A waiter treated two little orphans to lunch— and 20 years later they found him.

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A snowstorm blanketed the quiet provincial settlement of Yasnaya Polyana, as if tossing a pristine white quilt over it and swallowing every sound. Across the windowpanes, icy patterns spread like embroidered lace, and along the deserted streets the wind moaned, carrying with it the whisper of long-forgotten memories. The temperature dropped to minus twenty-eight—the harshest … Read more

Nastya was already approaching the café when she heard familiar voices.

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Nastya was already approaching the café when she heard familiar voices: “Forget that anniversary,” Zhenya cooed softly and slowly, leaning right into the ear of Nastya’s best friend. “Come to your place. Or mine. Nastya won’t be coming back,” he added with a pleased little chuckle. “Sure,” Lilia replied, doubt in her voice. “Fine, I … Read more

All right, pack your stuff—my mom and the relatives are coming to live here until New Year, and none of them is happy to see you

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The apartment had come to Alyona from her parents. A two-room place on the fourth floor of an old brick building. The windows looked out onto the courtyard, where poplar trees grew and benches stood. Her parents had left all the paperwork in order, and six months later Alyona officially entered into the inheritance. She … Read more

This money will go into our family account,” my mother-in-law declared, taking my first salary envelope after maternity leave.

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“Sorry, but this money is going into our family account,” the mother-in-law’s voice sounded like a verdict when Marina showed her husband the envelope with her first paycheck after maternity leave. “In this house, everything is shared. It’s always been that way.” Marina froze in the living-room doorway. Her fingers went white around the precious … Read more

“Get out of my house, you barren, useless flower!” the mother-in-law screamed, hurling a vase at the wall—never suspecting it was her son who had been hiding the truth.

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A glass vase filled with orchids flew straight into the wall, shattering into a thousand fragments. “Out of my house, you barren, useless flower!” her mother-in-law’s voice trembled with rage, her face turning purple with anger. Larisa stood in the middle of the living room, unable to believe her ears. Five years of marriage, five … Read more

“And I didn’t understand—where’s the holiday lunch? Get everything cooked fast, or you’ll go flying out of the house!” Larisa hissed.

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Get out of here while you’re still in one piece!” Tanya shouted, and her phone flew into the wall. The screen went dead, spraying shards across the linoleum. Good. Let that snake stop calling. Let her shut up with her orders, her poisonous voice, those endless: “Where is it?” “Why isn’t it like this?” “Denis’s … Read more

I want a fur coat, and a car for Valera! Screw the apartment—we’ve already got somewhere to live!” the mother-in-law threw a fit when she found out about my inheritance.

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“You didn’t wash the cups properly again, Lida! Look at these marks!” Tamara Petrovna’s voice sounded like an alarm—sharp, metallic. Lida stood at the sink, lips pressed tight. Foam from the dish soap clung to her mouth; anger burned in her eyes. “Mom, I just washed them,” she said quietly, but evenly. “Washed them… sure. … Read more

Gleb, why do you need a mortgage if your wife has a spacious apartment?” Alya overheard her husband talking to his parents-in-law.

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“Still, Gleb, I think we really need to think this through before taking on obligations like that,” Alya said, carefully studying the documents spread out on the kitchen table. “Alevtina, we’ve discussed this a hundred times already. A new apartment is our future,” Gleb said, impatiently drumming his fingers on the tabletop. “Three rooms instead … Read more

You won’t be getting any gifts — you’re nobody to me,” said her mother-in-law. But for the first time, Olga didn’t stay silent.

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Now that was a New Year’s, alright. Olga would later remember it like a very bad, very cruel fairy tale—one where she wasn’t Cinderella at all, but some useless, dusty thing they’d forgotten to throw out of the house. They celebrated, as usual, at Galina Petrovna’s place. A lavish table, set so heavily that the … Read more

“Yes, I did receive an inheritance. No, I’m not putting a share in my mother-in-law’s name! And yes—people live by my rules here now, not yours!”

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“Did you buy those pasta again for a hundred and twenty?” The voice from behind the door sounded as if Yulia had messed something up somewhere. “I told you—in ‘Pokupochka’ they’re eighty-five!” Yulia froze in the kitchen with the grocery bags—she had only just set them on the table. Her hands were trembling with fatigue, … Read more