Lika was just finishing her coffee during a break between appointments — a warm, slightly bitter sip was supposed to help her perk up before the next couple of hours of intense work. She set the cup down on the table and reached for a napkin when, with a loud clatter, a chair dropped down … Read more
Rita hadn’t seen her son for two years. From the new photos he posted on his profile, she knew that Vasya was doing fine—though she didn’t see it that way. He met Marta in his final year at university. By then, Vasya had been dating a sweet girl named Ira for two years, a girl … Read more
— “Well, if you’ve decided to ruin your life—then go on, Tanya, get out! Just remember: apartments are dust. Today you have them, tomorrow you don’t. But a husband and a child—that’s a cross you’ll carry for the rest of your life!” Galina Petrovna hissed, her knuckles white as she clamped onto the countertop as … Read more
— “Do you even understand what you’ve done?!” Roman’s voice broke into a shout as the door slammed shut behind his mother. Alina stood by the window, holding a cup of tea that had already gone cold. The tea trembled—just like her hands. “I protected myself,” she replied quietly. “You threw my mother out!” Roman … Read more
The phone vibrated on the kitchen table, and Marina saw her mother-in-law’s name on the screen—her heart instantly dropped, like an elevator when it jerks into motion. “Marina, open up, I’m by the entrance with my things!” Galina Petrovna’s voice burst into the line without any greeting. Marina froze with a half-finished mug of coffee … Read more
Nikolai Vorontsov had been used to unconditional recognition of his merits since childhood. His mother idolized him, teachers admired him, girls swooned. And how could it have been otherwise? Tall, well-built, with a perpetual half-smile on his lips and a sly squint in his gray eyes. At university they nicknamed him “the lucky one”—he always … Read more
The phone rang at ten in the evening. An unknown number. “Hello?” “Good evening. Are you Sergei Kravtsov’s wife?” “Yes. What happened?” “Your husband is in the hospital. Admissions. City Hospital No. 1. Come right away.” My heart dropped. “What’s wrong with him?” “Come. The doctor will explain.” Dial tone. I grabbed my bag. My … Read more
Usually, the intercom buzzing at four in the afternoon meant Sergey had forgotten his keys. Without a second thought, Marina pressed the button to unlock the building entrance, not even asking who it was. She was just finishing watering the ficus in the living room—the very one they had bought together when they first moved … Read more
— You decided everything for me again? Dima burst into the kitchen as if someone had set him on fire from behind, slammed the refrigerator door, and stared at Katya like she’d personally offended his entire bloodline. Katya slowly lifted her eyes from her mug of tea, took a breath, and said calmly—but with that … Read more
From the very morning everything was going to hell, and I understood that better than anyone. Not because I felt unwell—no. But because overnight my life had cracked like a badly soldered pipe, and now a biting cold was seeping out of that crack. “Are you getting ready?” Lera, my cousin, asked when I paced … Read more