“Lilya, you don’t do anything anyway, you’re always at home with the baby,” her mother-in-law, Anna Leonidovna, kept repeating. “Is it really so hard for you, young and energetic as you are, to do the things I ask? I’m not asking too much of you. We’re one family now, and you, forgive me, behave like … Read more
Tatiana heard the doorbell while she was busy with the cake. Alexey was helping her in the kitchen—clumsily working with the cream and trying to pipe little roses along the sides. “Will you get that?” Tanya asked, nodding toward the hallway. “Of course,” Alexey wiped his hands and kissed her on the cheek. Tatiana smiled. … Read more
Some ‘homemaker’ you are,” the mother-in-law sighed loudly. “When Dima was sick, everything in my house sparkled. Have you even picked up a rag in your life?” “Now is not the time to clean, the child has a fever of almost forty,” Veronica replied. “A fever is not the end of the world,” Antonina Andreyevna … Read more
The TV in the living room had been buzzing since morning. Vasily, like always on his day off, was sprawled on the couch in sweatpants, scrolling the news on his phone with one hand and scratching his side with the other. It smelled of fried onions — I’d been busy in the kitchen since seven … Read more
“You do realize that even if you file for divorce, the apartment will have to be split, right?” “Yeah? And why is that?” “Because you two are husband and wife, that’s why. And anyway, it’s your own fault Igor started looking around on the side. You think I don’t know about his affairs? You’re so … Read more
Ksenia stirred the borscht again, glaring at the two sad pieces of beetroot lazily floating on the surface, while her husband had already been glued to his phone on the couch for half an hour. The kitchen smelled of garlic and irritation. “Vladimir, I’m begging you,” Ksenia tried to speak calmly, but her tone still … Read more
“What if I just get up and leave?” Marina’s voice sounded calm, but strangely out of place against the clink of a spoon against a plate. Vladimir lifted his eyes from his soup and frowned. “Where are you off to this time?” he muttered. “Your shift isn’t till the day after tomorrow. Or is this … Read more
Sign here, and the apartment will pass into the ownership of Antonina Pavlovna,” the notary held out the documents, but Marina’s hand froze in mid-air when she saw her mother-in-law’s triumphant smile. The notary’s office was stuffy despite the air conditioner humming away. Marina Sergeevna sat at a massive oak desk, clutching the pen so … Read more
To hell with her!” Oksana barked, flinging her handbag onto the shoe shelf in the hallway. Her keys flew to the floor with a metallic jingle. Artyom poked his head out of the living room, where he’d been watching football. One look at his wife’s face, and he understood at once: yet another meeting with … Read more
Valery Petrovich considered himself a man who kept everything under control. At work he was the head of a department, at home the head of the family, in life the master of his own fate. He was used to everything going according to his plan, and when something slipped off schedule, his voice would fill … Read more