Taya was browsing curtains for their new apartment on the website of her favorite little store. A few days earlier, she and her husband had come across a wonderful option: a perfect location, a convenient layout, good renovations, and almost all the furniture was included. They had managed to sign a preliminary agreement and even negotiate a discount. Now all that remained was to complete the paperwork and start moving.
For now, the couple was still living in a rented apartment, but very soon they would have their own cozy little nest. They were both overjoyed. Elena Ivanovna, Leonid’s mother, was worried and kept asking them to double-check everything to make sure the deal was clean and they would not fall into the hands of scammers.
“Mom, we’ve already checked everything,” Leonid said. “The realtor has made every possible inquiry. Stop worrying so much. Everything is fine. The apartment is clean. Taya and I just got lucky.”
“All right, if you say so. May everything work out. You deserve a home of your own.”
The couple had saved the money together. They had put aside everything they received as wedding gifts, saved every bonus they earned, and not long ago Taya’s father had sold his old garage and given the money to his daughter. They wanted to avoid taking out a mortgage so they would not have to pay outrageous interest, and most of the amount had already been collected.
They were short only five hundred thousand, but Taya’s boss had agreed to give her an installment loan and deduct a portion from her salary later. An interest-free installment plan for a valued employee felt like a blessing from heaven.
Taya smiled dreamily, but then she heard the kitchen door close slightly, and her mother-in-law began speaking in a low voice, as if afraid someone might hear her. The only problem was that Taya had always had excellent hearing. No matter how hard her mother-in-law tried to keep the conversation secret, Taya heard every word.
“Put the apartment in my name so your little wife doesn’t take it from you in a divorce! I’ve heard all kinds of stories. You work yourself to the bone, and then she’ll take half and live happily ever after.”
“I’m not the only one working,” Leonid answered calmly. “I already told you, Taya and I are contributing equally. In fact, you could even say she’s putting in more, since her father recently gave her a large sum of money.”
“Oh, what do you know?” Elena Ivanovna snapped. “You earn more, and you are the one providing for the family, not her. Listen to your mother! I would never advise you badly. The apartment must be registered in my name. You are a man, the head of the family. Besides, if you put it in my name, your wife will have a reason to adjust to our family. She won’t even think about cheating on you or divorcing you.”
Taya froze in thought. Why had her mother-in-law suddenly started talking about divorce? And why mention cheating? She and Leonid had a wonderful relationship. They loved each other and had never even considered separating or going their own ways. They were building a family life, not preparing to tear it apart later.
The young woman listened even more carefully, because she desperately wanted to know what her husband thought about it.
“All right,” Leonid said after a pause. “If that will make you feel calmer, then let’s register it in your name. I’ll talk to Taya and tell her this is the best option for us.”
“What?” Taya whispered silently, only moving her lips.
She had not expected her husband to agree. A bitter feeling settled in her chest. Did Leonid really think she would agree to something like that?
A thought immediately came to her mind: she could turn the situation around and make her husband look at the proposal from a different angle.
When her mother-in-law left, and Leonid began talking about the apartment purchase and the need to register it in his mother’s name, Taya did not start arguing.
“Why should we register it in your mother’s name?” she asked calmly.
“Well…” Leonid hesitated. “I was thinking that one apartment won’t be enough for us in the future. It would be nice to buy another one later, so the children have something too. Real estate is never unnecessary. We could take out a mortgage a little later. But no one will give us good terms if we already have an apartment registered in our names. You understand what I mean, right?”
“So that’s how it is!” Taya smiled. “And here I was already imagining all sorts of things. The option isn’t bad, of course. But why should we register it in your mother’s name? Let’s register it in my mother’s name instead.”
Taya looked at her husband with narrowed eyes. He had given her a completely different version from the one he had discussed with his mother. Had he invented it so she would not understand his true intentions? But what was the point?
“You see… Mom understands these things better. She even has a friend who’s a lawyer.”
“No,” Taya cut him off dryly. “If you’re planning to divorce me or you don’t trust me, then it’s better we don’t buy the apartment now at all than take such a step.”
“Why would you think I’m planning to divorce you or that I don’t trust you?”
Taya felt an ache in her chest. It was not only because Leonid had failed to think things through and had agreed with his mother’s suggestion. What hurt most was that he was lying now. He was trying to find ridiculous excuses and convince his wife that he was acting for their benefit, when in reality… what? He did not want to upset his mother? Or did he truly believe Taya was with him only for the salary he earned?
“I heard your conversation,” Taya said. “I heard your mother not even suggest, but demand, that the apartment be registered in her name. I don’t know what you are thinking, but I am not ready to agree to that.”
Leonid opened his mouth, but no words came out. He felt guilty. He had not been thinking about divorcing his wife, but he was used to listening to his mother in everything. Whatever Elena Ivanovna said was usually how things went. If he did anything against her wishes, he would have to listen to her hurt accusations afterward. He did not want to upset her.
Leonid saw nothing terrible in registering the apartment in his mother’s name. After all, even if a divorce ever happened, he would never leave his wife with nothing. He tried to explain this to Taya, but she refused to listen.
“Either we buy the apartment and register it in both our names, as husband and wife,” Taya said firmly, “or we give up this idea and wait for better times, when you learn to truly trust me and stop looking for betrayal where there is none.”
“All right. I’m sorry. We’ll leave everything as it is and register the apartment in both our names. I should never even have considered doing otherwise.”
Looking at her husband, Taya wondered whether he truly understood how his proposal had sounded. Or had he simply failed to resist his wife’s determination and was now thinking of ways to justify himself to his mother?
Elena Ivanovna needed to understand that she could not interfere in her son’s family. And for that, Leonid had to explain everything to her himself. If the apartment was not registered in her name now, she might try to pressure them again later and impose her opinion in some other matter. If she had already started talking about a possible divorce, would she not plant a seed of doubt in her son’s heart?
Leonid barely slept that night. He tossed and turned, stared at the ceiling, and replayed in his mind the conversation with his mother that had not yet happened but was inevitably coming. Taya slept peacefully. She had said everything she felt needed to be said, and now the decision was her husband’s to make.
Leonid loved his mother very much. He always had. He respected her deeply. Elena Ivanovna had raised him alone, without a father, giving him everything she could. Since childhood, Leonid had been used to being her support and comfort. Refusing his mother did not feel like simply disagreeing with her. To him, it felt almost like betrayal.
But losing Taya, losing her trust, losing their shared future… suddenly he realized that this frightened him in a different way. If he continued to distrust his wife and listen to his mother in the future, it could become the beginning of the end. Leonid was afraid that he and Taya might truly end up divorced one day. And he could not allow that.
The next morning at breakfast, Taya was quiet. She was not sulking, not pressuring him. She simply poured him coffee as usual, smiled, and acted as though no misunderstanding had ever come between them. And that calmness hurt Leonid almost physically. Taya trusted him, and that meant he had to protect his family and his marriage to the woman he loved.
Two days later, Elena Ivanovna arrived with pies, using the excuse that she had come to “check on them.” But Leonid noticed her sharp gaze. It slid over Taya, lingered on her a little longer than usual, then moved to him.
Taya found a reason to leave. Supposedly, she needed to go to the store because she had forgotten to buy some spices, and without them she would not be able to make the dish she had planned. The door closed behind her, and a tense silence settled in the kitchen.
“Well?” Elena Ivanovna pushed her cup aside and folded her arms across her chest. “Did you convince your wife? Are we registering the apartment in my name? She wasn’t against it, was she? She should have understood your position. What did you tell her?”
Leonid remained silent. His heart was pounding somewhere in his throat, and his palms had grown damp. He gripped the edge of the table and looked at his mother.
How many times had he seen that expression on her face? Confident, slightly impatient, unwilling to tolerate objections. And every time before, he had obeyed. Because it was easier to agree than to see her disappointed. Because she had done so much for him. Because she had always told him that a son owed his mother, that he had no right to say a word against her, that every decision she made was law.
“Mom,” Leonid said quietly. He cleared his throat and continued. “Taya and I decided that the apartment will be registered in both our names. Mine and hers.”
Elena Ivanovna froze for a second. Then her eyebrows slowly rose.
“Why did you decide that? Does she not want to listen to you at all?” Her voice dropped, and a note of displeasure appeared in it. “Lyonya, we already discussed everything. I explained what would be best. For your family’s own good! What, you don’t trust your own mother?”
“I do trust you,” Leonid said, feeling something shift inside him. A new certainty appeared within him: now was the time for decisive change. He did not want to hurt his mother, but it was important for her to understand that her son had grown up and could make decisions on his own. “I trust you very much. But Taya is my wife. We saved together, chose the apartment together, and we will live there together. Her father contributed a large amount of money to this purchase. Why should I try to take everything for myself? You’re right, Mom. I am a man. I am the head of my family. And as the head of my family, I will do everything to preserve our relationship.”
His mother pressed her lips together. Leonid could see her choosing words, preparing to say all the familiar phrases: “I devoted my life to you,” “You’ll regret this,” “She doesn’t deserve you.”
But suddenly Elena Ivanovna fell silent. She looked at her son for a long time, studying him, then frowned.
“So, you made your own decision and chose not to listen to me.”
“I’m sorry, but this is the right thing to do. Taya and I have our own family. I married this woman because I chose her and because I trust her. Taya and I love each other, and we are not planning to divorce. I’m not afraid of losing an apartment or anything else. If I think about a possible divorce, then she is the only thing I’m afraid of losing.”
Elena Ivanovna nodded and smiled.
“All right. I see that you really have grown up and are capable of making decisions on your own. If that is the case, I will no longer interfere in your family. I hope you truly understand what you are doing and are ready to take responsibility for any consequences of your decisions.”
Leonid had been afraid his mother would start a scandal, but she reacted calmly enough. She did not continue insisting that her son listen to her. She saw that his choice was truly conscious, that Taya had not simply clouded his mind, but had become the person who helped him grow up.
Elena Ivanovna was satisfied. She hoped that her son’s marriage would truly be strong, that he and Taya would be happy, and that they would always support each other. She went home and decided not to interfere in her son’s family with her advice anymore, so she would not accidentally cause harm.
Taya and Leonid registered the apartment and began their long-awaited move. They were happy, and Taya was glad that her husband had found the strength to step over his fears and choose his family, while her mother-in-law accepted his decision and did not stand in their way.
Everything turned out for the best because everyone managed to talk in time.