Son, your aunt and the rest of the family are coming today, so forget about the sea!” his mother declared.

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“Damn it, I told you in advance!” Tonya was throwing summer dresses into the suitcase as if she were taking revenge on them for everything in the world. “I told you — we had to book in advance! And you: ‘We’ll make it, Tonka, don’t stress!’” Semyon was silently smoking on the balcony, staring at … Read more

All night I fought for the life of someone else’s baby, and by morning I found out he wasn’t someone else’s at all, but family… my husband’s own child.

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A quiet evening in the children’s ward of the hospital resembled a library more than a medical facility. Outside the window, dusk was slowly gathering, tinting the sky in shades of lilac, and in the corridors there reigned an almost meditative silence, broken only occasionally by the soft steps of a nurse or the muffled … Read more

My husband had pined for his ex-wife for years while she was building her career in the capital. And when she rushed to visit us, our son came out with something that made her jaw drop.

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Loneliness crashed down on him like a heavy, unbearable weight, leaving behind only a ringing emptiness and two small, defenseless hearts beating in time with his own confused, aching one. It felt as if life itself had lost all color, turning into a black-and-white negative where every morning was exactly like the last. He loved … Read more

You won’t break in half, you’ll help me receive the guests!” the mother-in-law barked at her daughter-in-law. But she picked the wrong woman to talk to like that.

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“Lilia, you don’t even do anything, you’re home with the child all the time,” Lilia’s mother-in-law, Anna Leonidovna, kept repeating. “Surely it’s not that hard for you, so young and energetic, to do what I ask? It’s not like I’m asking that much of you. We’re one family now, and you, forgive me, behave like … Read more

“You took our savings to buy your sister an apartment? Pack your things and go live with her,” I exploded.

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You withdrew our savings to buy your sister an apartment? Pack your things and go live with her,” I exploded, throwing the printed bank statement onto the couch. Denis froze in the doorway with a mug of coffee in his hand. His bewildered gaze darted between me and the cursed piece of paper. “Anya, wait, … Read more

I don’t care that you’re already on the train. Turn around, I’m not letting you in,” I told my mother-in-law over the phone.

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I was calmly wiping dust off the bookshelves, enjoying the silence. The renovation in the apartment still wasn’t finished—stacks of wallpaper were piled in the corner, and the kitchen smelled of fresh paint. My husband Sergei had gone to work, leaving me a list of things that had to be done by evening. Suddenly, the … Read more

My son brought a psychiatrist home to have me declared incompetent. He had no idea that this doctor was my ex-husband—and his father.

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Mom, open up. It’s me. And I’m not alone.” Kirill’s voice from behind the door sounded unusually firm, almost official. I put my book aside and went to the hallway, fixing my hair on the way. Anxiety had already taken root somewhere in my solar plexus. My son was standing on the doorstep, and behind … Read more

Mommy, live to be a hundred!”—that’s what my children were saying at my birthday table, not knowing I had already rewritten my will in favor of my neighbor.

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Mommy, live to be a hundred!” my son Dmitry raised his glass, and the crystal answered with a thin chime. His wife Lilia gazed at him devotedly, silently mouthing the same toast. My daughter Olga, propping her cheek in her fist, gave a lazy smile from the other end of the table. “Yeah, Mom, to … Read more

Mom, why do you keep interfering in my family? You already split up your son and his wife, then my brother, and now it’s my turn?!” the daughter burst out at her mother, jabbing at her phone with trembling fingers.

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Exactly at 11:00 all the relatives were sitting at the table of the already old, hunched, ninety-year-old granny, who really needed someone to look after her, not the other way around. The old woman barely understood what day it was or why she’d been sat at the table and given a shot of wine. She … Read more

Kirill walked into the apartment and immediately heard his six-month-old son Artyom crying. The apartment was dark and quiet; the man had no idea where his wife Alisa was.

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Kirill walked into the apartment and immediately heard his six-month-old son Artem crying. The place was dark and quiet; he had no idea where his wife Alisa was. Quickly shrugging off his coat and shoes, he headed straight to the baby’s room. “Easy, easy, Daddy’s here,” he soothed the little one, picking him up. “Where’s … Read more