“Just make sure all the documents in Svetlana’s name are in perfect order,” Tamara Igorevna’s voice oozed metal and molasses at once. She was addressing the notary but looking at me. Her gaze was like a surgeon’s before an operation—cold, appraising, faintly disgusted. Her daughter, Svetlana, sat beside her with lips pressed tight. A copy … Read more
A tiny black lens was staring at her from between the spines of the books. Irina brushed the dust off the shelf and froze. Her fingers stopped a millimeter from the glass. This wasn’t part of the décor. It was a camera. Her brain refused to accept it, shoving forward rational explanations: maybe it was … Read more
My husband has decided he’s so important that he can lay down the law for me. My spouse, Dmitry, suddenly decided he’s the center of the universe and can boss me around. And how! His demands make my blood run cold. He threatened me with divorce if I don’t stop seeing my daughter, Alisa, from … Read more
Tatiana found out about her husband’s affair by accident. As so often happens, wives are the last to know. Only later did Tatiana grasp the meaning of her colleagues’ strange looks and the whispers behind her back. Everyone at work knew that her best friend, Nadezhda, was having an affair with her husband, Andrei. But … Read more
— “Al, I’m coming from Mom’s. She’s decided to start a renovation,” Igor tossed his keys onto the hall table and walked into the kitchen, where Alla, bent over a large sheet of drafting paper, was carefully drawing with a fine mechanical pencil. The air smelled of freshly brewed coffee and graphite. “She wants everything … Read more
The hall of the expensive restaurant was awash in lilies and an atmosphere of meticulously choreographed cordiality. Yelizaveta Ignatyevna Veresayeva, my mother-in-law, was celebrating her fifty-fifth birthday. She stood in the center of the room, in a sapphire-colored dress, basking in admiring looks. She raised her glass, sweeping the guests with the heavy, velvety gaze … Read more
— “The apartment goes to Vadim, and we’re buying a car for Sveta,” my mother’s voice—Galina Petrovna’s—poured through the room like warm oil, coating everything and lulling vigilance to sleep. She paused, looking over the three of us. Vadim immediately buried his face in his phone, and Sveta gave the slightest smile when she caught … Read more
— This year, don’t spend on yourself—pay for your sister’s wedding; we’ve already decided,” his father informed him. The voice on the phone sounded casual, as if his dad were saying they needed a loaf of bread for dinner. Nothing more, nothing less. Kirill froze, staring at his laptop screen. An Excel sheet glowed there—his … Read more
Dawn caught us on the dusty road leading out of the village. In one hand I clutched little Sonya’s palm; in the other— a light suitcase stuffed less with clothes than with disappointed hopes. The bus chugged away from the stop, carrying us from the place where, only a few hours earlier, I had still … Read more
“What do you mean your daughter is going to live with us now, Slava? Did you mix something up? This is my apartment, and I’m the only one who has the right to let anyone in!” Katya burst out, freezing in the doorway with grocery bags in her hands. She had just crossed the threshold … Read more