A sharp ring at the door slashed through the mourning silence of my apartment. Forty days hadn’t even passed since Kostya’s funeral; I still hadn’t learned how to breathe without him—yet my mother-in-law, Larisa Grigoryevna, was already standing on the threshold. Not alone. Beside her was a hunched man with a briefcase. She didn’t even … Read more
“If you file for child support, I’ll wring every last kopeck out of him when he grows up. It’ll be his debt, not mine.” Those words from my ex-husband became my sentence for the next eighteen years. I refused the money to protect my son, worked myself to the bone, and hid the terrible truth … Read more
The call came at three in the afternoon. Alina was standing at the reception desk, filling out patient cards, when her phone vibrated in the pocket of her white coat. Her mother-in-law’s number. Something had happened again. “Hello, Valentina Petrovna.” “Where are you?!” her mother-in-law’s voice was so loud Alina pulled the phone away from … Read more
Dasha stood in front of the mirror, adjusting her veil. The white dress she’d chosen so carefully six months ago now looked ridiculous to her. Nothing was the way she had dreamed it would be. “Are you ready?” Maksim walked into the room with a smile. “Everyone’s waiting.” She nodded, but something inside her tightened. … Read more
“Either you forgive the affair, or you leave,” Igor said—he didn’t even push his plate away. “Say that again.” “You forgive it—we live together. You don’t—you pack up and go to my mom’s. I’m sick of the interrogations.” “With who?” “Katya from my department. It was nothing. It happened. You’re always buried in reports anyway.” … Read more
Lena gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying not to pay attention to the grumbling from the passenger seat. Galina Petrovna, her mother-in-law, had been in a bad mood since morning. “Again you took this bumpy road!” the old woman grimaced, staring out the window. “As if there aren’t other routes!” “Mom, it’s shorter this way,” … Read more
The doorbell rang at the exact moment I was unpacking the last box of dishes. Three years after the divorce, and finally—my own little corner. A small but cozy two-bedroom on the fourteenth floor of a new apartment complex. A view of the park, morning light in the bedroom, and the silence I’d missed so … Read more
The security guard looked at Elena as if she’d shown up to a formal celebration in ripped jeans—not in a sharp suit, holding a box of antique porcelain. “Prokhorova Elena Viktorovna?” he ran a finger down his tablet. “You’re not on the list.” Behind him, through the slightly open doors of the Astoria banquet hall, … Read more
Olga stood by the window, staring out at the wet November courtyard where the wind chased yellow leaves along the fence. In the reflection on the glass, she could see her own face—pale, with dark circles under her eyes. Thirty-two years old, but she looked forty. She’d been meaning to fix her teeth for ages; … Read more
“Zhen, haven’t you ever thought…” Katya began, choosing her words carefully as she stirred the cooling tea in her cup with a spoon. “We’ve been together for almost two years. We live together. That’s still a stretch of time. Maybe it’s time we… made it official?” They were sitting in her kitchen—cozy and bright—where every … Read more