Irina set her bag down in the hallway and wearily took off her shoes. Another long day at the office was behind her—client negotiations, reports, planning meetings. The thirty-two-year-old woman wanted only one thing: to take a bath and have a quiet dinner with her husband. “You’re late again!” Alexei’s voice rang out from the … Read more
I stood under the icy streams of November rain, clutching to my chest a thoroughly soaked folder of documents—the last thread tying me to my former life, so calm and so unhappy. Water ran in chilling rivulets from my hair down the collar of a cheap jacket I’d bought on sale the spring before, now … Read more
Larisa set her cup of coffee on the windowsill and gazed thoughtfully out the window. She’d saved for this apartment for ten years, working two jobs. Every ruble she put aside, denying herself everything. And now… “Larochka, I decided to rearrange the furniture a bit,” came her mother-in-law’s voice from the living room. “That sofa … Read more
A Celebration at Someone Else’s Expense” Lidiya Sergeyevna was turning a glossy brochure from the restaurant “The Golden Fish” in her hands. The paper rustled pleasantly, the photos gleamed—each hall more beautiful than the last. Marble floors, champagne-colored draperies, glittering chandeliers, and place settings fit for a royal family. On the banquet menu page, a … Read more
Billionaire Stunned to Discover Waitress Is His Long-Lost Daughter — Unveiling His Wife’s Dark Secret The dining room murmured with crystal and low conversation, a hush reserved for people who measured time in billable hours and stock ticks. In the center banquette sat Edward Harrington, a man whose will had moved markets, and beside him … Read more
A dense, airless quiet pressed against the apartment, saturated with incense and the fading sweetness of lilies. Marina sat hunched at the edge of the couch as if the silence itself weighed on her shoulders. The black dress clung and itched, a rough reminder of why the rooms felt so lifeless: she had buried her … Read more
Daria carefully straightened the throw on the couch and glanced around her small studio apartment. Every item here had been chosen by her; every object was bought with honestly earned money. At eighteen, after her parents’ death, the girl was left completely alone with these thirty square meters in a panel building. At first it … Read more
Natalia stood by the window of her office on the twenty-third floor and looked at the city spread out below like a chessboard. From up here, everything seemed small and manageable. Cars crawled along the avenues like toys, people were tiny dots, and problems… the problems stayed somewhere down there, far below. But not today. … Read more
— “I almost got caught!” her husband was saying in a muffled voice. “Can you imagine—yesterday Olga saw me dropping Vasilisa off at the bus stop. I thought I’d go gray on the spot, but it all worked out. I managed to explain it away.” Goosebumps ran over Olga’s skin. She had taken her husband’s … Read more
Andrei had been carrying the same thought for months—he wanted to end the marriage. Quietly, without scandals or dramatic scenes. Just leave. Slip away, as if one day he walked out of the house and never came back. He and Maria had lived together for seven years. No children, no shouting matches, no bright emotions. … Read more