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For 40 years I thought my husband was just a simple mechanic. After his death I opened his old chest and realized I’d been living with a monster…

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Almost three weeks had passed since he was gone. The first days went by in a haze, then came the memorial on the ninth day. The apartment, scrubbed until it squeaked, felt empty and echoing. Her son Oleg came with his wife Sveta. Not just to visit, but to help. “Mom, how are you?” Sveta … Read more

I told you once that I’m not going to your parents’ place anymore, Misha, which means I’m not going! Stop trying to talk me into it! It just disgusts me how…

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“Dash, are you coming or not? Mom baked pies, she’ll be offended.” Misha was already standing in the hallway, fully dressed. He was wearing that very same blue jacket Dasha had given him for his last birthday. He shifted from foot to foot, glancing impatiently at her, curled up in the deep armchair in the … Read more

With brains like that you’re only fit to be a cleaning lady,” the director cackled, having no idea about the audit from head office.

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The Mercury office center greeted Sofiya Dmitrievna with cool, almost sterile air mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and a faint smell of new furniture. The Monday business bustle wrapped around her like a thick fog in which voices and footsteps seemed to dissolve. She automatically adjusted the frame of her unfashionable glasses, … Read more

With brains like that you’re only fit to be a cleaning lady,” the director cackled, having no idea about the audit from head office.

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The Mercury office center greeted Sofiya Dmitrievna with cool, almost sterile air mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and a faint smell of new furniture. The Monday business bustle wrapped around her like a thick fog in which voices and footsteps seemed to dissolve. She automatically adjusted the frame of her unfashionable glasses, … Read more

At work, the entire department, together with the female director, bullied her. Yesterday they fired me, and they celebrated their victory, but none of them knew that I…

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The air in the office was thick and motionless, almost tangible, as if you could reach out and touch it. The air conditioner was humming strainedly, but it couldn’t cope with the tension hanging in the space between the desks. For the rest of the world it was just an ordinary Thursday, a day like … Read more

She lived in constant fear of losing her frail husband—until she overheard him chatting with a nurse at the ward door. Her life turned upside down in five minutes.

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Marina froze at the entrance to the private clinic, drawing in a deep breath. The resinous scent of the surrounding pines mixed with the damp breeze that promised rain. That smell had always calmed her, but as soon as she took a step forward, the familiar sharp odor of bleach and antiseptic washed over her, … Read more

My HUSBAND LEFT ME ALONE at the bus stop — and suddenly a blind woman whispered: “PRETEND TO BE MY GRANDDAUGHTER”

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Evening fell over the city in a thick, impenetrable dusk, heavy and damp. The air was saturated with a clammy chill that seemed to seep straight into the soul, making you hunch your shoulders and look for shelter. Streetlights cast dim yellow pools onto the wet asphalt, and in their glow a fine, nagging drizzle … Read more

They used to call me a princess in a gilded cage until I ran away from their dollhouse and learned to earn my own bread and caviar with my own hands… And then my father crawled to my door.

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It seemed that from the very moment Margarita came into the world, fate itself had showered her with its gifts. Many who watched from the outside couldn’t suppress a quiet, sweet, and soul-corroding feeling. They saw only a flawless façade: a huge mansion behind a wrought-iron fence, cars with tinted windows taking the girl to … Read more

They threw me away like a useless thing to a village with no amenities, but now that I have a new home and a family, my “loving” relatives suddenly remembered where the red viburnum grows… And I found a way to pay them back in their own coin.

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In childhood, Lena’s life seemed solid and unshakable, like a sturdy house built on a firm foundation. She grew up in the suburbs of the great city on the Neva, in a family where there was a mother, a father, and an older brother. Not far away, in the very heart of the northern capital, … Read more

I hate you, you snake!” my mother-in-law rasped for all 20 years of our marriage. But there was one line in her will that knocked everyone off their feet..

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The heavy, cloying smell of her perfume hit me the moment the elevator doors opened. Alevtina Borisovna. She stepped into our tiny hallway, and the apartment instantly seemed to shrink, filled with that scent of expensive, suffocating powder. It was her smell. The smell of power. “Got yourself draped in rags again, Katerina?” Her gaze … Read more