“When will you be gone?” whispered my daughter-in-law. Her breath was warm and smelled of cheap coffee. She thought I was unconscious, just a body stuffed with medicines. But I was not asleep. I lay under a thin, hospital-issue blanket, and every nerve in my body had turned into a taut string. Under my palm, … Read more
After their father’s funeral, the children returned to his three-room apartment on Leninsky Prospect. It smelled of old books, medicine, and that very same “Chypre” cologne their father had been buying since Soviet times. Valentina, the eldest sister, immediately sat down in the armchair by the window. That was always where Petr Semyonovich used to … Read more
Anna stood on the veranda of her new house, watching the sun slowly sink behind the lake. A confident woman of about forty, she was used to achieving everything on her own. Her stable business allowed her to turn dreams into reality. And this house was her personal victory. Ten years of marriage to Alexey … Read more
Lera was standing by the mirror in the hallway, touching up her lipstick, when the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock — half past six in the evening. Sergey hadn’t come home from work yet, and she was supposed to meet a friend at a café. The bell rang again, more insistently. “Lera, open … Read more
— Semyon, you didn’t even ask! — Margo slammed the bags down on the table, and apples rolled everywhere. — You just told Mom, “Of course, live here,” but did you think about me? Semyon scrambled to catch the rolling fruit. — Margosh, what could I do? Her pipe burst, the apartment is flooded. She … Read more
Irina was sitting at her desk when someone knocked on the office door. Oleg peeked inside, looking at the familiar space with a somehow new gaze. “May I come in?” he asked, though he had already stepped over the threshold. She nodded without taking her eyes off the screen. The house had been inherited from … Read more
— Arina! Open up already, what are you dithering for? I’m not a stranger standing here! Lidiya Ivanovna’s voice thundered in the silence of a Saturday morning just as Arina was fumbling for the key in the lock. Apparently, her mother-in-law had been lurking by the door—otherwise, how else to explain her materializing on the … Read more
Kristina carefully arranged the documents on her desk. The whole day had been tense. Negotiations with new clients had stretched into the late evening. But it was worth it — a major contract was signed. At home, she was greeted by silence. Roman was sitting in the kitchen in front of his laptop. His face … Read more
She knelt beside his table on the busy sidewalk, gently holding her baby close. “Please, I’m not asking for money—just a moment of your time.” The man in the suit looked up from his glass of wine, unaware that her simple request would unravel everything he thought he knew. The city buzzed all around—honking horns, … Read more
My Husband and His Parents Demanded a DNA Test for Our Son — I Agreed, But What I Asked in Return Changed Everything I never thought the man I loved—the father of my child—would ever look me straight in the eye and doubt that our son was his. Yet, there I was, sitting on our … Read more