Stepping over the threshold of the apartment, Olga froze. Something was off… A familiar sight: the guest slippers were treacherously placed by the door instead of lying peacefully in the dresser. In the kitchen—complete chaos! Chairs haphazardly pushed aside, dirty dishes on the table… Another “surprise” from the uninvited guests.
“Oh my God, not again!” she groaned, clenching her fists.
Anger surged in waves. And she couldn’t even share this righteous indignation with anyone—her husband, Ivan, the main culprit in all this, was firmly stuck at work. “Just wait until I get home!” Her fingers quickly moved across the phone screen: “How long is this going to last?! THEY were in our apartment again!”
Ivan had always prided himself on his foresight. Successful, businesslike—he was used to calculating every move. But this time… In the rush of discussing with his wife the question of duplicate keys for his sister Anna, he seemed not to notice the alarm in Olga’s eyes. And her doubts had arisen almost immediately.
“Oh, I’ll help you with the arrangement!” Anna had chirped when she received the coveted keys.
Young, attractive, but… lonely. She lived with her parents and seemed to have decided to make her brother’s apartment her second home. Who would have guessed that her desire to “help” would turn into a real trial for the young couple?
The words stuck in Olga’s throat. How could she object? How could she explain her dissatisfaction? The new relatives had accepted her warmly, helped with the mortgage—a significant sum! Could she now offend them? The young woman merely nodded silently, swallowing the uninvited objections.
“In the end,” she comforted herself, “not every couple can boast of their own apartment just a year after the wedding. And we managed! Even with the help of relatives…”
Ivan’s parents… The thought warmed her soul. From day one, they had treated her like their own, supported her, gave advice. “What’s so bad about duplicate keys?” Olga had reasoned back then. “At least someone will look after the flowers while we’re on vacation.”
But the idyll didn’t last long…
“Ivan, do you see this?!” Olga froze in the doorway of the living room after a wonderful weekend out of town.
“What the…” her husband stopped mid-sentence.
In the middle of the room was an unfamiliar rug, and in the bedroom, a gaudy, floral blanket greeted them, completely out of place with the décor. Where had it come from? The realization didn’t come immediately…
“Surprise!” Anna’s voice twittered through the phone when Olga finally got through to her sister-in-law. “Isn’t it great? Your place was so boring before, nothing to rest your eyes on! Now it’s totally different! And don’t even think about returning the money—it’s a gift!”
Controlling everything and everyone—that was Anna’s signature trait. After learning that her brother and his wife were leaving town, she had spontaneously arranged herself a weekend in their apartment, also “refining” the décor to her own taste.
Olga’s hands trembled with the urge to grab the “gifts” and throw them straight into the trash. To hell with the compensation! But years of upbringing had their effect—swallowing the offense along with the lump in her throat, she managed to force out the most polite response: “Thank you, Anya… How sweet of you…”
And that’s when the real invasion began.
Anna, like a butterfly flitting about, was constantly popping in and out of their apartment. “Oh, my parents are so annoying!” “I need to be alone…” excuses flowed endlessly. The freelancer, you see, could work anywhere! But if it had only stopped there… Anna launched a full-fledged campaign to “help” the young family.
“Oh my God! Where’s my soup tureen?!” Olga’s cry echoed through the apartment one fateful evening.
“Oh, that ugly thing?” Anna replied casually over the phone. “I thought you were just being stingy about a normal salad bowl. I’ve already ordered you a new one!”
“What salad bowl?!” Olga’s voice cracked. “That was great-grandmother’s soup tureen! A family heirloom!”
“Oh, come on!” Anna huffed. “I thought it was some old chamber pot. Do you want me to look for the same one on Avito? They have tons of those! You won’t even tell the difference! And by the way, getting rid of junk is a trend, just so you know!”
“Nothing. Not. Needed!” Olga snapped, struggling to hold back tears.
At night, she couldn’t take it anymore:
“Why did you even give her the keys?!” she exploded at her husband, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and despair.
Ivan looked at his wife, bewildered. How could he explain the obvious?
“Sweetheart, please understand…” he began softly. “You never know what might happen? And Anna—she’s like Swiss clockwork, reliable!” He hesitated. “Besides, she’s just trying to help. You’re gone all day at work, and she’s got the time…”
“But everything was perfect before!” Olga burst out. “Without her… ‘help’!”
“Don’t get worked up,” her husband said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “She’ll find someone else, and then she’ll forget all about us.”
But it didn’t turn out that way! It seemed Anna had decided to dedicate herself to “improving” someone else’s family nest instead of getting her own life together.
Day after day, their apartment grew filled with new additions: fluffy towels, colorful pillowcases, and suddenly, a pouf… And those endless plants! It felt like a jungle had taken over!
“Can you imagine,” Olga laughed as she told her friends, “she already says ‘we’ about everything! ‘We bought the apartment,’ ‘we did the renovation’… What’s next—’we go to bed together’?!”
But the story with the New Year’s tree surpassed everything. Olga had carefully chosen a fluffy beauty, dreaming of a cozy evening: she and Ivan, an old movie, slow conversations while decorating the tree…
She had dreamed! The next day, she came home to find the apartment sparkling with holiday décor, and the tree had been decorated by someone else’s hands.
“Tah-dah!” Anna’s voice rang with pride. “I saw how the boxes of decorations were gathering dust. I thought, I should help out! I even posted pictures on Instagram—let everyone admire how beautiful our place looks!” She babbled faster: “By the way, about the holidays! How about New Year’s at your place? We’ll make some salad, invite our parents…”
Olga just rolled her eyes. She had completely different plans for the 31st, and was planning to visit her family after the holidays. But could Anna be stopped? She had long since considered her brother’s apartment as her domain.
“Oh! And another piece of news!” her sister-in-law blurted one day. “I found us a kitten! I’ve already put down the deposit!”
“A kitten?!”
“Yeah! My parents are against animals, so the little one will live with you. I’ll come over, play with him…” She closed her eyes dreamily. “Don’t worry about cleaning—I work here, I’ll keep an eye on him!”
“NO!” Olga and Ivan shouted in unison. What kitten, when they were dreaming of a baby?
Anna sulked but quickly changed the subject.
Olga was shaking from all of this, and her husband… He seemed not to notice! For every request to “talk to your sister,” he would just nod. He’d try to say something, but what was the point?
Then there was the pregnancy issue… No matter how hard they tried, how many doctors they visited—it was all in vain. Both were perfectly healthy!
“Sigh, my friend,” Olga’s friend sighed, “you already have one ‘child’—your husband’s sister. You’re babysitting her, and now your body’s not cooperating. Pure psychosomatics!”
“And you know what?” her friend lowered her voice. “You, Olga, forgive me for being blunt, but… you’re a doormat! This sister-in-law of yours is sitting on your neck with her legs dangling, and all you say is ‘thank you.’ Watch, soon she’ll barge in on you in your bedroom!”
Olga blushed to the roots of her hair. If only her friend knew… Anna had already “accidentally” dropped in at the most inopportune times. Of course, she would then shower them with apologies, playfully winking: “Oh, sorry—sorry!” Even Ivan, who always defended his sister, was cringing:
“Yeah, it runs in the family…” he sighed. “Our parents too… No matter if it’s the bathroom or the toilet—no knocking! That’s just how we turned out.”
And what was frustrating was that Anna herself was wonderful! Only a couple of years younger, but she knew so much, always passionate about something. Thanks to her, Olga discovered new sports, improved her English, and even started a blog. Anna immediately volunteered to be the editor—and did an excellent job!
“Sigh, if only she understood: keys are for emergencies, not daily invasions!” Olga thought.
However, a couple of years later, the situation changed. Anna had a boyfriend, Vitya, and the world seemed to shine with new colors! But… not quite as Olga had hoped. Anna still lived with her parents and continued to use her brother’s apartment as a temporary stop. Only now she brought her boyfriend— a freelancer—into their romantic hideaway.
Olga’s patience was running thin. Day after day—arguments, reproaches, tears. “Maybe we should just get divorced?” The thought kept visiting her mind. How simple it seemed—just talk to your sister-in-law honestly! But no… That cursed softness of character! And shouldn’t her husband handle his own relatives? Provide peace for his wife in their own home, not turn it into a revolving door for his sister and her boyfriend!
Winter brought the long-awaited changes: Anna and Vitya rented their own apartment. The visits from the sister-in-law became less frequent, but not entirely gone. And then…
“Guess what!” Anna announced triumphantly. “We’re going to Thailand! At least two months! We’ll work in the warmth while it’s freezing here.” She rummaged in her purse. “Here, take the keys to our place. Can you look after it?”
At that moment, a plan was born in Olga’s mind. Devious, underhanded… Something she would later feel guilty about.
As soon as the plane took off with the couple, she sprang into action: taking time off work, calling a friend…
“No, Olga, that’s… not right,” her friend grimaced after hearing the plan. “You should just talk to her honestly.”
“Can’t you understand?!” Olga’s voice was filled with desperation. “I just want her to feel the same way! Let her find out what it’s like when someone comes into your house without asking…”
For 48 hours, Olga, as if possessed, carried out her malicious plan in Anna and Vitya’s apartment. And then… the agonizing wait. Days dragged on like molasses, thoughts of revenge overshadowing everything else.
Just before the owners’ return, she made the final touches: slippers scattered across the corners, unwashed dishes left on the table—let them feel “at home”! However, her heart softened when she smelled freshly cooked food in the kitchen. “Revenge is revenge, but they still need to eat…”
Settling on the couch at home, she nervously glanced at her phone. She didn’t have to wait long—the first call came from Ivan:
“What have you done?!” his voice shook with indignation. “If I’d known it would go this far… This is beyond!”
“Did you try listening to your wife?” Olga coldly retorted. “How many times did I ask you to talk to your sister? What you sow…”
“Hold on!” The phone crackled, and then Anna’s voice exploded:
“You… you…” she gasped in outrage. “I’ve always just helped! And you!..”
“Helped?” Olga smirked. “Well, take back your ‘help’! All those little things you gave us… They were chosen by your taste—you can keep them!”
“And the walls?! You even repainted the walls?!” Anna’s voice screeched.
“Of course!” Olga answered in a matching tone. “And you know, some of your things went to the trash. Not to my taste, can you imagine? But I’ve ordered new ones—they’ll be here soon. Consider it a gift!” She paused. “By the way, pasta with meatballs on the table. Your favorite!”
“Go to hell!” The line went dead.
An hour later, a gloomy Ivan appeared at the door. The conversation was heavy, but Olga managed to get through to her husband, explaining the depth of the problem.
The next morning, he went to his sister’s. Only now did Ivan truly realize the scale of the situation. Yes, Anna had always been overbearing, but who could have imagined that this would become the bone of contention between the people closest to him?
To his surprise, his sister listened surprisingly calmly. No hysteria, no accusations. She simply nodded and promised to return the keys. No more uninvited visits.
At home, Ivan found his wife in the kitchen. She was thoughtfully stirring tea when he sat next to her:
“We’ve sorted it out. She’ll return the keys,” he said, pausing. “I’m sorry. I should have done this sooner… Anyway, now all important decisions—only together.”
Olga smiled, feeling the weight of the last few years lift off her shoulders. Now their marriage would be stronger—they had learned to talk about the tough stuff. And she would definitely make up with Anna, help return things to how they were. After all, who better than her to know what it feels like when your personal space is violated?