— I don’t get it. What are these constant excuses on the phone? Are you messing with my head? Trying to stall? It’s pointless! We’re going to have to sell the apartment anyway! — the ex-husband fumed.
The man had deliberately chosen the time today to come to his apartment, where he had lived with his family — his wife and two children — just six months ago. He hadn’t yet mustered the courage to divorce, so he could finally live freely with his secret lover Dina, whom he had met at work a year ago.
Dina was pressuring him, demanding a divorce, and Anton was forced to leave his family.
“I don’t understand the point of your complaints,” Marina responded calmly, already prepared for the ex-husband’s outburst today.
“What are you babbling about? You don’t understand?” Anton persisted. “I told you six months ago — sell the apartment we bought during our marriage. What’s not clear? What do you mean there are no buyers? There are always buyers. So either you’ve set an exorbitant price, or you’re deliberately not showing our space to them. What’s the problem, dear?” — the ex-husband shouted so loudly that the walls shook and the dishes clinked in the cupboard.
“I’m not your ‘dear’,” Marina remarked coldly.
“Oh, don’t get hung up on the words! That’s not what we’re talking about now. Why haven’t I received my money yet? We had an agreement!” Anton spoke deliberately loud. He was now preying on his ex-wife’s psyche. He was desperate to put an end to this problem. He needed the money like air, and Marina kept insisting that the apartment wasn’t selling. For several months, she had been telling her ex-husband the same thing.
“Tosha, when are you going to buy me a car? You’ve promised so long ago, and I’m still waiting!” — his live-in partner expressed hurtfully to Anton. “I don’t mean to remind you, dear, but you live in my apartment. You spend absolutely nothing on housing. And that’s why you could, as a sign of our union, give me this gift. And besides, it’s about time to start renovating my apartment. You should be contributing something to this home, right? Since we’re together now.”
Dina adjusted her transparent robe on her high, firm bust and looked at the man with slight offense.
“But I promised you, Dina dear. You’ll have a car, my little kitty. And there will be a renovation. You just have to wait a little. Just a tiny bit. Alright? Agreed?” Anton tried to persuade his beloved.
“Tosha, I’ve heard this before. And I think your ex-wife is just pulling the wool over your eyes. How is it that she lives in your apartment and yet doesn’t give you the money?” Dina protested. “If she can’t sell it, then she should just give you half the price — and that’s it! Can’t you work something out with her? No? Then force her. Or kick her out and sell it yourself.”
“Well, Dina dear, it’s our joint apartment. She has the right to live there. She’s selling it at her own pace. Let’s wait a little longer. Just a bit.”
Anton himself realized that something was amiss, but he couldn’t influence the situation yet.
Before leaving the family, he had set a condition with Marina — he would not claim any other jointly acquired property if she sold their apartment quickly and gave him half of the proceeds.
“I don’t need any of that. You can keep the furniture, the appliances, the clothes. And the car too,” referring to the old vehicle Marina used to drive the children to school and extracurricular activities, Anton said as he left his wife. “The main thing is to split the apartment, and do it quickly.”
Marina, barely recovering from such a cruel betrayal, now had to resolve the housing issue. She was left with two children — eight-year-old daughter Dasha and ten-year-old son Misha. And she seriously couldn’t understand why the three of them had to leave their two-room apartment, sell it, and buy, with the proceeds, at best a room in a dormitory. It was more than unfair. And it was wrong by every standard.
When she went to consult a lawyer she knew, she began to feel a bit better. And she realized that the truth was on her side. She would not sell the apartment.
Anton called a couple of times a week to inquire about the sale of their jointly owned home. Marina would reply that the process was ongoing, as the advertisement was still posted on the website. People were calling, but she told everyone that the apartment was in poor condition, while quoting a price that was one and a half times higher than its actual value.
“Are you serious? You’ll never sell it that way! There are plenty of other apartments on the market with good renovations and much lower prices!” — the callers protested.
“Well, if you don’t want it, don’t buy it. I’m not forcing it on you,” Marina responded calmly, comforting herself with the thought that she was doing the right thing.
“Your Anton will get off scot-free! Look at him — he’s so smart: a young woman and money served on a silver platter! Isn’t that hilarious?” — complained one of Marina’s friends.
“He’s not mine. Not anymore.”
“Exactly! He abandoned his family and has the nerve to demand something from you. He’s living in luxury, while his ex-wife and kids are just trying to scrape by. Is that how it’s going to be?” the friend continued.
“Oh, come on, Lida, forget about him. Everything will be fine. Our lawyer Tanya at work explained everything to me and told me how to proceed. So we will fight for our rights.”
“But how can you forget? Look at what a shape he’s in! He hid everything, pretending to be such a good husband and loving father. And now he doesn’t even want to keep the apartment. His own children, his own flesh and blood! How can that be? I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
“He won’t give it up,” Marina responded calmly.
“How so? You just force her to pay up for half the apartment! And did he really think that with the remaining money you’d be able to buy something for yourself? Did he think? No, because there’s nothing to think about. His mind melted from his wild passion,” the friend continued relentlessly.
“Alright, Lida, forget him! Look at the apple pie I’ve baked! Let’s have some tea. Kids, Dasha, Misha, come get some pie!” Marina called out.
“Oh, we love this! Always please us with this!” Lida replied with a smile. “Kids, dig in!”
Today, Marina decided that it was time to tell her ex-husband that she would not be selling the apartment. That was it. There was no point in dragging it out any longer.
“You’re making a mistake, Anton. I haven’t sold the apartment and I won’t sell it.”
“What — you won’t? Have you lost your mind? We had an agreement!” Anton exploded, his voice rising to a screech. “And I feel like you’re just fooling me. Now everything’s fallen into place.”
“We never had any agreement. You made that up yourself. And I’ve decided differently. I’ll keep the apartment for our children — for whom, at some point, you seemed to stop caring,” Marina continued, trying to remain calm.
“Stop it! Just because I stopped loving you doesn’t mean I don’t need my kids. Do I pay alimony? I do! So what else? And I have a right to half of this apartment! According to the law!” Anton fumed, his tone rising with tension.
“Really, what more do the children need besides the few pennies you send? Absolutely nothing! Congratulations, you’ve done well for yourself — living with a young, childless woman.”
“Don’t dodge the subject! If you don’t want to sell, then buy out my share. I don’t mind. Just don’t drag your feet any longer! I’ve been waiting for half a year.”
“Buy out? For what?” Marina looked surprised, though she had long expected such a proposal from her ex.
“Take a loan, earn money, ask your parents. Sell a kidney, if you must! What difference does it make where you get the money? It’s not my problem. I need the cash! And I need it urgently!”
“Do you really think I would sell the apartment and leave the children homeless so that you can squander your money on your little monkey?” Marina asked with a smirk.
“And what are you going to do? It shouldn’t concern you what I spend my money on. That’s my business.”
“I want to upset you. When we bought this apartment five years ago, we used maternity capital. I hope you remember?”
“So what?” Anton asked.
“Now, to sell this apartment, I will have to find housing for the children with good conditions, no worse than what they had here. There are nuances involved; if you wish, you can look up the legislation. The option you’re proposing to me doesn’t work. The only thing we could buy for half the price of this apartment is a studio or a room in a dorm. But the guardianship won’t approve that. So the sale won’t happen. Yes, you could force me in court to pay you your share. But I have two children and a teeny-tiny salary. So I’ll be paying you three rubles a month. For a hundred or two hundred years. I haven’t even done the math yet. That’s all I wanted to say. So forget about this idea. Of course, you can come back at any time, but it’s unlikely that you’ll want to live somewhere where you’re despised. And that includes your children.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? By law — half of the apartment is mine!” Anton shouted. “You’re such a dreamer!”
“You don’t know the law well, Anton, and that’s your problem. And besides, you should consult a lawyer before demanding the impossible from me.”
“Then we’ll split everything! Got it? Down to the last spoon and cup. And the car, and the appliances I bought, and the furniture — everything!”
“Go right ahead. You can split it right now. Where do you want to start? With the spoons? Or the cups?” Marina was ready for such a twist in events and held her ground.
“Hey, Dad, why are you shouting like that? Are you sick?” came a voice from the room, as Dasha, who was doing her homework, emerged.
“All of you, get out! I’ll be back, mark my words! I’ll find out what you’ve been whispering about here. I’ll get to the bottom of it and return!”
“We’ll be waiting,” Marina replied. “But you’d better not come back.”
Anton left. And Marina was no longer bothered by him regarding the sale of the apartment. However, from a certain point on, he stopped paying child support. Later, the woman learned that he had changed jobs and had apparently concealed his debt obligations from his new employer.
Marina had long realized that she had tied her life to an unscrupulous man. Well, let it be on his conscience.
And Dina soon kicked Anton out, never having received a new car from him for herself.
“Next time, I won’t get involved with a divorced guy who has seven on the side and an ex-wife as sly as that. No use — nothing but problems,” she confided to a friend after once again finding herself alone.