Angelina ran without paying attention to the road but was too late. She stood by the fresh grave, sobbing, unable to hold back the pain:
“Why?! Why was he buried without me?!”
Her mother-in-law glanced at her coldly and sharply snapped:
“You had no business wandering around God knows where! If you had stayed home, maybe Sasha would still be alive.”
“I was on a business trip! For work! How can you say that?!”
“I’m just telling it like it is. You drove him away yourself, always trying to get a divorce. I know you.”
Anna Mikhailovna proudly lifted her head and walked away, while Angelina remained standing before the mound of earth, feeling doubt slowly gnaw at her soul. Maybe she really was to blame?
Yes, lately she had paid little attention to her husband. But he himself had urged her to take the trips: “You want to advance your career, right? Take every opportunity!” He couldn’t settle at work himself — lasting three months, then six. It always ended in scandals: “They don’t appreciate me! They don’t see my talent!”
She tried to calm him:
“Sashenka, not everyone succeeds right away. It takes time, patience, and work.”
Sasha nodded… until his mother appeared:
“Why do you need this job if you don’t like it? Find something you love! Don’t listen to her — she just wants to kick you out so she can bring others in!”
Angelina closed her eyes and counted to ten each time, trying not to explode. After all, it was her husband’s mother… But it was so hard to endure! Anna Mikhailovna had disliked her from the very first days. According to her plan, Sasha was supposed to marry Marina — the daughter of a longtime friend. That same Marina caused such a scandal at their wedding that it was still embarrassing to remember. And every time they met, she clung to Sasha as if they were a couple.
Gelya had a gentle nature. She tried to hold it together, not telling Sasha about his mother’s provocations. He wasn’t to blame — he was just unlucky to have a mentally unstable person around. But she felt — just a little more, and she would explode.
Business trips saved her. There she was treated with respect, her experience and knowledge appreciated. She came home rested and ready for the next round with her mother-in-law.
But recently Sasha had been pulling away. Arguments became more frequent, although before Gelya always found a way to defuse tension. That was why she was going to have a serious talk with him during the last trip. Such family relations should not be normal.
Two days ago her mother-in-law called and briefly said:
“Sasha died. A blood clot broke loose.”
It couldn’t be! Sasha always took care of his health. But she was so far away… The journey took two days — transfers, weather delays, a ten-hour wait in one airport.
A couple of hours later Angelina stood up from the grave. She had to go home, start doing something, live on. Later, when she calmed down, she would sort everything out, find out the whole truth.
The light was on in the apartment. That seemed strange — maybe they forgot to turn it off when calling the ambulance? Upstairs, she saw the door was ajar. She entered the hallway, and Anna Mikhailovna came out of the room:
“Take your things and get out of here!”
Gelya even stepped back a step:
“Anna Mikhailovna, you must be mistaken? This is my apartment!”
Her mother-in-law laughed:
“Yours? Can you show your papers? Or do you think I’ll let you live in my son’s apartment while you’re off wandering God knows where?”
Angelina remembered: the apartment was in Sasha’s name because she had tax problems at the time. They promised to transfer it later — but never did.
“I have proof I contributed to buying it…”
“By the time you prove anything, we won’t just sit idle. Grab your rags and leave. Or do you want the neighbors to learn the truth?”
Angelina understood — this woman was capable of anything. Her words hurt, even though she knew most of it was a lie.
Grabbing her suitcases, she left. Everything felt like a theatrical nightmare.
She decided to call Vika — a childhood friend. Although lately they hardly saw each other — Vika had a small daughter, and Gelya had work and business trips…
“Hi, Vik!”
“Oh, Gelya! Long time no see!”
“Vikus, can I stay with you for a few days?”
“Of course! What happened?”
“Sasha was buried today… And my mother-in-law kicked me out of our apartment.”
Angelina bitterly laughed through tears.
“Sasha?! How?.. Come right away!”
Half an hour later, Gelya was already in her friend’s arms. She had no strength left to cry — only emptiness inside.
“Come in, take off your coat. Did you even come from work?”
“Hi, Gel.”
She looked up and saw Stas — Vika’s brother. They had dated years ago. She didn’t know he was here. Maybe she wouldn’t have come if she had known.
“Hi, Stas.”
“Came for a couple of days to see my niece.”
At the kitchen table, Angelina told everything. Stas thoughtfully said:
“Sorry, but this sounds like nonsense. Your mother-in-law is clearly hiding something.”
Stas nodded:
“I thought so too. It’s all too strange.”
Vika suddenly asked:
“What cemetery?”
“Sokolovsky.”
“That one has been banned for burials for about ten years!”
Angelina froze:
“What does that mean?”
Stas shrugged:
“We don’t know yet. But it definitely means something.”
“Did you see the death certificate? Were you at the hospital where he died?”
Vika nudged her brother:
“Are you crazy? She went straight to the cemetery, then to us…”
“Okay. Rest. Tomorrow I’ll check the hospitals. What’s your plan?”
“First to the dacha — to get my things. If Anna Mikhailovna’s angry, she might throw them out. Then… we need to figure all this out.”
The next day Stas offered to drive her:
“Why take a taxi? I’ll take you and pick you up, then we’ll go to the hospital.”
Angelina decided to warn her mother-in-law — maybe she’d call the police…
“I’m going to the dacha for my things.”
As expected, her mother-in-law immediately flared up:
“Don’t you dare! How can you decide to go without me? It’s my dacha!”
“I’m waiting for you there. If you don’t come in half an hour — I’ll take everything myself.”
Anna Mikhailovna arrived at the same time as Angelina. She jumped out of the taxi like a hurricane:
“In a rush again? Want to get rid of us faster? And I see you’re not alone anymore?”
Gelya said nothing. She didn’t want to start a fight — she had other things on her mind.
They entered the house. Angelina began gathering her things. Suddenly, a voice sounded — as if someone asked something from above.
Her mother-in-law looked around nervously:
“You left the radio on again! I’ll turn it off!”
And she ran not to the kitchen, where the radio usually stood, but into the hallway.
Angelina froze. The voice sounded like Sasha’s… But that’s impossible! Maybe nerves and fatigue were playing tricks.
Stas looked at her worried:
“You look pale as a sheet. What happened?”
“I thought… I thought I heard Sasha’s voice. Of course, I know it’s impossible, but it felt like he was here, near…”
Stas chuckled:
“I don’t believe it either, but… are you sure he’s really dead?”
“What do you mean?!”
Angelina stared at him fearfully.
“Well, you understand that can’t be! But… did you see his body? No. And the death certificate? Also no. Isn’t that strange?”
“Why would he do that?! He’s my husband!”
“No idea. Maybe they wanted to get rid of you so they don’t have to give you anything?”
“But I can prove the apartment is ours!”
“While you’re proving that… By the way, how were your relations lately?”
“To be honest, not great…”
Stas raised a finger:
“There’s another reason to think. Let’s not guess, but check everything thoroughly. Let’s go to the hospital.”
At the reception, they couldn’t understand what they wanted for a long time. Finally, the doctor shrugged:
“Sorry, but no one matching your description has died here in the last two weeks. Only an elderly woman about eighty and a young woman with heart problems. That’s all. There was no patient like you said.”
Stas looked at Angelina, whose face turned pale:
“Could they have taken him to another hospital?”
“Impossible. We have the only clinic with such specialization. Even if he was admitted somewhere else, the information would have come to us.”
When they left, Angelina threw up from overstrain.
“Why, Gel?.. I don’t know if we should continue this game. But I think we need to call the police and go back to the dacha. They’ve gone too far.”
“This can’t be… We lived together for seven years! If it’s true, then all these years I lived with someone capable of this…”
“Unfortunately, it happens. Sometimes you think you know a person, and then it turns out you never knew them at all.”
At the entrance to the settlement, a police car caught up with them. Together they headed to the dacha.
The mother-in-law was still there. Seeing them, she stiffened:
“Back again? There’s nothing of yours here anymore!”
Seeing the police, she suddenly shut up:
“And what for?”
The officer stepped toward her:
“Where is Alexander Svistov now?”
“Dead! Buried yesterday!”
“Show the death certificate. Tell us the details.”
“The certificate is at home… not ready yet…”
“Can we inspect the house?”
“Absolutely not!”
The woman blocked the door with her hands, but they gently but firmly pushed her aside.
A few minutes later Sasha was led out of the house — alive and well. Behind him followed Marina — the very daughter of Anna Mikhailovna’s friend.
Angelina slowly approached her husband. Sasha hunched his shoulders and mumbled hurriedly:
“Gel, this was all Mom and Marinka’s doing! I didn’t think it would get so serious… I thought I could just disappear… temporarily…”
“Do you even realize what you’ve done?!”
“Well, I thought you wouldn’t be that upset…”
In anger and hurt, Angelina struck him hard in the face:
“It hurts!” Sasha howled, covering his cheek with his hand.
She didn’t say another word. Turned and went to the car.
Stas came up:
“Will you file a complaint?”
“I will. For everything: fraud and moral damage.”
That evening, everyone gathered at Vika’s. She smiled:
“Well, let’s drink to the fact that our Gelya is not a widow!”
Angelina gave a crooked smile:
“And I didn’t even have time to properly mourn…”
“Well, thank God! Whatever he was — let him live. Just far away from you.”
At night, Gelya prepared to go home:
“What if he’s there?”
“Don’t worry,” Stas said. “I’m with you. I’ll help if anything happens.”
Vika exchanged a glance with her husband and hid a satisfied smile.
In the morning Stas didn’t return. He only sent a message: “I have to stay the night.”
Victoria sighed:
“Well, thank God! Maybe he’ll finally marry her?”
That’s exactly what happened. Stas not only married but also took Angelina to his city. The divorce and division of property were a bit painful, but in the end, Gelya left Sasha with nothing.
Marina soon sent him away too. To partly cover the legal fees, Anna Mikhailovna had to sell the dacha. Now she and her son lived in her one-room apartment — but as they said, “in love and harmony.”
Angelina just sighed at that. Let them be. Now her new life was beginning — calm, bright, and free from a past she preferred to forget.