The light green curtain on the kitchen window fluttered softly in the gentle breeze. Outside the glass, irritated voices of Igor and Zhanna could be heard. Down in the yard, their children were playing on the playground — seven-year-old Kristina and ten-year-old Tolik. But every now and then, they glanced up sadly toward the windows of their apartment.
“They’re fighting again,” Tolik said gloomily. Kristina silently nodded.
Upstairs, inside the apartment, a distressed Zhanna was asking her husband to explain what was going on between them.
“Igor, I don’t recognize you!” she almost cried. “Where have you been at night? Why do you stay silent? Don’t you understand how hard this is for me? The kids see everything!”
The man impatiently stirred his food with a spoon; his face twisted — whether from the food or his wife’s words was unclear.
“Can you just leave me alone? You don’t even let me eat in peace!”
Zhanna’s patience was running out. She sharply took the plate from him and set it aside, folding her arms across her chest.
“Am I bothering you while you eat? Strange, since you didn’t buy the groceries again. Didn’t even ask where they came from. Just settled in, to put it plainly!”
Igor slammed his hand on the table so hard the dishes rang, and the single tulip in the vase (a gift from their son to his mother) swayed dangerously.
“There you go again! Instead of supporting me, you keep pressing down! Now you’re going to reproach me over food?”
“How do you want me to react? You don’t listen to me at all!”
“Have you tried being kind to me? Maybe then you’d understand that I’m a person too!”
“A person? Have you forgotten how to come home? Forgot that children live here?”
“Yes, exactly — the children! And I’m fed up with all of this! I won’t tolerate it anymore until you explain what’s on your mind!”
Zhanna threw her hands up in frustration:
“There it is again — ‘You’re annoying,’ ‘I can’t breathe next to you!’ Anything but the truth! You’re suffocating me with your indifference! Something’s always wrong! Enough! I’m tired of carrying all this mess! Do you think someone else won’t feed you? Just wait — you’ll see when it’s too late!”
Igor stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door so hard the window frames trembled. Down in the yard, the children heard the noise and even called out to their father, but he only glanced back briefly and then hurried away.
“Well, now we can go home,” Tolya said, and the brother and sister headed for the entrance.
In the kitchen, Zhanna sat at the table when her daughter approached. Silently hugging her mother, Kristina rested her head on her shoulder and gently stroked her clenched hand.
“Don’t be sad, Mommy. We love you very much.”
“I love you too, my darlings. Now go wash up — dinner’s ready.”
The children ate quietly and went to their room. Zhanna stayed behind to wash the dishes and think about what to cook tomorrow.
But Igor’s phrase about being “fed” wouldn’t leave her mind. So her suspicions were not unfounded — he really did have another woman.
She froze, listening to herself. There was no pain. Only emptiness, as if a cold, deserted blizzard was blowing inside her. In recent months, she had grown tired of living in constant guesses, watching his behavior, waiting up for him at night, calling, checking… Better if he just left. At least that would be honest.
She recalled all the quarrels he had caused at home, the baseless reproaches, his constant irritability that he took out on the family. Because of this, she had become different too — irritable over trifles, speaking loudly, crying often. She herself was tired of being like this. She had almost forgotten what it was like to smile just because the house was quiet, the children were fed, and everyone was well.
At that moment, the phone on the table rang. The melody broke Zhanna’s chain of thoughts.
It was her friend Lena calling.
“Hi, how are you?”
“Fine. Why do you sound so worried?”
“Zhanna, don’t lie. Tell me honestly — is everything okay between you and Igor?”
The woman sighed deeply:
“Not really. He’s gone.”
“Will he come back?”
“No. And if he does — kick him out. Do you know who I saw today?”
“Who?”
“Your Igor. With Raya. They were walking arm in arm from the store. She was practically hanging on him.”
“Raya? Are you sure? Maybe you were mistaken?”
“Zhanna, I’m not young, but my eyesight is fine. It was definitely her. They passed right by me without even noticing. And you know where they headed? To her building!”
“I don’t know what to say,” Zhanna replied confusedly, trying to comprehend what she’d heard.
Raya was her close friend. When Raya was going through hard times — her husband beat her, stole things, abandoned the family — Zhanna had always supported her. She was happy when Raya finally gathered her strength, filed for divorce, and started a new life. Even recently, she had been glad when her friend hinted that someone new had come into her life.
And now it turned out — that someone was her own husband.
“Well, what can you say — she took shelter right under your nose!”
Zhanna couldn’t come to terms with what she’d heard. But even now, she was angrier at her husband than at her friend. Yes, Raya was to blame too, but she was a lonely woman who might have really lost her head. But Igor — he betrayed his family, abandoned the children, lied to them for years, blamed everything on Zhanna, and left without looking back.
Zhanna wasn’t thinking about divorce yet — she had neither the strength nor the time. The children had lessons, clubs, school. She worked two jobs, coming home drained and falling asleep immediately after dinner. She understood that the breakup was inevitable but postponed it, hoping Igor would take the initiative to start the paperwork himself. That seemed easier than doing it herself.
For a month or more, she hadn’t heard from him. She deliberately took different routes to avoid running into him by chance. She didn’t want to see him at all. She tried a few times to call Raisa, but Zhanna didn’t answer — she didn’t know what they could say to each other now.
Gradually the pain subsided. A feeling of relief appeared, confidence that the marriage had long since run its course. Zhanna began gathering documents for divorce and child support.
The children didn’t ask questions or mention their father. Their behavior made it clear that they also sensed the change — they became happier and more cheerful. Smiles began to reappear on Zhanna’s face.
Her new colleague noticed this and began showing interest. At first, she felt embarrassed and even guilty, but quickly pulled herself together: “You are a young, beautiful woman. You have every right to a new life! Igor is living happily, and you’re as if you swore loyalty to him until death?”
The suitor turned out to be serious and responsible. He was the first to insist on meeting the children and approached that moment with great caution.
Zhanna hadn’t planned to introduce her son and daughter to her new man so soon and worried about their reaction. But it was unnecessary — the children welcomed the guest warmly, spent the whole evening telling him stories, showing drawings and toys, and chatting happily.
This helped Zhanna relax. She felt that her life was starting to change for the better. She decided: tomorrow morning she would file for divorce. Even if things with the colleague led nowhere — it didn’t matter. The main thing was to be free and close that painful chapter.
But she didn’t get to do it. The next morning, someone rang the doorbell. Igor was standing on the doorstep.
Zhanna opened the door, froze, and didn’t say a word.
“Will you let me in?” he stepped toward the door. Zhanna didn’t move.
“Why?”
“To get my things.”
She smiled bitterly:
“I wonder how you survived all this time without them? Didn’t change clothes or what? Though this sweater looks familiar to me. Raisa’s ex-husband had the same one. Planning to wear the inheritance out?”
Behind Zhanna, the children appeared. They silently watched the scene, not coming close. Igor noticed them and held out his arms:
“Hi, kids! How are you? Mommy isn’t treating you badly, is she?”
The children slowly approached their mother.
Tolya frowned:
“Why did you come? Mom just started to smile!”
Kristina nodded:
“Are you going to start fighting again?”
Igor was at a loss and threw a reproach at his wife:
“You’ve even turned the children against me!”
“No comments,” Zhanna shrugged. “You think they saw nothing? Heard nothing? All these years you drove us crazy, then just disappeared. And now you expect what? That they’ll throw themselves at your neck?”
“I’m their father!”
“Where were you all this time? Not a single call, no questions about their health, or food… Didn’t Raya let you go? Then go to her! Why did you even come? Oh right — the things!”
“We’ll pack them,” Tolya said and went to the bedroom.
Igor was silent.
“No way!” Zhanna said firmly. “You’re not the master here. Don’t poison the air. Wait — we’ll bring your things.”
The door closed right in front of him. He stood there, unable to believe how he was treated. After all, he only left for a while, and they were already traitors! Of course, it was Zhanna’s doing — she had turned the children against him. How else?
A couple of minutes later, he rang the bell again. Kristina opened.
“Please ask Mom.”
“We’re packing. Wait a bit.”
“Please, Zhanna… let me in. Let’s talk like normal people. Maybe we can still discuss things? We have a family!”
Zhanna laughed:
“You don’t have a family. You have a mistress — talk to her. Leave us alone. By the way, today I’m filing for divorce. And for child support too.”
“Child support? What did you think? That you’d get away with it? No, buddy, I’m not Raisa. I won’t let you just drop everything and leave. Get out. But you haven’t canceled responsibility for the kids.”
Tolya and Kristina came out of the room, dragging bags of things.
“Here, everything’s packed,” Zhanna said, kicking one of the bags toward Igor. “Take it and get lost! If I see you again — I’ll throw you down the stairs! Even if I don’t have the strength — I’ll find a way!”
The door closed again. Igor remained standing in the dark entrance hall, holding old bags. He slowly started to go down, glancing back as if expecting to be called back.
At that moment, a door slammed — and he froze. The children ran past, laughing and chatting. Behind them came Zhanna — fresh, radiant, with a light scent of perfume. They headed toward the car.
Igor quickened his pace, catching up to them. He stepped into the light and froze, seeing Zhanna hugging another man, while the children happily clung to his hands.
Grinding his teeth, he watched as they got into the car and drove away.
When the car disappeared around the corner, he made an obscene gesture at them and walked away.
“Didn’t call, huh? You could have just said you found a new man! Traitor…”