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The air in Valentina Petrovna’s apartment was always saturated with two smells: mothballs and cheap coffee. Today a third was added—the stench of naked, icy hatred. “I don’t understand, Andrei,” my mother-in-law set her cup down hard, and brown liquid sloshed onto the snow-white tablecloth, leaving an ugly stain. “You could have found anyone. An … Read more

“Lena, let’s not make a scene,” Igor said the moment he stepped over the threshold, tossing his jacket onto the armchair—the very one she’d asked him a hundred times to leave alone. “I wasn’t planning to,” Lena answered coolly, not even looking at him. “What is it this time? Is someone moving in again? Or … Read more

Anna stood by the mirror in the hallway, fixing her hair. It was a Saturday morning, and she planned to spend the day with a friend—go shopping, stop by a café, just get away from home for a while. Away from these walls that had recently felt like a cozy nest but now seemed to … Read more

Marina put the phone down on the kitchen table and looked at Alexey. He was sitting across from her, absent-mindedly poking at his now-cold dinner with a fork, but his tense shoulders made it clear he was listening to every word his sister said. “You understand,” Svetlana’s voice came from the speaker with that familiar … Read more

Elena Sergeyevna had always worked from morning till night. Even as a child, when other girls played with dolls, she made clothes for them and sold them for pennies to the neighborhood kids. At university she tutored on the side, and afterward—straight into the office of a large company. When she realized she’d hit the … Read more

Marina lifted her eyes from the laptop, not immediately understanding what her husband had said. Pavel was standing in the kitchen doorway, holding a cup of half-finished coffee, looking at her with a somewhat guilty expression. “What did you say?” she asked, slowly closing the laptop lid. “Well, Lena asked…” Pavel shifted awkwardly from foot … Read more

Natalya stood by the window, watching her husband Alexei and his mother struggle out of the elevator with heavy grocery bags. They were discussing something, and by her mother-in-law’s gestures it was clear the conversation was once again about her. Lidiya Petrovna waved toward their third-floor apartment, shook her head, and pressed her lips together—the … Read more

Natalya stood at the stove, slowly stirring the oatmeal. The kitchen was dead quiet, broken only by the soft crackle of the gas. A cold dawn pressed through the window—gray-blue, like the fogged eyes of a tired person. “Natash, you didn’t forget that Mom needs her blood pressure taken before breakfast, did you?” Viktor’s voice … Read more

“I clearly remember leaving the new blouse on the bed,” Alina muttered, rummaging through the closet. A strange feeling hadn’t left her for weeks. Things in the apartment seemed to have a life of their own—moving around, disappearing, then turning up in unexpected places. The phone rang suddenly, making her jump. Her husband’s name lit … Read more

Yelena Pavlovna swept into the kitchen as if she were about to save the motherland. A cupboard door slammed; the dishes clinked. — Have you completely lost all shame? Shampoo for eight hundred rubles?! What is this, gold soap? Do you understand how much money that is? If you want luxury—buy it with your own … Read more