After lunch, Vera was getting ready to take her son out for a walk when she noticed that her phone was almost dead. She needed to bring a portable charger, so she began looking through their things. That was when she spotted a sheet of paper folded in half. It bore the logo of a private clinic and Sasha’s name.
Vera unfolded the document without thinking.
“Genetic examination to establish biological relationship.”
Below it was the name of her eight-month-old son. She reread the title, then checked the date. The test had been performed three months earlier.
So stunned by what she had found, Vera rushed out of the room, thrust the DNA test in front of her husband, and demanded:
“Sasha, what is the meaning of this?!”
The first time Vera met her future mother-in-law, she immediately knew that they would never become friends. Viktoria Yegorovna tried to appear pleasant, but her true nature was easy to see beneath the surface politeness.
 
“Do you have a university degree? What do your parents do? Are they preparing a dowry in case you and Sasha get married? Perhaps they have a spare apartment, so the two of you won’t have to rent?” the woman asked with such a calm expression that Vera instantly understood what she was trying to find out.
Rather than avoiding the subject, Vera answered directly:
“I do have a degree, although, to be honest, it has never been particularly useful to me. My parents are ordinary people. They don’t own any extra property, and there won’t be a dowry either. So if your son proposes to me, we’ll build our family from the ground up—as equal partners.”
Viktoria Yegorovna detected the chill in her future daughter-in-law’s voice and did not ask any more questions of that kind. However, Vera later discovered that the woman had considerable influence over her son, even though she initially refused to believe it.
“Do you honestly think she’ll let you live in peace?” Vera’s friend asked after hearing about her first encounter with Alexander’s mother.
“How could she possibly interfere?”
“There are plenty of ways. Do you really think Sasha doesn’t listen to her?”
“If he did, we would have broken up by now. His mother clearly didn’t like me,” Vera replied with a laugh.
“You’re still in the honeymoon stage of your relationship. Once you get married, things will change. I doubt Viktoria Yegorovna will miss the opportunity to involve herself in your family life.”
 
“Nothing will change. You’ll see. I know Sasha. He isn’t the kind of man who obeys his mother in everything. If necessary, he’ll have no problem putting her in her place.”
The young couple married a year later. Since they did not own a home, they had to rent an apartment. A few months after the wedding, Vera became pregnant, and before long, their son was born.
Little Miron was a healthy, chubby-cheeked, cheerful baby.
Their family was perfectly ordinary. It certainly wasn’t ideal, and Vera and Sasha sometimes argued over everyday matters. Yet after their son’s birth, Vera discovered what it truly meant to be loved and supported by her husband.
Sasha began helping her even more. He cleaned the apartment, prepared dinner, and looked after the baby. As time passed, however, Alexander repeatedly returned to the same suggestion.
“Why don’t we ask my mother to come over? I’m at work all the time, and you need a break. She can stay with Mirosha while you get your nails done or simply go out and relax.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Vera asked uncertainly.
 
“It’s certainly better than hiring a nanny. Don’t worry, Mom won’t bother you. She’ll look after her grandson, and as soon as you come back, she’ll leave.”
Vera spent a long time considering the advantages and disadvantages. She and Viktoria Yegorovna barely spoke, and Vera had no desire to change that arrangement. But she was so exhausted that she eventually agreed.
At that point, Vera was willing to tolerate even the company of a mother-in-law she disliked if it meant having a little time to recover.
“The diapers are here, and the cloths are in this drawer. Miron will probably be hungry in an hour or an hour and a half. His formula is over here,” Vera explained hurriedly as she prepared to leave.
“Do you think I don’t know how to look after children?” Viktoria Yegorovna replied with a smirk. “I raised Sasha, and I clearly did such a good job that you couldn’t resist him. Don’t worry, dear Vera. Your little Mirosha will be perfectly safe with me.”
Whenever her mother-in-law spoke like that, Vera felt an uncomfortable tightness in her chest. She didn’t trust the woman, although logically she understood that a grandmother would never deliberately harm her grandson.
Still, Vera’s uneasy feeling refused to disappear. It only grew stronger whenever Viktoria Yegorovna began pointing out small details about the baby’s appearance.
“Well, would you look at that? His eyes aren’t Sasha’s at all. Mirosha looks like you, doesn’t he, Vera?”
“I don’t know. I think he resembles both of us,” Vera answered, struggling to hide her irritation.
 
Whenever she told her husband about such remarks, he simply dismissed them.
“Why are you paying so much attention to everything Mom says? She mentioned that Miron doesn’t have my eyes—so what? I can see that he looks more like you, and I’m happy about it. After all, my wife is beautiful!”
Eight months passed. Vera’s relationship with her mother-in-law remained strained. The two women carefully avoided one another, but Vera needed help with the baby, while Viktoria Yegorovna wanted to spend time with her grandson.
Then, one day, everything changed.
Vera was preparing to take the stroller out for a walk when she realized that she couldn’t find the portable charger.
“Did you take it again and leave it in the car?” she asked her husband.
“No, I brought it inside. I put it in the bottom drawer.”
Vera walked over to the bedside cabinet but accidentally opened the upper drawer instead. Naturally, the charger wasn’t there. She began sorting through old receipts, documents, and expired insurance papers.
Then she noticed a folded sheet of paper.
Vera picked it up automatically. The name of a private clinic was printed across the top. At first, she thought nothing of it, but then her eyes caught her son’s full name.
 
She unfolded the sheet and read:
“Genetic examination to establish biological relationship.”
Vera could hardly believe her eyes. Her heart began pounding wildly. She had no idea who had ordered the test or why, but she had never doubted that Sasha was Miron’s father.
The result confirmed exactly that. At the bottom of the page, it stated that the probability of biological paternity was 99.9 percent.
For several seconds, Vera simply stared at the document. Then she slammed the drawer shut, spun around, and marched into the living room, where her husband was sitting on the sofa.
“What is this?!” she shouted.
Sasha looked up, saw the paper in his wife’s hand, and immediately understood. But instead of trying to explain himself, he answered in an almost casual voice:
“Oh. You found it already?”
“What do you mean, I found it already?! You had a DNA test done and didn’t tell me?”
“Uh… Yes.”
 
“Is that all you have to say?”
Her husband merely shrugged and even gave her a faint smile.
“What else is there to discuss? The result is positive. Miron is my son. Ninety-nine point nine percent. Everything is fine.”
His response made Vera even angrier.
“You think this is fine? You think secretly testing our child to confirm your paternity is normal?”
“Listen, Vera, nothing terrible happened. It was just a test. It doesn’t mean anything. Personally, I think every child should undergo one at the maternity hospital.”
“Is that what you think, or is it what your mother thinks? If the test meant nothing, why did you have it done?” Vera demanded. “Were you unsure about me? Did you think I had given birth to another man’s child?”
“What does this have to do with me?” Sasha blurted out unexpectedly.
Only then did he begin to look genuinely nervous.
“If it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Vera asked.
She stared into her husband’s eyes and saw complete confusion. At that moment, everything became clear.
“I was right, wasn’t I? You didn’t arrange the test. Your mother did!”
Sasha tried to mumble something, but his expression betrayed him.
“Don’t lie to me! You’ve never known how to lie. Tell me the truth, or I’ll pack my things and leave right now!”
The threat brought Sasha to his senses. He looked away before finally confessing.
 
“Yes. Mom arranged the test. She kept saying that Miron didn’t look like me. I tried to reassure her. I told her she was mistaken and that it was all in her imagination. When she suggested a DNA test, I refused completely. But she went ahead and did it behind my back.”
“How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know. She probably took some kind of biological sample from me—hair or whatever else was required. I swear I didn’t know anything about it, Vera. You have to believe me. She only gave me the results after the test was finished. Then she said I owed her money because she had paid for everything herself so that I wouldn’t have any doubts. As if I ever had doubts! The whole thing is absurd.”
“Why didn’t you tell me immediately? This test was performed three months ago!” Vera exclaimed, pointing at the date.
“What would it have changed? It would only have made everything worse. You would have refused to let Mom help you, and you needed that support.”
Furious, Vera threw the document onto the sofa.
“Of course I would have refused! That woman insulted me, went behind your back, and secretly took our son to a clinic. Who knows what she might decide to do next?”
“She isn’t going to do anything else. Stop exaggerating. She was only trying to help.”
 
“Are you mocking me?” Vera roared. “By doing this, she openly suggested that I might have betrayed you and passed another man’s child off as yours. It’s humiliating!”
“I think you’re being far too dramatic,” Sasha said dismissively.
At that moment, Vera realized that they were speaking completely different languages. Her husband did not see the situation as a disaster. To him, it was merely a medical test. To Vera, it represented a cruel accusation and a devastating lack of trust in her honesty.
Vera couldn’t forgive him for hiding the test, while Sasha continued insisting that nothing terrible had happened. Finally, she looked at him with profound disappointment and said:
“If you want me to have even the slightest chance of forgetting this humiliation one day, call your mother and tell her she is no longer welcome in our home.”
Sasha remained silent for a while. Then he took out his phone and dialed his mother’s number.
“Mom, we need to have a serious conversation. Vera found the document, and she doesn’t want you coming to our home anymore.”
Viktoria Yegorovna paused.
“What document?”
“The DNA test results.”
“Where did you leave them? Sasha, are you completely foolish? I told you to throw them away!”
 
For a moment, Sasha could hardly process what he had just heard.
“They were in the cabinet.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Sasha! Do you understand what you’ve done now?”
“What I’ve done? No, Mom. This isn’t about me.”
“Of course it’s about you! At the very least, you should have hidden the papers. You know how Vera reacts to these things.”
“Are you serious right now? You secretly tested my son’s DNA, and somehow I’m to blame because I failed to hide the evidence?”
“I was trying to help you.”
“I didn’t need your help.”
“How could you know that? That child doesn’t look anything like you.”
“Enough. I am his father. That is the end of the discussion.”
“I’m your mother, and I have every right to worry about you! If you had listened to me from the very beginning, none of this would have happened.”
“Can you even hear yourself?”
 
Viktoria Yegorovna began trying to justify herself again, but Sasha was no longer listening.
“Vera has asked you not to come to our home anymore, and I agree with her. I won’t allow you to interfere in my family.”
“Sasha…”
“I’m tired of defending you to Vera and pretending that you always have good intentions. You wanted to drive us apart, and you succeeded. This ends now.”
He was about to hang up, but then added one final sentence:
“As far as you’re concerned, you no longer have a son or a grandson.”
Alexander ended the call.
Only then did Viktoria Yegorovna finally understand that she had gone far beyond the limit.