Maxim slammed the refrigerator door shut and turned to his wife with a displeased look.
— Elena, what are these sausages for three hundred rubles per kilo? Have you lost your mind?
Elena froze at the stove, continuing to stir the contents of the frying pan. Her fingers gripped the wooden spatula tighter.
— Maxim, there were no others. Only these and the cheap ones for a hundred and fifty, but they were a weird color — grayish-green, to be honest.
— And it didn’t occur to you to go to another store? — his voice was getting sharper. — I give you money not so you can throw it away! You need to think with your head, not the part you sit on!
Elena turned, her eyes sliding over her husband’s plate — veal cutlets costing eight hundred rubles per kilo, fresh vegetables, and a slice of fancy Swiss cheese priced at twelve hundred.
— I understand, dear. And your veal — did it just fly into the fridge on the wings of frugality angels?
— Don’t get smart! — Maxim slammed his fist on the table, making the saltshaker jump. — I have a serious job, I need a clear head, I need to eat well! And what’s it to you to eat cheaper sausage? You sit at home, file your nails, stare at the ceiling!
Elena turned back to the stove, feeling something dark and hot boiling inside her. A year ago, she had quit her job at his insistence — “A wife should take care of the home and her husband, not wander around offices like a stray cat.” Now every penny went through his control like a metal detector at the airport.
— Maxim, maybe we should revisit our budget? — she suggested cautiously, not turning around. — I could find a job…
— So the house will look like a pigsty? — he snorted. — No way. Your job is to save money. Go to Auchan tomorrow, they have sales. And seriously, learn how to economize! Other wives feed their families on ten thousand a month!
— Other wives aren’t married to other husbands, — Elena muttered under her breath.
— What are you mumbling? — Maxim snapped.
— Nothing. Just reflecting on the whims of fate and how hard it is to be married to the genius of saving.
Maxim gave her a suspicious look but chose not to dig further. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.
— I’m going to Sergey’s, to discuss work stuff. Don’t wait up. And make something proper for dinner tomorrow, not this nonsense!
— Of course. Out of thin air and moonlight. Or did we get a magical bank account I don’t know about? — Elena muttered into the emptiness.
The door slammed shut. Elena turned off the gas and sank into a chair. On the stove, the overcooked sausages — those “insanely expensive” ones — were cooling. She picked one up with a fork and stared at it thoughtfully.
— Three hundred rubles per kilo… — she murmured. — And his veal — eight hundred. Interesting math we have in our household budget.
Outside, the rain was falling, and Elena suddenly thought it resembled her life — gray, monotonous, and endless.
— Be honest, — Marina leaned across the café table, studying her sister’s face carefully. — How much does he give you for the month?
Elena hesitated, stirring her coffee. Tiny bubbles popped on the surface, just like her illusions about family life.
— Twenty thousand. Sometimes a bit more — if he’s in a good mood or we’re expecting guests.
— For the whole household? — her sister’s eyes widened like she’d just seen an alien in slippers. — Lena, that’s peanuts! I spend that on just myself! And how much does he make?
— He says eighty. But after utilities, gas, his personal expenses… — Elena shrugged.
— His personal expenses? — Marina snorted, almost choking on her coffee. — And yours? In a parallel universe?
Elena shrugged again. She had no personal expenses. She bought new clothes once a year, from thrift stores at that, the cheapest drugstore makeup, and a haircut once every six months — and even that with a student for half price.
— Lena, my dear, — Marina leaned closer and lowered her voice, — have you ever considered that he might have… other expenses? Of a more intimate nature?
— What kind? — Elena genuinely didn’t understand.
Marina paused, then carefully said:
— Well, sometimes men… have someone on the side. And that costs money. Gifts, restaurants, hotels… A whole enterprise of money-draining.
— Maxim? — Elena shook her head like swatting away a fly. — No, he’s a homebody. Work-home, work-home. Where would he even find someone? The only creativity he shows is in criticizing my cooking.
— Then where’s the money going? — Marina frowned. — Eighty thousand is a solid salary. Even after gas and utilities, there should be a good chunk left. The math doesn’t add up.
Elena stayed silent, slowly stirring her coffee. Marina was right, but the thought that her husband might be hiding something seemed impossible. Maxim was as predictable as a Swiss watch — work in the morning, home in the evening with a sour face and dinner complaints, weekends with his friend Sergey or his sister Svetlana.
— Maybe he’s saving for something big? — Marina suggested. — A new car, a dacha with a pool? A space flight?
— I don’t know, — Elena said quietly. — He doesn’t say anything. In fact, we barely talk at all this past year. Just “pass the salt” and “why pasta again.”
Marina placed her warm, soft hand over hers — so familiar and comforting.
— Lena, sweetheart, you have to find out the truth. You can’t live in the dark like a mole in a tunnel. You have the right to know where your family’s money is going.
— But what if I find out something… awful? — Elena looked up, eyes full of worry.
— Then you’ll decide what to do. But living in ignorance isn’t living — it’s just existing.
At home, Elena wandered from room to room, her conversation with Marina looping in her head like a broken record. Where was the money really going? Maxim never showed her pay stubs, bank statements — just vague numbers, reluctantly shared, as if he were revealing state secrets.
She was cleaning his office, carefully avoiding his sacred territory — the desk. Maxim forbade touching it, except for dusting.
While vacuuming under the desk, she bent to pick up a fallen pencil and spotted a white slip shoved far under the leg. She pulled it out — a bank statement from last month.
Elena sat down right there on the floor and began reading it with trembling hands. Salary deposit — seventy-eight thousand. So he wasn’t lying. Utilities — eight thousand. Gas — five thousand. Groceries — three thousand. And then…
Regular transfers of twenty thousand rubles. Twice a month. Recipient — someone named A.S. A total of forty thousand in a month.
Her hands shook so much the paper rustled like dry autumn leaves. So Marina was right? Maxim really had secret expenses? But who was this mysterious A.S.?
Elena reread the statement, trying to make sense of it. A mistress? But then why official bank transfers and not cash? Wouldn’t it be safer to hide such expenses?
— Or maybe it’s blackmail? — she whispered into the empty room. — Or gambling? Debts?
She hid the statement in her purse. Maxim mustn’t find out about it — at least not yet. She needed time to think it all through.
The rest of the cleaning she did on autopilot. Her thoughts were elsewhere. Had she really been living in deception for a year? Scrimping on everything, counting every ruble, while her husband was transferring twice as much money to someone else than he gave his own wife?
— Forty thousand a month, — she murmured as she folded the bedsheets. — Forty! You could live like a human being on that… not like a church mouse.
— Forty thousand a month?! — Marina whistled, setting down her cup. — Lena, that’s more than he gives you! Twice as much!
— So I live off the leftovers, — Elena said bitterly. — And the main chunk goes to this mysterious A.S.
— We need to find out who that is. — Marina frowned, a fire lit in her eyes. — Do you have access to his phone?
— He put a password on it about three months ago. Said it was work stuff, confidential.
— Got it, — Marina nodded. — Classic red flag. In that case, keep a close eye on him. Maybe he’ll slip up, or you’ll find some evidence.
Elena nodded, but her stomach tightened into a painful knot. Could it really be that her husband had been lying to her all this time? Making her feel guilty over every ruble, lecturing her about three-hundred-ruble sausages, while secretly sending money to someone else?
— Maybe it’s not a woman, — Marina tried to soothe her, seeing her state. — Maybe it’s debt, or some investment, or something innocent.
— What kind of debt takes twenty thousand every two weeks? — Elena shook her head. — And if it’s innocent, why hide it?
Her sister shrugged. There really was no logical explanation.
— You know what bothers me the most? — Elena continued. — Not even the money. It’s that he makes me feel guilty for every penny. He lectures me about sausages, but he…
— Lena, sweetie, — Marina took her hand, — the most important thing now is to find out the truth. Then you’ll decide what to do.
— What if I don’t want to know the truth?
— You do. Because you’re not someone who lives with her eyes shut.
Elena was coming back from the store, carrying heavy bags. Once again, she had to buy the cheapest things—pasta, grains, sausages. There wasn’t enough money for decent meat, as usual in recent months.
As she approached the house, she saw a familiar red car in the yard. Svetlana, her husband’s sister. Elena frowned—this woman irritated her with her constant complaints and demands.
Climbing to the second floor and opening the door, Elena heard voices. Maksim was talking to his sister, and the tone of their conversation was far from friendly.
“…I can’t take it anymore, Sveta! My wife is already living on nothing but pasta, and you’re asking for even more!”
“And what, should I live on the street?” Svetlana’s voice was shrill and angry. “You promised to help until the house is finished! Or does your word mean nothing?”
Elena froze at the door, keys in hand. What were they talking about?
“I understand you have problems, but forty thousand a month is too much! I have a family to feed!”
“A family?” Svetlana snorted contemptuously. “That wife of yours just wastes money on her whims! And I’m stuck alone with a loan like an idiot! You said it yourself—we have to finish and sell the house, otherwise I’ll never pay off my debts!”
“I did say that, but I didn’t think it would drag on for a whole year…”
“No excuses!” Svetlana’s voice grew sharper. “You promised our parents you’d take care of me! They left you the bigger share of the inheritance, and what did I get? Scraps!”
“Sveta, I’m not refusing to help. Just… can we make it fifteen thousand? At least save a bit.”
“Fifteen?” the woman shrieked. “Are you out of your mind? My loan payment is thirty a month! Where am I supposed to find another fifteen—pluck it out of thin air?”
Elena slowly set the bags down on the floor. A.S.—Alexandra Svetlana. Her husband’s sister. So, no mistress after all. But that realization didn’t bring relief—it made things even worse.
“Maksim, if you start cutting back on me now, I won’t be able to pay the bank! Then they’ll take the house along with the land! Is that what you want? For everything to be lost?”
“No, of course not…”
“Then stop whining like an old woman! Your wife can survive these hardships somehow. Let her find a job if you don’t have enough money! After all, it’s not like she’s disabled!”
“I forbade her to work, you know that…”
“Then shut up and pay without whining! I’m not asking for this money forever. Once I sell the house, I’ll return every penny—with interest.”
“And what if you don’t sell it?” Maksim asked timidly.
“I will sell it!” Svetlana snapped. “Just don’t interfere with me building a proper house—not some kind of shack!”
Elena quietly placed the keys on the console table. Maksim and Svetlana were standing in the living room with their backs to her, still arguing.
“Sveta, understand—she’s already asking where the money is going. She’ll figure it out soon…”
“Then tell her the truth, if you’re so honest!” Svetlana turned and saw Elena. “Oh, here she is. Just in time.”
Maksim spun around sharply. His face instantly turned red.
“Lena… when did you get here? We didn’t hear…”
“Long enough,” Elena replied coldly, taking off her coat. “Long enough to hear everything in detail. Very enlightening, I must say.”
“Lena, sweetheart, I can explain everything…”
“Of course you can. I’m very curious to hear your explanation. Especially the part about how I spend money on my whims.”
Elena walked into the living room, and Maksim nervously glanced between his wife and his sister.
“You see, Sveta really is in a tough spot. The house isn’t finished, the loan is huge. Our parents asked me to look after her…”
“Look after her?” Elena gave a bitter laugh. “You call this ‘looking after’? Forty thousand a month is more like full-board support.”
“How do you know the exact amount?” Maksim asked suspiciously.
Elena pulled a bank statement from her purse and waved it in front of her husband’s face.
“From here, darling. Bank statements are a wonderful thing—they show everything without filters. Now tell me honestly: how many months have you been ‘looking after’ your dear sister like this?”
Maksim lowered his head like a guilty schoolboy.
“Almost a year…”
“Almost a year,” Elena repeated slowly, as if tasting the words. “So, for almost a year you’ve been making me live on cheap sausages, buy clothes at second-hand shops, and save every penny… while sending this woman—” she turned to Svetlana with a contemptuous look, “—half your salary.”
“Hey, hey, watch your mouth, sweetheart!” Svetlana snapped aggressively. “I’m not just ‘this woman,’ I’m his sister! And I have a legal right to my brother’s help!”
“Legal right?” Elena laughed mockingly. “That’s an interesting legal take. On someone else’s money, apparently?”
“On my brother’s money!” Svetlana shrieked. “And what do you have to do with it? You don’t even work—you’re just leeching off him like a parasite!”
“At his own insistence, I might add!” Elena shouted. “And I’ve been living on pasta and sausages while you’re building yourself a palace!”
“Girls, let’s calm down…” Maksim tried to intervene in a pitiful voice.
“Shut up!” both women barked at him in unison.
Svetlana stepped toward Elena aggressively.
“Listen carefully, darling. Maksim is my only family left after our parents died. And if they asked him to take care of me, then that’s how it’s going to be—until the end!”
“At the expense of someone else’s family?” Elena didn’t back down an inch. “At the cost of me walking around in worn-out shoes and patched-up clothes?”
“No one forced you to marry him!” Svetlana sneered venomously. “If you don’t like your life—get a divorce and stop whining! The door to freedom is wide open!”
A heavy silence fell over the room. Maksim stared at the women with growing dread.
“You know what, Svetlana?” Elena said quietly, her voice dangerously calm. “That’s a brilliant idea. Absolutely perfect. Get out of my house. Right now.”
“What?” Svetlana was taken aback.
“I said get out! Immediately. And don’t ever set foot in here again.”
“Elena, don’t be so harsh…” Maksim began, his voice pleading.
“You too—out,” Elena turned to him, her voice steely. “Out of my apartment. Go live with your precious sister since she clearly means more to you than your own wife.”
“Are you insane?” Svetlana shrieked. “You have no right to throw us out! This isn’t even your apartment!”
“Oh, but I do have that right, sweetheart,” Elena smiled coldly. “The apartment is in my mother’s name. Which means it’s legally mine too. Maksim is only entitled to a place to sleep. Nothing more.”
Maksim went pale. He had always known the apartment came from his mother-in-law, but he’d never considered the legal implications.
“Elena, darling, let me explain…”
“No, now you listen to me, dear husband,” she walked into the living room and grabbed Maksim’s jacket from the chair. “For a whole year, you let me go hungry to support her whims.”
“What are you talking about?” Maksim tried to snatch the jacket. “What hunger? You didn’t starve!”
“What would you call living on twenty thousand a month while half your salary went to your precious sister’s ‘construction fun’?”
Elena stormed to the closet and began tossing his clothes into the center of the room.
“Elena, stop! Please!” Maksim rushed to her in a panic. “Let’s just talk this through! We can find a compromise!”
“There’s nothing left to discuss. Get out and don’t come back.”
“Elena, you don’t understand the whole situation!” Maksim grabbed her wrists. “Svetka’s going to sell the house and pay everything back! I wasn’t spending that money forever!”
“Keep lying,” Elena snapped, tearing herself free. “You lied to me for a year—you’re lying now without a shred of shame.”
“I’m not lying! She promised she’d return it all!”
“Your sister?” Elena laughed bitterly. “The same one who just told me to get divorced and disappear? Maksim, have you completely lost your mind?”
She continued methodically stuffing his things into a duffel bag. Maksim paced in despair.
“Elena, please! She’s my only family!”
“And what am I, then?” Elena turned slowly. “A temporary roommate? A passing stranger?”
“You’re my beloved wife…”
“Were my wife. Now get out of my house—and take your ‘family’ with you.”
“Your house?” Maksim tried to scoff. “We’ve lived here together for three years!”
“You only sleep and eat here. The apartment is my mother’s, and legally mine as well. Everything’s by the book.”
Maksim turned white as a sheet. He knew she was right.
“Elena, I swear I’ll change…”
“Too late for pretty promises.”
Elena dragged the heavy bag to the front door and flung it open.
“Out. Both of you. Now.”
“How dare you!” Svetlana shrieked.
“Oh, I dare. And quite easily, it turns out,” Elena replied calmly. “Now leave before I call the police for trespassing.”
For three days, Maksim crashed at his friend Sergey’s place, calling Elena every day. She never picked up. On the fourth day, he decided to come home.
The door was opened by Aunt Galya, the neighbor.
“Maksim, what are you doing here? Elena’s at the registry office. She filed for divorce.”
“What?” Maksim leaned against the wall. “When?”
“Yesterday morning. Said she was tired of being married to a liar. Guess she’s had enough of your tricks.”
“Oh come on, Aunt Galya—it’s not that simple…”
“Actually, it is,” she said, shaking her head. “Elena’s a smart girl. It was only a matter of time before she saw the truth.”
Maksim turned and trudged toward the elevator. So it was serious. Elena wasn’t coming back.
His phone rang. Svetlana.
“Maksim, where’s my money? The payment’s due tomorrow!” she snapped right out of the gate.
“Svetka, I’ve got problems…”
“I don’t care about your problems!” she shrieked. “I have a bank to pay! Did you forget your obligations?”
“I can’t right now… Please understand—it’s complicated…”
“What do you mean you can’t? Are you completely insane? I’m not some charity!”
“Elena filed for divorce. I lost the apartment…”
“So what?” she screamed. “Rent another one and pay me! I’m drowning in debt because of you! You think the bank will care about my tears?”
“Because of me?” Maksim finally snapped. “You’re the one who built a house! That was your decision!”
“On your advice!” she howled. “You told me to build, said you’d help! Now what—suddenly forget that?”
“I didn’t think you’d blow most of the inheritance on nonsense! You should’ve thought it through!”
“You should’ve thought about that earlier! Now pay up! And save me the lecture!”
“Svetka, please—give me time…”
“You’ve had plenty of time!” she barked. “I’m done with your fairy tales!”
Maksim hung up and realized: there was no going back.
Six months later.
Maksim was renting a shabby apartment, giving half his salary just for rent. He couldn’t afford to support Svetlana anymore. She called him every day—yelling, threatening, demanding.
“Svetka, I can’t keep giving you forty thousand!” he said wearily.
“Oh really, sweet brother?” she hissed. “How much can you give? Ten? Fifteen? A fiver for tea?”
“Ten. That’s my max.”
“Ten?!” she cackled. “You joking? My payment’s thirty! Have you lost your damn mind?”
“Then sell the house. I see no other way.”
“Sell it unfinished?!” she wailed. “They’ll give me peanuts! Do I look like an idiot?”
“It’s better than the bank repossessing it. Be reasonable, Svetka…”
“Don’t lecture me!” she screamed. “It’s your advice that landed me in this swamp!”
“No one forced you to throw money around,” Maksim replied calmly.
“Shut up!” she roared. “I don’t need your clever words! I need money!”
She kept swearing for another minute, then hung up. A month later, the bank sued her—she had missed three payments.
Svetlana sold the house for half its worth. She paid off the loan. When Maksim timidly asked for repayment, she laughed in his face.
“Repayment?” she scoffed. “Are you insane?”
“Svetka, I gave you nearly half a million…”
“So what?” she looked at him like he was stupid. “Because of you, I had to sell at half price! We’re even!”
“Because of me?”
“Damn right!” she shrieked. “If you hadn’t divorced, you’d be living with your wife, no rent, and I could’ve paid the loan! But thanks to you, I had to sell! The whole chain collapsed—your fault!”
“Svetka, are you serious?”
“Dead serious! And don’t come crawling to me again! I’ve got my own problems! Stop mooching!”
“Mooching? I gave you half a million!”
“You gave it. No one made you. Now live with the consequences!”
She turned and left, leaving Maksim speechless.
“Unbelievable…” was all he could mutter.
“Elena Andreevna, the documents are ready,” said the realtor, handing her the folder. “The house is yours.”
Elena signed the papers, took the keys, and walked out. Her cousin Nikolai was waiting—he had helped arrange the purchase in secret so Svetlana wouldn’t find out.
“Well, homeowner?” he grinned.
“Still feels surreal,” Elena admitted. “I thought the money from Mom’s apartment would last years—but then this opportunity came up.”
“Svetka was in a rush to sell. That’s why she let it go for half price,” Nikolai smirked. “Greed’s a cruel master.”
“Not greed—stupidity,” Elena corrected. “God didn’t bless her with much sense.”
They pulled up to the house: small, solid, with a charming porch. Only interior work remained.
“We’ll finish it in a year, maybe a bit more,” said Nikolai, assessing it. “I’ve got the right skills.”
“Kolia, you’re a lifesaver,” Elena hugged him. “Without you, I’d never have dared to do this.”
“This wasn’t a gamble,” he shook his head. “It was justice. Let something good come out of all this.”
A year later, the house gleamed with fresh paint and a new roof. Elena stood on the porch watering flowers when she heard a familiar voice.
“Lena!”
She turned. Maksim was walking through the gate—older, disheveled, desperate.
“What do you want?” she asked coldly, not stopping.
“Lena, forgive me!” He came closer. “I was such a fool! I see everything clearly now!”
“Oh really? After just a year? That’s fast—for you.”
“I still love you! Let’s start over!”
“And where was that love this past year?” she asked, setting the watering can down. “Not a single call. Not even flowers on my birthday.”
“I thought you didn’t want to talk to me…”
“You thought right,” she nodded. “And I still don’t.”
“Lena, please, I’ve changed! Svetka dumped me too—I get it now!”
“You mean now that you’re broke, you ‘get it’?” she laughed. “How touching.”
He took a step forward, but Elena grabbed the rake near the porch.
“One more step and I hit you with this.”
“Lena, I’ve got a job now…”
“Great,” she said. “Go work. Just not near me.”
“But we were happy once!”
“You were happy,” she corrected. “I was a fool. But that’s been fixed.”
“Please, give me a chance!”
“A chance?” she raised the rake. “You lost that when you picked your sister. Leave, Maksim. Now.”
He jumped back and ran to the gate.
“Think about it, Lena!” he shouted. “We can fix this!”
“I already did,” she called back. “I divorced you!”
The gate slammed. Elena watched and laughed.
“What a show,” Nikolai said, stepping outside. “How long was he lurking out there?”
“About ten minutes,” she said. “Probably rehearsing his lines.”
“He didn’t need them,” Nikolai smirked. “The rake said it all.”
Marina peeked from behind the house, laughing.
“I couldn’t help it! The way he ran from that rake—like in a movie!”
“He asked for it,” Elena shrugged. “Silent all year, and now he shows up begging. Life must’ve really hit him hard.”
“What about Svetlana?” Marina asked. “Does she know about the house?”
“Through mutual friends,” Nikolai nodded. “Word is, she threw a massive fit at Maksim—whole courtyard heard it. Accused him of betrayal.”
“Betrayal?” Elena frowned. “What info?”
“She thinks he told you about the house sale,” Nikolai explained. “Can’t believe she let it slip at the salon herself.”
Marina burst out laughing.
“Imagine her face—thinking poor Elena was hiding in corners, while she’s living in her house!”
“Not her house,” Elena corrected. “Mine. Bought fair and square.”
“She really doesn’t know yet?”
“Not yet,” Nikolai smiled. “But she’ll find out.”
“Let her,” Elena said coolly. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“The bath’s ready!” Nikolai called.
“Let’s go,” Elena said, hugging Marina. “Time to celebrate our freedom from leeches.”
Elena stood on her terrace, watching Maksim glance back one last time through the gate.
And in that moment, she realized—the circle had closed. The man who once lectured her on saving money was now begging the woman he had once deemed wasteful. And she—who bought his sister’s house for half the price thanks to her mother’s inheritance and her own perseverance—no longer felt anger or regret.
Only a quiet awe at how perfectly life had rearranged everything.