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First earn money for an apartment and buy one yourself—then you can play the master in it! Until then, don’t even open your mouth here

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“Yanka, hi! I’m nearby — can I swing by in half an hour? I grabbed your favorite cheesecake from that same pastry shop!” The voice message from Marina that popped up on Yana’s phone made her smile. She set her book aside and stretched, feeling lazy Saturday bliss spread through her body. Her apartment—bright, spacious, … Read more

—I don’t give a damn what your mother wants, Dima! I said your sister will not be living with us while she studies

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— Sveta, come on, she’s my sister. Mom won’t survive it if she has to live in a dorm,” Dmitry’s voice was coaxing and pleading. It was the third time that evening he’d started up the same old record, carefully skirting the sharp corners he himself had created. Svetlana silently set her fork down on … Read more

And we’ll move into your apartment since you’re at ours all the time,” the daughter-in-law taught her mother-in-law a lesson.

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Marina heard the familiar doorbell and gripped the ladle so hard her knuckles turned white. Tuesday. Eleven a.m. The punctuality with which Valentina Petrovna showed up could have put Swiss watches to shame. “Andy, your mom’s here!” came the voice from the entryway, and Marina closed her eyes and counted to ten. It didn’t help. … Read more

If you need money that badly, Marina Vitalyevna, then go and earn it—don’t extort it from me under the pretext that you’ll turn your son against me

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Your tea, Svetočka, is still tasteless. Just like grass. And in those little teabags too—like in a factory cafeteria.” Marina Vitalyevna said it in that special tone that both stated a fact and expressed the deepest sympathy for the wretchedness of someone else’s everyday life. She sat at Svetlana’s impeccably clean glass kitchen table and … Read more

— And now, darling, let me tell your relatives what you call them,” the wife said—tired of enduring her husband’s mockery in front of guests.

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Olga had felt it since morning — a heavy foreboding, like the air before a storm. Today all of Igor’s relatives would gather again. His mother’s birthday. A laid table, endless toasts, laughter, hugs. And his jokes. Always his jokes. She stood at the stove and looked out the window at the gray November sky. … Read more

— “We’re family—why all these IOUs?” my husband grinned, handing my stash of cash to his sister, who would “pay it all back later.”

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Anastasia left the office at exactly six in the evening, as always. The November wind slapped her in the face, but she was used to it. The bus took her to the right stop in twenty minutes; then it was five minutes on foot along the familiar route. The entranceway, third floor—the mother-in-law’s apartment. The … Read more

I gave your gift card to my sister. She needs an outfit for her office party, and you don’t go anywhere anyway,” her husband said coldly.

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Lena stood in front of the hallway mirror, studying her reflection. A gray turtleneck, old jeans, hair pulled into a messy ponytail. When was the last time she’d bought herself something new? Six months ago? A year? She ran a hand over her face, noticing new fine lines at the corners of her eyes. Thirty-two, … Read more

— “If you need money that badly, Marina Vitalyevna, then go out and earn it—don’t try to extort it from me by threatening to turn your son against me

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Your tea is still tasteless, Svetochka. Just grass-flavored water. And in those teabags, too—like in a factory canteen.” Marina Vitalyevna said it in that special tone that both stated a “fact” and expressed the deepest pity for the misery of someone else’s everyday life. She sat at the perfectly clean glass table in Svetlana’s kitchen, … Read more

— “What does my mom have to do with it? I decided myself that we need to save more! All she said was that you spend too much on clothes, but the decision that your salary will be with me now—I made that myself

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— Starting tomorrow, you hand over your card to me. And the password to the app. I’ll be the one allocating our money.” Kirill said it while standing in the middle of the living room. He didn’t look at Anna; his gaze was fixed somewhere on the wall, as if he’d rehearsed the line in … Read more

— No one invited you to our place, Yevgenia Petrovna! Are you going to leave on your own, or should I help you?

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— “I’m coming in.” The phrase, thrown from the doorway in a firm voice that tolerated no objections, hit Ksenia like a blast of icy wind. She hadn’t even fully registered who was standing in front of her when her mother-in-law’s monolithic figure was already seeping into the entryway, rudely shoving past her with a … Read more