He just used me. It’s like my eyes have finally opened. Why didn’t I notice anything before? I guess I was too naive. Trusted people too much. Now I’ll be more cautious. I somehow thought that this could happen to anyone, but not to me. But no, it turns out no one is immune.
Until recently, my husband and I lived in my apartment, which my parents gave me before we got married. It’s a very nice apartment almost in the center of the city, but still it was too small for the two of us. Kolya kept telling me that someday we would buy a bigger apartment or even build a house… He was just feeding me lines, in other words. He described everything in vivid colors, how he would find another job, how we would save money and… In general, he convinced me that he felt awkward living in my apartment, that it wouldn’t always be this way. In reality, he was quite comfortable. He was just a hard worker in words. In life, he didn’t lift a finger to fulfill his dreams. In fact, my apartment was the limit of his dreams. And here he decided to try his best.
It seemed to me that everything was fine with us. We never argued. Lived as if soul to soul. Supported each other in everything. We shared everything that was on our minds. Well, not everything, as it turned out… I thought I had found the man of my dreams. He was so caring, so charming. All I had to do was think of something, and he was already ready to fulfill my wish. He tried his hardest to make sure I wanted for nothing, that I walked in silks and almost ate from golden dishes. Now I understand what all this was for.
My girlfriends envied me. Their husbands didn’t dedicate as much time to them as my Kolya did to me. We were constantly going somewhere with him: to parks, on rides, to the movies… Just like teenagers. I thought: how good it is that this fire that many extinguish after the wedding hasn’t gone out for us. I lived and was happy. And I should have been thinking with my head…
It turns out it wasn’t for nothing that he wooed me like that. He fulfilled every whim of mine. He always had one thing on his mind… When I think about it now, I even get scared: how is it possible? Can someone be so hypocritical? Was there not a drop of sincerity in him all this time? Were our relationships just a game from start to finish? As much as I tried to convince myself otherwise, I had to admit that he was just a liar and a heartless person.
And yet, nothing foretold trouble. Peace and harmony reigned in our family. That is, of course, how it seemed to me. In reality, all this time he was harboring his cunning plans.
Kolya then worked in a coffee shop, and I was an administrator at a gym. It turned out that I earned more than him, and Kolya was absolutely fine with that. As far as I understand, the coffee shop where he worked was not a very popular place, almost no one went there, so Kolya essentially did nothing all day. If he wanted to, he could have found another job, there are no problems with that in our city. But he didn’t need anything, he had already found a way to earn extra money… For the time being, I knew nothing about this method.
Most of the expenses were on me. Kolya promised that it wouldn’t always be like this, that he would one day find a better job… But that was just a figure of speech. He was quite comfortable sitting on my neck. We had a joint budget, and he wasn’t shy, without asking me, to buy front row tickets to some match, tickets for himself and his friends. He said that he sometimes really needed to relax, that if he didn’t rest properly, he wouldn’t be able to work. Of course, of course, he was indeed straining himself, bending his back at his job.
Otherwise, if you don’t touch the money issues, everything with us was seemingly wonderful… Seemingly. Only here’s the thing, you can never leave money issues aside. Sometimes it’s exactly in them that a person’s character shows.
As naive as I was, I still started suspecting something. It all started with finding a comb in our apartment. It was not my comb, I’m sure of that. Before, I would never have doubted my husband’s fidelity. I thought he was still madly in love with me. And here you go: someone else’s comb. I couldn’t come to terms with this discovery for a long time.
What could I think? That my husband decided to take up hairdressing? Of course not. The answer was obvious: my husband was bringing someone to our home while I was at work. I didn’t tell Kolya about my find. I kept doubting, didn’t want to believe. He was still tender and gentle with me, and oh how it all turned out… My tender and gentle beast.
“How can he have the conscience?” I thought. I had no idea that he simply had none. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to be 100% sure… If I had told him about the comb, he would have come up with something, and would have been more cautious in the future. I wanted to catch him red-handed. For several days I kept thinking about what to do, still doubting.
But then one day I was sitting on the sofa reading, and suddenly I noticed a long black hair on the backrest. “No, this is too much,” I said to myself then. I didn’t want to live in uncertainty. I needed to figure everything out myself. Otherwise, I just couldn’t sleep at night. I can’t imagine how one can live in the same house with a person who deceives you? Yes, I can’t imagine, and yet I lived so long with an ordinary crook.
To find out who exactly my husband was bringing to our home, I decided to install hidden cameras. When everything was ready, I waited. Every day I reviewed the recordings, but noticed nothing suspicious. I was already thinking about giving up on my idea: “What if Kolya accidentally notices the cameras… What then?” I probably would have removed them, but an inner voice asked me to wait a little longer… And I listened to it. And not in vain. Soon I finally saw something interesting. The bird flew into the cage, all that remained was to close the door.
Once, while reviewing the video, instead of a young beauty, I saw an elderly woman. I didn’t understand at first. But the next moment it dawned on me that I knew this woman very well, too well. It was my dear mother-in-law. She didn’t come alone, Kolya was with her.
At first, I felt somehow calmer: “The main thing is that he is faithful to me. How could I even suspect him of anything?” I was about to turn off the recording, thought that Kolya just invited his mom over, what’s the big deal? He knows that we don’t have the best relationship with her, so he decided to spare me the need to smile at her and pour tea… But what I heard made me shudder (I not only set up cameras, but also bugged the place — prepared for everything, and, as it turned out, not in vain).
— I will send my wife on vacation, and then sell her apartment, I’ve already found buyers — I overheard my husband’s conversation.
I replayed this part of the recording several times. My eyes bulged out at these words. “And this is said by my Kolya? The same Kolya who swore love and fidelity to me? Does he want to trick me like this? Oh no, dear, beloved, you’ve messed with the wrong person, this trick won’t work with me).
From my mother-in-law’s reaction to Kolya’s words, I realized that she was simply delighted with his plan. I, of course, knew that she had a grudge against me, but to such an extent… It was a real conspiracy. And I wonder how long they had planned all this? Maybe Kolya met me specifically to get my apartment? What if he has a whole business? Maybe he’s courting someone else in parallel?
I had to act, this could not be left as is. Soon I was indeed planning to take a vacation. I thought about spending it at my parents’ in the countryside, but Kolya suggested that I go to the sea. He found everything, paid for everything himself. He had never tried so hard for me before. Never been so complacent, so caring.
He kept telling me how good I would have it there, what beaches, what air… I agreed with everything, thanked him. And he kept brushing it off: no need for thanks, he said, but that’s what a husband is for, to please his wife. Too long, he said, I haven’t been to the sea, always working and working, time to know one’s limits. I just nodded in response.
He really tried: booked a room in a four-star hotel, only a hundred meters from the sea. Truly a dream, I thought, not just a vacation. And not just for a week, but for two he was sending me there.
In the last days that I had to live with him under one roof, I was just amazed at his acting talent. He was all attentiveness, just the perfect husband… I was constantly afraid that he would somehow find out what I knew… I, of course, removed the cameras after I found out everything I wanted.
In those last days even my mother-in-law started treating me better. Came with pies, you understand. She talked about how wonderful and amazing I was. How lucky her son was with me. “Well,” I thought, “no, this is nonsense. Your son is not lucky with me. You won’t be able to lead me by the nose anymore.”
And then one day, after he, as usual, said his tender words to me, he finally left for his shift (before that he decided to take a vacation so that nothing would distract him from carrying out his plan), I called a locksmith and changed the locks. Right after that, I felt much calmer. His feet will no longer be in my apartment. I was glad that I outsmarted him. All this time he, of course, thought that he could just play with me, that I wouldn’t notice what he was doing right under my nose. He probably thought he was very smart and cunning, a real great schemer. Nothing, I’m not sewn with white thread either.
When he returned and tried to open the door, he was probably very surprised. I wish I had seen his eyes then. He started knocking and ringing, asking what was wrong. I didn’t hide from him what the matter was. I told him everything: I know what he was going to pull off, and also I know that he won’t succeed. He, of course, pretended he had no idea what I was talking about. He asked me to open up, so we could discuss everything… Perhaps there was some misunderstanding… But how could there be a misunderstanding when I have a recording of his words? He begged me, pleaded, and I just laughed at him. How far is he willing to humiliate himself to get my apartment. Over and over he told me fairy tales about how he loves me and can’t live without me. I listened at first, then stopped, turned the music up louder, got some ice cream, and went to the balcony to enjoy the first days of summer. When I returned from the balcony a couple of hours later, he was still at the door, hoarsely saying something.
No, I didn’t feel sorry for him. Let his mother feel sorry for him, but I won’t. I just had to finalize a few formalities to officially break up with him. And I deleted them. It turned out to be not that difficult. After everything was done, I felt free. Besides, I was finally safe.
Soon I went to the sea. Only in one thing my ex-husband was right: I really love the sea, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been there. Always working and working, it’s really time to relax a bit. In the end, I think I deserved it.
I don’t know what will happen with Kolya next, but I’m somehow not interested. The main thing is that he stays away from me. I don’t want to see him anymore. I hope he’s now biting his elbows and waiting for the next paycheck. He’s lucky that he got off so easily. Let him know, I’m not to be messed with.
In the future, I will be more cautious. I hope I can still learn to trust people. After everything that happened to me, I can’t be completely sure of anyone. Everyone seems suspicious to me now. I won’t tell anyone anymore that I have an apartment. I hope that I will still find someone who will love me for who I am, not for what I have…
Now I know how important it is to sometimes take the first step, to not live in doubt, to not let yourself be deceived. The main thing is not to be afraid and start acting, make decisions, take your fate into your own hands, then no Kolyas and no mother-in-laws will be scary to you.