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“You won’t get a single ruble from me! You got yourselves into debt — you can pay it off yourselves!” the daughter shouted, slamming the door of her parents’ apartment.

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The commuter train was slowly approaching the familiar platform, and Anna pressed her forehead to the carriage’s cold windowpane. She hadn’t been to this town in five years. Five years of building a career in the capital, working twelve-hour days, saving on everything—even the coffee from the vending machine. Every kopek went into her dream … Read more

— Listen, Liz, I talked it over with Kostik, — Dima twirled his phone in his hands without looking at his wife.

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“Listen, Liza, I talked it over with Kostik,” Dima was turning his phone in his hands without looking at his wife. “He says it’s stupid to keep the apartment only in your name. If something happens, I’ll have to prove my rights later.” “What rights?” Liza froze with a towel in her hands. “It’s my … Read more

— Another glass of your best prosecco, please. And would you be so kind as to bring me the menu again?

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The champagne was icy and prickly, burning her throat with a thousand tiny needles. Olga drank it slowly—not like a festive drink, but like medicine. They brought her a huge platter on ice, strewn with oysters, shrimp, and halved crab claws. She ate methodically, without visible pleasure, as if performing an important but unpleasant task. … Read more

The day before my business trip, my friend leaned across the café table and lowered her voice. “Hide a voice recorder on top of the wardrobe,” she said.

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The recorder trembled in my grip—a small black rectangle no heavier than a bar of soap, yet it seemed to contain the wreckage of my entire life. I pressed play. Mike’s voice—warm, intimate, unmistakable—slid out of the tiny speaker. “Hey, beautiful. Your husband is leaving on a business trip tomorrow.” It was the same voice … Read more

I never expected to see him again—least of all here. The women’s health clinic breathed that familiar cocktail of antiseptic and stale coffee, a hum of soft conversation and the hiss of the espresso machine from the lobby alcove.

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I never expected to see him again—certainly not here. The women’s health clinic smelled faintly of antiseptic and stale coffee, the walls plastered with posters about prenatal vitamins and fertility timelines. I sat in the waiting room, tapping the corner of my appointment slip against my knee, willing my name to appear on the screen. … Read more

My dad ate dinner with us every night for three straight years and never once noticed that my plate was always, impossibly, spotless. My mother only needed to control one of her children. Me.

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For three straight years my dad sat at our table every night and never realized my plate was just a prop. My mother only ever needed to dominate one child. Not Ava—the flawless, size-zero, homecoming-queen-in-training—but me, the eldest daughter who, in her eyes, took up too much air, too much noise, too much space. The … Read more

“Good thing you’ve had your fun—now pack your things! By tomorrow I want the keys on the table!” her husband ordered.

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Irina set her bag down in the hallway and wearily took off her shoes. Another long day at the office was behind her—client negotiations, reports, planning meetings. The thirty-two-year-old woman wanted only one thing: to take a bath and have a quiet dinner with her husband. “You’re late again!” Alexei’s voice rang out from the … Read more

— “It seems you’ve forgotten that this apartment is mine — bought before the marriage!” I said coldly when I heard my husband confidently giving orders about my home.

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Larisa set her cup of coffee on the windowsill and gazed thoughtfully out the window. She’d saved for this apartment for ten years, working two jobs. Every ruble she put aside, denying herself everything. And now… “Larochka, I decided to rearrange the furniture a bit,” came her mother-in-law’s voice from the living room. “That sofa … Read more