Collecting the softened cream from the pastry, Alexandra sank deep into her thoughts and for a moment forgot where she was. She and her mother had met at a café to discuss the future of the atelier. Elena Vladimirovna could no longer manage on her own. Business was booming, and she was planning to expand. She’d decided to bring her daughter into the family enterprise. Although Alexandra was married, she was still the beloved daughter and a member of the family.
“What’s going on with you? You’ve been so pensive lately,” Elena Vladimirovna noted. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, Mom. Everything’s fine. Sorry. I was just lost in thought,” Alexandra nodded and smiled.
But was everything really fine? She and Kostya had been married only a month and a half, yet lately their family life had started to resemble two feuding households living side by side. She didn’t quarrel with her husband, but his mother’s behavior had become somewhat… strange?… She was constantly displeased with something, tried to needle her daughter-in-law, and told her son that his wife didn’t know how to keep house at all. Konstantin asked his mother to be more tolerant, and his wife—to do more. But how could she possibly do more? She already came home exhausted from work and then rushed into the kitchen to throw dinner together. Her mother-in-law wanted her to manage the wet mopping as well and to rewash all the clothes. In short, Alexandra was expected to wear herself out every day and collapse into bed dead tired—only to start it all over again the next day.
“I’ll do the laundry this weekend. There isn’t that much piled up yet.”
“You should be doing laundry every day, not letting this turn into who knows what! I never put it off. I got everything done after work, and you’re just lazy!” fumed Darya Veniaminovna.
Now, sitting at a table with her mother, feeling the comfort and warmth she’d missed, Alexandra seriously wondered if she had rushed things too much. Perhaps she shouldn’t have gotten married. If she hadn’t hurried, she wouldn’t be suffering now. Before, that’s exactly what she had planned—to achieve everything on her own, get on her feet, acquire her own place, and only then get married. She’d hurried. After meeting Konstantin, she’d fallen head over heels and couldn’t think of anything else. Now she was forced to live with her husband in his mother’s apartment and endure her exploitative attitude.
“I can see you’re upset. Is it hard living with your mother-in-law? Maybe you should come home for a while,” Elena Vladimirovna suggested to her daughter. “Tell Konstantin that we’ll be busy working on the atelier. You can get some rest. And we can plan out all the details without distractions.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible. We’re married—how can I run away from my husband and leave him? That feels wrong. I’ll manage, Mom. Don’t worry. If I feel I truly can’t cope anymore, then I’ll think about what to do.”
Alexandra smiled and shifted her thoughts to work. She understood she would have to quit her job if she was going to help her mother and take on opening a second atelier in the city. Of course, at first there wouldn’t be much money, but the time and effort invested would definitely pay off. Smiling to herself, she decided to ignore her mother-in-law’s indignation for a while and not dwell on it. However, it was as if Darya Veniaminovna sensed her daughter-in-law’s resolve. The mother-in-law seemed to fly off the handle and wanted everything done her way.
“You have to do the laundry today!” the woman snapped, marching into Alexandra’s room just as she had lain down to rest a bit after spending a couple of hours at the stove.
“Fine. I’ll do it a little later.”
“No. You’ll do it right now! Otherwise you’ll be scrubbing it by hand! How lazy can you be! Is it so hard to toss clothes into the machine? Back then we didn’t have such conveniences, and we didn’t laze around! And what happens when you have kids? Will you dump a pile of stinking diapers in a corner and wait for them to wash themselves?”
Alexandra had promised herself not to rise to the bait and not let her mood be ruined. Forcing a smile, she got out of bed and headed for the laundry room. Darya Veniaminovna no doubt felt she’d won. She had no intention of yielding and decided that today she would finish her daughter-in-law off for good—make her howl with frustration.
“I don’t like that I have to point out every little thing to you! Can’t you figure out on your own that it’s long past time to change and wash the kitchen curtains?”
“Why are you picking on me?” Alexandra asked, looking her mother-in-law straight in the eye. “Don’t you have anything better to do than invent chores for me and drive me around? Do you enjoy watching me suffer? Do you like seeing me exhausted? I don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve with this behavior.”
“How dare you speak to me like that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell my son? Maybe Kostik loves you, but I’m his mother. The one and only. There can be many women around, but a mother is always the only one!… He can replace you easily, but not me. Who do you think my son will choose if you and I fall out? You’d better be friends with me.”
Feeling like a squeezed-out lemon, Alexandra looked at her mother-in-law as if at a true energy vampire. It seemed the woman was actually feeding on her daughter-in-law’s emotions, growing stronger and rejoicing when Alexandra felt such negativity.
“All right! You’ve had enough for today. I have one more requirement. You’ve been living in my house for quite a while now, and I kept quiet, but I’m sick of it. I thought you’d figure it out yourself, but since you haven’t…”
“Now I’m supposed to bathe you too? Wash your feet and drink your bathwater? That’s what people say, right?” Alexandra couldn’t hold back, feeling ready to explode from the contradictory emotions swelling inside her.
“You’ll yell at your own mother! Here you will speak in a whisper and don’t you dare raise your voice at me!” raged Darya Veniaminovna. And Alexandra hadn’t raised her voice in the least. Perhaps a bit more emotion had slipped into it, letting some of the hurt out, but she was so terribly tired. She wanted to curl up into a ball and hide from the whole world. Now her mother-in-law wasn’t just pressuring her—she was threatening to sabotage her marriage to Konstantin. Alexandra seemed exhausted by the fight. She felt ready to agree to anything just to run far away—even if it meant the end of her relationship with her husband. “From now on, you’ll hand over your entire salary to me. Enough throwing money around. I know better how to manage the family budget. I looked through your things. You have a pile of useless stuff. It’ll last you for ages. I’ll give you money for transport. Everything else is nonsense.”
“What?” Alexandra repeated, feeling her throat tighten.
It wasn’t enough that her mother-in-law had rifled through her belongings and wasn’t even hiding it—now she was demanding her salary as well?! She wanted to put a bridle on her, like a horse that must toil without a break for a handful of oats? Tears welled up from the hurt, but Alexandra tried to hold them back. She was tired, but she wasn’t going to show more emotion than she already had. Her mother-in-law wouldn’t pity her anyway. She considered her daughter-in-law an enemy. It was unlikely she would show even a drop of compassion or realize she’d crossed the line. And if that was the case, there was no point in showing how hard it truly was.
“Did you not hear me properly? My God! What kind of daughter-in-law did I end up with! I have to teach you everything! You’ll give your whole salary to me.”
“I heard you perfectly well. I’m just wondering—do you want anything else while you’re at it? It wasn’t enough to turn me into a maid; now you’ve decided to put me completely under a glass dome. No. That’s too much. Maybe you dreamed of a different daughter-in-law, but you got me. From now on, I ask that you treat me with respect. If you don’t like that Kostya and I are living in your apartment, tell your son. I didn’t want to interfere with his helping you and spending time with you, but if you’re uncomfortable, then there’s no need to suffer. We can move into a rental.”
With that, Alexandra went to the room and locked the door. Her mother-in-law knocked, threatened to break it down, and said the daughter-in-law would feel very sorry if she complained to her son. But putting up with this had grown unbearable. Her first impulse was to pack up and leave, but Alexandra was married. She and her husband hadn’t fought, for her to run off without explaining anything. Perhaps that was exactly what her mother-in-law wanted—to drive her to despair and see how she would behave—but Sasha was strong in spirit. She had endured a lot and could endure a little more.
When Konstantin came home from work, Darya Veniaminovna hurried to complain to him about his daughter-in-law’s behavior.
“She pays no attention to my words at all. Today she even locked herself away from me. And what did I say that was so terrible? I’m only trying to teach her to respect other people’s space. Talk to your wife and explain that she lives in my apartment. As long as she’s here, she must obey all my rules without question.”
Konstantin listened to his mother and went to speak to his wife. He immediately noticed how Alexandra looked and understood everything without unnecessary words. His mother had always had a domineering character. Shortly before the wedding he had spoken with her. He’d asked her to be gentle with his wife and not to pressure her, saying that if she couldn’t restrain herself, he would take the necessary measures. Now Konstantin saw how hard it had been for his wife all this time. He saw it and wanted to protect her. Perhaps he himself had grown used to it, had learned to push back against his mother, had even stopped noticing her pressure—but for Alexandra it was not easy at all.
“Pack your things. Mom said you couldn’t hold yourself back today,” Konstantin said with a dry tone.
“Just like that? You’re ready to part with me? Throw me out because I couldn’t keep my emotions in check? I’ve been enduring all this time as best I could. And for one slip you’re asking me to pack my things?”
Konstantin paled, came closer to his wife, and sat beside her. Taking her hand hesitantly, he looked straight into her eyes.
“What are you thinking? Why would I throw you out? Pack your things because we’re moving out. I’ll find us a place to rent. We’ll live in a rental for now and then we’ll see. I should have noticed earlier how hard this was for you, but I turned a blind eye because that’s what I was used to doing in the past. That’s my big failing, and I owe you an apology for it. We should have lived separately right after the wedding. You’ve had a rough time. I know my mother has a nasty temper. It’s my fault I didn’t act sooner.”
Konstantin apologized, and Alexandra could hardly believe what she was hearing. She had been afraid that her husband would take his mother’s side, but he supported his wife. She told him about her plans for the future. She was worried that if she quit her job now, they wouldn’t have enough money for rent, but Konstantin asked her not to worry.
“When I proposed to you, I wasn’t only thinking about the sweet moments we’d have together… I thought everything through and managed to save up a bit. Don’t worry. We’ll manage.”
Alexandra was grateful to her husband for his support. She had feared that going against his mother would ruin their relationship, but Konstantin loved her and intended to fight for their happiness.
Darya Veniaminovna was furious when she learned that her son had decided to move out. She said he would have a hard time, that without control his wife would become completely lazy—but she was very wrong. The relationship between the spouses only grew stronger, and without constant supervision, keeping up with the housework was easier. Alexandra was hardly tired at all. Her mother helped the couple with the rent, paying several months in advance so that her daughter wouldn’t worry and could focus on work. The new atelier quickly became known and gained many regular clients. The business brought in a good profit. Konstantin also received a promotion. Thanks to this, he and his wife were able to save up quickly for a down payment and take out a mortgage.
Watching her son and daughter-in-law from the sidelines, Darya Veniaminovna kept waiting for Alexandra to stumble and come running to her for advice. She had counted on training an obedient daughter-in-law who would carry out her every command without a word and hand over all her money, but… instead she ran into a strong, independent woman—because of whom Konstantin became the same. Darya Veniaminovna seethed, because all her plans had collapsed, while Kostya and Alexandra enjoyed life. Konstantin did not stop helping his mother, seeing her and supporting her, but their communication was reduced to a minimum, as he understood perfectly well: give his mother an inch, and she would again try to interfere in his family—and he could not allow that.
