen now?”
“Nothing special. Kostya and I will file in court. We’ll cancel the gift deed as it relates to our shares. You’ll be left with only Sergey’s one-third.”
“Can it be canceled at all?”
Galina looked at her closely.
“It can—if you want it to.”
“I do,” the old woman said softly. “I don’t need that one-third. Just trouble.”
Galina returned home buoyant. Sergey was on the couch, biting his nails.
“Seryozha, your mom wants to cancel the gift deed.”
He sprang up.
“Cancel it—how?”
“Like this. She says she doesn’t need a third of the apartment. It only creates problems.”
“She can’t! The documents are already registered!”
“She can. Tomorrow we’re going to the notary. She’ll sign a refusal.”
“Galya, wait!” Sergey grabbed her hand. “Let’s think it through!”
“Think what through?” she yanked her hand away. “You made this mess—now deal with it.”
“But I was doing it for the family!”
“For what family?” Galina sat down across from him. “The one where a husband deceives his wife?”
“I didn’t deceive you! I just… protected myself…”
“Protected yourself from what? From me?”
Sergey stayed silent.
“Seryozha, you do understand we can’t live together after this.”
“Why not?” he panicked. “Galya, don’t dramatize!”
“I’m not dramatizing. I just realized I can’t stay on the same road with you.”
“You’re going to file for divorce?”
“What do you think?”
A week later the paperwork was ready. Lidiya Pavlovna refused the gift deed. The apartment returned to its previous status: three equal shares.
“Mom, what about Dad now?” Kostya asked.
“I’m divorcing him. I can’t live with someone who betrayed me.”
“And the apartment?”
“We’ll divide it through the courts. My third and your third stay in the family. His third will be divided by the court.”
Kostya thought for a moment.
“Mom, maybe we should register my share to the kids?”
“To Masha and Vova?”
“Yeah. Let them have housing. I’m fine renting for now.”
Galina smiled.
“Good idea. Masha is growing up—she’ll need her own room soon.”
Sergey walked around these last few days darker than a storm cloud.
“Galya, you can’t do this! Twenty years together!”
“You can,” she replied calmly. “You made your choice.”
“I’ll change!”
“Too late. Trust is gone.”
“But where am I supposed to go?”
“Move in with your mom. She has a two-room place—there’s space.”
“And the apartment?”
“The court will decide. You’ll get your part—sell it, buy yourself something.”
A month later the divorce was finalized. Sergey got rights to one-sixth of the apartment. The rest went to Galina.
“Mom, do you regret it?” Kostya asked.
“Regret what—learning the truth?”
“Well… the marriage…”
Galina looked out the window.
“You know, I thought about it for a long time. Maybe twenty years really is a pity. But then I understood: what kind of marriage is it if a husband hides things from his wife?”
“He was probably scared.”
“Scared of what—me?” she smirked. “If you’re afraid of your wife, why did you marry her?”
Kostya transferred his share to his children. Masha jumped up and down with joy.
“Grandma Galya, does that mean this is my room now?”
“Yours, sweetheart. Yours and Vova’s.”
“And Grandpa Sergey won’t come anymore?”
“He won’t. He lives separately now.”
“Why?”
“Because he lied. And nobody likes liars.”
Masha nodded seriously.
“Got it. And we’ll live honestly?”
“We will,” Galina smiled. “We definitely will.”
That evening she sat in the kitchen drinking tea. For the first time in many years, she felt calm. No one was lying, hiding documents, or making secret plans.
The phone rang. Sergey.
“Galya, maybe you’ll think again? I really will change.”
“Seryozha, it’s already decided. Live your life.”
“But I love you!”
“And I don’t love you anymore. I’m sorry.”
She hung up and turned off her phone. Tomorrow was a new day. A new life. An honest life.
Galina finished her tea and went to bed—quietly, without looking back at the past