Yana stood by the window with a cup of coffee and looked out at the city. This apartment was her pride—the result of five years of relentless work and saving. A two-room place in a new building, bright, with a view of the park. Every square meter was bought with her own money—no loans, no … Read more
The door slammed with an indifferent loudness, cutting off the sounds of the stairwell. Vadim stepped aside, letting her go in first. A girl. I knew they would come. He’d called earlier that day—his voice saturated with that brisk, businesslike cheerfulness I’d learned to hate—and told me an “important talk and a surprise” were waiting … Read more
The glass in Oleg’s hand flashed predatorily under the light of the crystal chandelier. The dinner he’d thrown for “his closest people” was in full swing. An expensive apartment in the city center, a table set as if for a reception at an embassy, exquisite dishes whose aromas barely broke through the cold scent of … Read more
Hermann was lying on the living-room sofa, wrapped in a blanket. For the third day his temperature had stayed above thirty-eight, and the doctor had strictly forbidden him to go to work. He worked as a sales manager in elite real estate and was proud of his achievements—over the past year he had closed several … Read more
Marina stood by the kitchen table, methodically sorting documents into neat piles. Each sheet had a colored sticky note—pink for utility bills, yellow for grocery receipts, green for household expenses. Her husband Anton sat across from her, leaning back in his chair with a look of complete confusion on his face. “You lived with me … Read more
I already had keys made for your apartment, so don’t worry,” Svetlana heard her mother-in-law’s voice from the kitchen, and the cup slipped from her hands. She walked into the living room. Her mother-in-law, Valentina Nikolayevna, was sitting regally in an armchair, and her husband Andrey sat opposite her. “Oh, Svetochka, sweetheart, we were just … Read more
Lida parked by the entrance and glanced at the time. Damn—it was forty minutes early. Raisa Mikhailovna couldn’t stand it when guests showed up at the wrong time. Especially her—Lidka, the outsider. “So what now?” she muttered, turning off the engine. She could sit in the car, but the neighbors would see her and report … Read more
Galina stood in the middle of the living room, feeling every cell of her body fill with anger. Alexey was sitting in an armchair with one leg crossed over the other, flipping through documents with the air of someone as if she were an uninvited guest in her own home. “I told you yesterday,” he … Read more
Galina slowly lifted her eyes from the book she’d been reading in the armchair. Vladimir stood in the middle of the room looking as if he’d just told her he’d gotten a promotion at work—not that she was supposed to move out of her own apartment. “You’re demanding I vacate the guest room? So what—am … Read more
Marina slowly set aside the calculator she had just used to tally the family budget. Their living room rang with a brittle silence. Outside, the March sun lit up Moscow’s rooftops, while inside the room was half-dark—Igor had drawn the curtains on purpose before this talk. “So what do you mean—your mother is going to … Read more