“Mom’s celebration is more important than renovating your dacha. The dacha can wait. It’s not going to fall apart!” — the husband said boldly.

Olga glanced sideways at her husband, who was carefully carrying a large box with a laptop. Maksim literally glowed with happiness. A smile hadn’t left his face since they left the shopping center. The man kept adjusting the bow on the package as if it were a precious jewel. “Can you imagine how happy mom … Read more

— Katya, did Sasha already tell you? — the mother-in-law babbled. — Look! There will be forty people. So we’ll start cooking at night. I’ll come early at six in the evening the day before.

— Katya, did Sasha already tell you? — the mother-in-law rattled on. — Look! There will be forty people. So we’ll start cooking at night. I’ll come early, at six in the evening the day before. — What? At night? — the daughter-in-law smirked. — No, I didn’t sign up for that. — Just wait. … Read more

“No one needs me anymore,” sighed the neighbor grandmother, sitting on the bench. A month later, I was driving her to hospitals and warming homemade borscht for her.

The day was ordinary, like many others — fatigue weighed down after a long meeting, my head buzzing from the endless flow of information. In my bag were packages: buckwheat, milk, napkins for my son’s school. I was walking home, almost at the entrance to the building, when suddenly I heard a quiet voice: — … Read more

Every day, the boy buried something behind the school. But what was discovered later turned out to be much scarier than any guesses.

On the outskirts of a small provincial town in Central Russia stood an old school. Its walls were peeling from age, the asphalt in the yard cracked, and the lonely sandbox froze under icy gusts of wind in winter, while in summer it filled with the voices of children and leftover toys. Everything here was … Read more

A seriously ill businessman hired her for entertainment, unaware that she would become his salvation.

In one of the tallest skyscrapers of a modern metropolis, where glass reflects the clouds and life seems too distant and soulless, there lived a man named Maksim. He was a millionaire—not just rich, but incredibly successful, one of those self-made men: he started from nothing and in ten years built an empire in the … Read more

— Did you buy the meat? After all, we’re not coming to visit you empty-handed, — the relatives brought potatoes for the barbecue.

Marina ran her hand over the freshly painted fence board and smiled. The white paint had gone on smoothly, without drips, and now the plot looked completely different—not like an abandoned grandmother’s dacha, but like a real vacation home. “Alyosh, look how beautiful it turned out!” she called to her husband, who was busy with … Read more

After she inherited the estate, she moved to the most remote countryside, despite the mockery of her ex-husband. And when he found out exactly what she had inherited…

Marina stood by the window of the notary’s office, holding the documents in her hands. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might leap out of her chest, and her fingers trembled slightly. “Sign here,” the notary quietly said. This was not a fantasy or a waking dream — it was really … Read more

Rushing to the farm, the tractor driver handed the house keys to a homeless woman with a child… And when he returned, he cautiously peeked through the window — and froze.

Semyon stood by the window as if rooted to the floor. His heart froze, his breath stopped. Outside the glass, in the dim light of the evening sky, there was a light burning in the house. Not a bright, ordinary one — no. The light was strange, soft, as if a lamp was burning on … Read more