Your mother just announced that I’m supposed to hand over the keys to OUR apartment!” Marina burst into the bedroom, where Pavel was calmly scrolling on his phone while lying on the bed.
He looked up and shrugged, as if it were something completely ordinary.
“So what’s the big deal? Mom wants to have a spare set of keys, just in case.”
Marina froze in the doorway, unable to believe her ears. She and Pavel had bought this apartment with a mortgage only six months earlier, putting every last bit of their savings into the down payment—plus the money Marina had gotten from selling her grandmother’s dacha. And now her mother-in-law, Lidiya Petrovna, was demanding the keys as if the place belonged to her.
“Just in case?” Marina tried to keep her voice calm, even though she was boiling inside. “In case of what, exactly?”
Pavel set his phone aside and sat up on the bed.
“Anything can happen. What if something happens to us and Mom doesn’t have access to the apartment?”
“To us? What could possibly happen to us?” Marina stepped closer. “Pasha, we’re young, healthy people. Why does your mother need keys to our home?”
At that moment, Lidiya Petrovna walked into the room without knocking. She was about fifty-five, always impeccably dressed, with a perfect hairstyle and manicure. She gave her daughter-in-law an appraising look.
“Marina, dear, there’s no need to get so worked up over something so trivial. I simply want to be able to help you if necessary. For example, if you go on vacation, I can water the plants, check on the apartment.”
“We don’t have any plants,” Marina answered dryly. “And we’re not going on vacation anytime soon. We have a mortgage to pay.”
Lidiya Petrovna smiled that particular smile that always made Marina tense up.
“My dear girl, you’re taking this far too personally. I’m Pasha’s mother, which means I’m part of your family. Is it really so bad that I want to be useful?”
“Mom’s right,” Pavel chimed in. “Marinka, you’re blowing this out of proportion.”
Marina looked at her husband in disbelief. Did he really not understand what was happening?
“Lidiya Petrovna,” she turned to her mother-in-law. “I appreciate your concern, but the keys to our apartment will stay with us. If we need help, we’ll definitely ask you.”
Her mother-in-law’s face changed instantly. The smile disappeared; her gaze turned cold.
“I see. So I’m a stranger to you. Fine. I’ll remember that.”
She turned and left the room. Pavel immediately jumped up from the bed.
“Why would you talk to my mom like that? She means well!”
“Means well?” Marina couldn’t believe his naivety. “Pasha, your mother wants to control our lives! First it’s the keys, then she’ll start coming over without warning, digging through our things…”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Pavel snapped. “My mom would never do that. She’s just caring.”
Marina exhaled. Useless. Pavel had always taken his mother’s side. From the very beginning of their relationship, Lidiya Petrovna had interfered in everything: choosing where they should live, what furniture to buy, even trying to dictate when they should have children. And Pavel supported her in all of it.
The next morning Marina woke to the sound of the front door opening. She shot up and ran into the entryway. Lidiya Petrovna was calmly taking off her shoes.
“Good morning, Marinochka! I brought you breakfast. I know you can’t cook.”
“How did you get in?” Marina was stunned.
“I have keys, dear. Pavlik gave them to me last night, after you fell asleep.”
Marina felt everything inside her go cold. Pavel had handed his mother the keys behind her back.
“Where’s Pasha?” she asked, trying to stay calm.
“In the shower, probably. I made his favorite syrniki. Go wash up and come eat.”
Lidiya Petrovna walked into the kitchen as if she owned the place. Marina stood in the entryway, unable to move. It was a nightmare.
Pavel came out of the bathroom, whistling some tune.
“Oh, Mom came! Great—I’m starving.”
“You gave her the keys,” Marina stared at him accusingly.
“Yeah. So what? We talked about it yesterday.”
“We talked—and I said no!”
Pavel frowned.
“Marina, stop making scenes. Mom has the right to have keys. She’s my mother.”
“And I’m your wife! And this is our apartment, not hers!”
“Don’t yell—Mom will hear.”
“Let her hear!” Marina couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I won’t let her invade our life!”
Lidiya Petrovna came out of the kitchen with an offended expression.
“I heard everything. If my presence bothers you so much, I’ll leave. But know this, Marina—you’re making a big mistake turning a husband against his mother.”
“I’m not turning anyone against anyone!” Marina shot back. “I just want our home to be our family. Just me and Pasha.”
“So I’m not family?” Lidiya Petrovna theatrically pressed a hand to her chest. “Pavlik, did you hear what your wife just said?”
Pavel looked back and forth between his mother and his wife, confused.
“Mom, Marina didn’t mean it like that…”
“That’s exactly what I meant!” Marina cut in. “We’re adults, we have our own family. And we have a right to privacy.”
Lidiya Petrovna shook her head.
“Privacy… Modern young people come up with the silliest things. In our day, family was family. Everyone helped each other, cared for each other. And now what—privacy!”
She grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
“I’ll leave the breakfast on the table. And the keys too. I don’t want to be a nuisance.”
She demonstratively placed the keys on the little table and left. Pavel immediately ran after her.
“Mom, wait!”
Marina was left alone. She walked over, picked up the keys, and clenched them in her fist. The locks needed to be changed—urgently.
That evening Pavel came home dark as a storm cloud.
“Are you happy now? Mom’s upset. She says she’s not coming here anymore.”
“Great,” Marina replied calmly. “Maybe now we can finally live a normal life.”
“Normal?” Pavel raised his voice. “Normal is when a wife respects her mother-in-law! When there’s peace and harmony in the family!”
“Peace and harmony aren’t built on one person submitting to another person’s whims,” Marina argued. “Your mother wants to run our lives, and you enable her.”
“She’s my mother! The only close person I have left after my father died!”
“And what am I?” Marina asked quietly. “Am I not close to you?”
Pavel fell silent, then sighed.
“Of course you are. But Mom… she’s done so much for me. I can’t hurt her.”
“So it’s okay to hurt me?”
“I’m not hurting you! I’m just asking you to be understanding.”
Marina stood and walked to the window. Outside, it was already dark; streetlights had flickered on.
“Pasha, I love you. But I can’t live under your mother’s control. Either we are a separate family—or…”
“Or what?” Pavel came closer. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m just telling you how it is. Think about it.”
The next few days passed in tense silence. Pavel demonstratively didn’t speak to Marina, and she made no attempt to make up. On Friday evening, the doorbell rang.
Marina opened the door. Lidiya Petrovna stood there, and behind her was an unfamiliar young woman, about twenty-five.
“Hello, Marina. This is Alyona, my friend’s daughter. I thought Pavlik would enjoy meeting such a lovely girl.”
Marina went numb.
“What? Why?”
“Well, if you’re so set against our family, maybe Pavlik should consider other options,” Lidiya Petrovna smiled, but her eyes held a cold calculation.
“Are you out of your mind?” Marina couldn’t believe what was happening. “Pasha is married! To me!”
“For now,” her mother-in-law corrected. “But marriages where there’s no respect for elders don’t last long.”
At that moment Pavel walked out of the room.
“Mom? What are you doing here? And who is this?”
“Pavlik, meet Alyonochka. Remember, I told you about her? She’s a lawyer, very successful. And most importantly, she’s from a good family—one that knows how to respect parents.”
Pavel looked at his mother, then at Alyona, then at Marina, completely lost.
“Mom, this is inappropriate. I’m married.”
“Yes, for now,” Lidiya Petrovna repeated. “But Alyonochka will be happy to talk with you—if circumstances ever change.”
Marina felt a wave of rage rising in her chest.
“Get out of my house. Now. Both of you!”
“Your house?” Lidiya Petrovna smirked. “As far as I know, the apartment is in Pavlik’s name. So it’s more his home.”
“It’s in both our names!” Marina shot back. “And I have the same right to be here and decide who comes in!”
“Mom, please leave,” Pavel said unexpectedly. “This is really too much.”
Lidiya Petrovna stared at her son in surprise.
“Pavlik, what are you doing? I’m trying for your sake!”
“Mom, go. Marina and I need to talk.”
His mother pressed her lips together, but turned and left, leading the embarrassed Alyona away.
When the door shut, Pavel dropped onto the couch and covered his face with his hands.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was planning this.”
Marina sat down beside him.
“You’ll talk to her—so what? You’ll tell her she’s a little wrong? That she should be a bit more delicate?”
Pavel lifted his head and looked at his wife.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to choose. Either you’re with me—and then we set boundaries with your mother together. Or you’re with her—and then we need to separate.”
“Is that an ultimatum?”
“It’s a necessity. I can’t live like this anymore.”
Pavel was silent for a long time. Then he stood and went to the window.
“She was always there. After Dad died, it was just the two of us. She devoted her whole life to me.”
“And now she thinks you owe her? That you should sacrifice your happiness?”
“Are we unhappy?”
Marina gave a bitter half-smile.
“Pasha, your mother just brought you a potential bride. Into our home. Do you think that’s normal? Is that what a happy family looks like?”
Pavel turned back.
“No, it’s not normal. But you have to understand—I don’t know how to say no to her. She always knows exactly how to push, what to say…”
“That’s called manipulation, Pasha. And until you learn to stand up to it, we won’t make it.”
That night they slept in separate rooms. Marina lay awake for a long time, thinking about what to do next. She loved Pavel, but she couldn’t live under his mother’s command anymore.
In the morning her phone rang. It was her friend Sveta.
“Marin, did you see it?”
“See what?” Marina asked sleepily.
“Your mother-in-law posted on social media—about what an ungrateful daughter-in-law you are. And photos of that girl she’s trying to set Pasha up with.”
Marina jolted upright.
“What?!”
She opened the app and found Lidiya Petrovna’s page. Sure enough, there was a long post about how modern daughters-in-law don’t respect mothers-in-law, destroy families, and turn husbands against their mothers. And there were several photos of Alyona with the caption: “This is the kind of girl who knows how to value family traditions.”
Marina felt her blood boiling. That was the final straw.
She got dressed and walked out of the room. Pavel was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
“Your mother crossed the line,” Marina said, showing him her phone.
Pavel read the post and went pale.
“I didn’t know… She shouldn’t have…”
“But she did. And you know what? I don’t care that you didn’t know. You should have seen it coming. You should have protected me—protected our family. But you didn’t.”
Marina went into the bedroom and started packing.
“What are you doing?” Pavel stood in the doorway.
“Leaving for my parents’. I need time to think.”
“Marina, wait! Let’s talk!”
“About what? Your mother humiliated me publicly, and you’re not even doing anything about it.”
“I’ll talk to her! I’ll ask her to delete the post!”
“Ask?” Marina stopped and looked at him. “Pasha, are you a grown man or a little boy? Why are you asking instead of demanding? Why do you allow her to treat your wife like this?”
Pavel said nothing. His eyes were full of confusion and helplessness.
“I don’t know,” he admitted at last. “I really don’t know how to fight her.”
“But I do,” Marina snapped the suitcase shut. “You just say ‘no.’ Firmly. Clearly. But you can’t. And that’s the whole problem.”
She grabbed the suitcase and headed for the door. Pavel tried to stop her.
“Marina, please! Give me a chance to fix everything!”
“You already had one. More than one.”
Marina walked out, leaving Pavel standing in the entryway with his arms hanging limp.
Marina spent a week at her parents’ house. During that time Pavel called every day, wrote messages, even came over—but she refused to see him. She needed to sort herself out, to understand whether she was ready to fight for this marriage.
On the eighth day, Lidiya Petrovna called unexpectedly.
“Marina, we need to talk.”
“What is there to talk about?” Marina asked coldly.
“About Pavlik. He’s falling apart without you. He’s not eating, not sleeping. I’m worried.”
“You should have thought about that earlier—when you brought him brides and wrote nasty things about me online.”
“I deleted that post,” her mother-in-law admitted reluctantly. “And… I’m ready to apologize.”
Marina was surprised. She hadn’t expected that from Lidiya Petrovna.
“Apologize? You?”
“Yes. I lost my temper. Pavlik explained to me that he was wrong. And I was wrong too. Maybe we can meet and talk?”
Marina hesitated. On one hand, she didn’t believe her mother-in-law was sincere. On the other, maybe it was a chance to improve things.
“Fine,” Marina said. “Let’s meet tomorrow at a café.”
The next day Marina arrived at the agreed place. Lidiya Petrovna was already waiting. She looked unusual—without her usual “battle makeup,” dressed simply.
“Thank you for coming,” she began. “I’ve thought a lot these past few days. Pavlik told me things I didn’t want to hear—about how I’m ruining his life with my ‘care.’”
Marina listened in silence.
“I raised him alone. After my husband died, he was all I had left. And I probably got too attached. I couldn’t let go.”
“Lidiya Petrovna,” Marina said gently, “I’m not trying to take your son away from you. I want Pasha and me to have our own life, but I want you in it too. Just not as a manager—rather as a close person who respects our boundaries.”
Her mother-in-law nodded.
“I understand. And I’ll try. I can’t promise it will be easy right away—habits are second nature. But I’ll try.”
“And what about the keys?”
“I won’t take them. That’s your home.”
Marina felt some of the tension ease.
“Does Pasha know about our meeting?”
“No. I wanted to talk to you first. Marina, I’m asking you—go back to him. He loves you. He really loves you. I can see it.”
“And you? Will you be able to accept me?”
Lidiya Petrovna paused, then smiled—for the first time sincerely.
“You know, you’re the only one who ever managed to stand up to me. All Pavlik’s previous girlfriends either obeyed or ran away. But you fought. For him. For your family. And that… that commands respect.”
After the conversation with her mother-in-law, Marina went home. Pavel met her in the entryway—unshaven, eyes red, thinner.
“Marina! You’re back!”
He rushed to her, hugged her tightly, pressed her to himself.
“Forgive me! I was an idiot! I should have protected you, not hidden behind my mom’s skirt!”
“Pasha, let go—you’re crushing me!” Marina wriggled free. “We need to talk seriously.”
They sat on the couch, and Marina told him about the meeting with Lidiya Petrovna.
“She came to me too,” Pavel confessed. “After you left. We talked for a long time. For the first time in my life I told her she isn’t always right. That her care suffocates me. It was hard, but I did it.”
“And how did she react?”
“At first she got offended. Then she cried. And then… then she admitted she’s afraid of being alone. That she clings to me because she has nothing else to cling to.”
Marina took his hand.
“She needs her own life. Hobbies, friends—maybe even a relationship.”
“I suggested she sign up for yoga classes. She’s always wanted to, but kept putting it off.”
“That’s a good idea.”
They fell quiet. Then Pavel turned to her.
“Marina, will you forgive me? Will you give us another chance?”
“On one condition. We’re a team. Always. No matter what happens—us together. Not you and your mom against me, but you and me as a family.”
“I promise. I swear. We’re a team.”
Six months passed. Life gradually settled down. Lidiya Petrovna really did sign up for yoga, found new friends, and even started dating a man from her group. She would come over to visit Marina and Pavel, but she always called ahead—and never stayed too late.
One evening, as the three of them were having tea in the kitchen, Lidiya Petrovna suddenly said:
“You know, I think it’s time you two had a baby.”
Marina and Pavel exchanged a look, bracing for a new battle. But her mother-in-law raised a hand.
“Stop! I’m not insisting! I’m just sharing an opinion. It’s your decision. When you’re ready, you’ll have one. And I’ll be the best grandmother—who comes only when invited and doesn’t give unsolicited advice!”
They all laughed. Marina looked at her husband and her mother-in-law and thought that sometimes crises are necessary—to become stronger. To learn to defend your boundaries and build a real family