Adelina entered the apartment, kicked off her shoes by the door, and immediately felt that something was wrong. Stepan was sitting at the table, staring at his laptop screen and nervously drumming his fingers on the tabletop. Bank logos, loan calculators, and interest-rate figures flickered across the monitor.
“Hi,” Adelina said as she walked into the kitchen. “What are you looking at?”
“Oh, nothing really,” her husband said without lifting his head. “Just studying loan terms.”
A chill ran down her spine. Adelina froze by the refrigerator and turned toward her husband.
“What for?”
“Just curious,” Stepan shrugged, but his gaze moved across the screen with far too much concentration.
Adelina did not press him. She poured herself some water and went into the room. But inside her, an anxious premonition had already begun to grow — sticky and unpleasant, like the heavy air before a storm.
That evening, while they were having dinner, Stepan finally spoke. He put down his fork and cleared his throat.
“Listen, Adelina… Nina called today.”
Adelina looked up from her plate. Nina was Stepan’s younger sister, twenty-eight years old, and worked as an administrator at a beauty salon.
“And?”
“She needs a car. She says getting to work by bus is inconvenient. She loses an hour each way. She gets very tired.”
“Well, let her buy one.”
“She doesn’t have money for a down payment,” Stepan hesitated. “She’s asking for help. You know, to take out a loan and buy her a car. Then she’ll pay it back little by little.”
Adelina placed her fork on the table. Carefully, so it would not clatter.
“Stepan, we still have a loan for the refrigerator.”
“That’s not much at all. Another six months and we’ll pay it off.”
“And how much would this new loan be?”
“Well… about three hundred thousand. For a decent used car. Nina found a 2010 Hyundai Solaris. A normal car.”
“Three hundred thousand,” Adelina leaned back in her chair. “Stepan, do you understand how much that is?”
“I do. But Nina is my sister. How can I refuse her? She really is suffering on those buses.”
“And how does she plan to pay it back?”
“Well, she’ll set aside money from her salary. She earns forty thousand. Subtract the rent, and she’ll have twenty left. She’ll give us half.”
“Stepan,” Adelina leaned forward, looking her husband in the eyes. “Our bathroom still hasn’t been renovated. We have no money for a vacation. We haven’t gone anywhere for three years. And you want to take out a three-hundred-thousand loan to buy your sister a car?”
“She’s family, Adelina,” Stepan’s voice became harder. “Family helps each other.”
“Your family,” Adelina corrected him. “Your sister. Not mine.”
“Oh, really?” her husband suddenly stood up, pushing his chair back. “So now we have separate families?”
“Stepan, that’s not what I meant…”
“What did you mean, then? That my sister is a stranger?”
“I meant that Nina is an adult. She is twenty-eight. Let her solve her own problems. She can take out a loan in her own name if she wants a car so badly.”
“She has a bad credit history! They won’t approve her!”
“And that’s our problem?”
Stepan grabbed his head and paced around the kitchen.
“You’re heartless, Adelina. Simply heartless. My sister needs help, and you…”
“And I what? I’m selfish because I want us to solve our own problems first?”
“What problems do we have?!” her husband exploded. “We live, we work, we earn money! But Nina is alone! She has no one!”
“Except a brother who is ready to get into debt for her.”
“I knew you wouldn’t understand,” Stepan said, turning around and leaving the kitchen.
Adelina remained sitting at the table. The unfinished dinner was growing cold on the plates. A wave of helpless anger rose inside her. Stepan had already decided. It was clear from his face, from his tone — he had already made up his mind. And no matter what Adelina said, he would still do things his own way.
She slept on the sofa in the living room. Stepan did not try to stop her.
Three days later, her husband came home with a pleased expression on his face.
“It’s all done,” he said, pulling off his jacket. “They approved the loan. Three hundred and twenty thousand, including insurance. Nina is picking up the car tomorrow.”
Adelina stood by the window with her back to her husband. She said nothing.
“Why are you silent?”
“What is there to say?” his wife turned around. “You did what you wanted anyway.”
“Adelina, don’t sulk. She’s family.”
“What’s the payment?”
“Fifteen thousand a month. For two years.”
“Plus the loan for the refrigerator. How are we supposed to live?”
“It’s fine, we’ll manage. I can take on extra work.”
“We’ll manage,” Adelina repeated. “Of course.”
That same evening, Stepan was talking to Nina on the phone. Adelina was washing dishes in the kitchen and heard every word.
“Don’t mention it, Ninulya. You’re my little sister. Of course I’ll help… Come on, no need to thank me. The main thing is that it’s convenient for you… Yes, just drive carefully, all right? The car may not be new, but it’s in good condition… Kisses, Nina. I’m glad I could help.”
Adelina squeezed the sponge so hard that water streamed out of it. Something inside her snapped. Quietly, almost imperceptibly. Like an old thread breaking.
Over the next few months, the family budget began to burst at the seams. Money went toward the loans immediately after payday. They had forty thousand left to live on — for food, utilities, transportation, and household needs. Adelina learned to economize. She bought the cheapest things, gave up cosmetics and new clothes. She stopped meeting her friends in cafés because there simply was no money for that.
Stepan got a second job. On weekends, he loaded goods at a warehouse. He came home exhausted, collapsed onto the sofa, and fell asleep in his clothes. Adelina looked at her husband and did not know what she felt — pity or anger.
Nina called every week and talked about how convenient it was to drive, how wonderful it was not to be shoved around on the bus. She promised to start paying the money back the following month. Then she postponed it for a month. Then for another one.
Six months later, Stepan’s phone rang. Her husband answered, and Adelina immediately recognized her mother-in-law’s voice. Maria Semyonovna was speaking loudly and excitedly.
“Stepochka, son, can you imagine? The Ivanovs next door bought themselves a country plot! A small one, but with a little house. I visited them yesterday — such beauty! Apple trees, pear trees, flowers…”
Stepan listened in silence. Adelina saw his shoulders tense.
“Mom, that’s nice for the Ivanovs…”
“Stepochka, but what about me? I have nowhere to rest my soul! I’ve spent my whole life in the city, in this stuffy apartment. I want nature, fresh air. At my age, it’s necessary, do you understand?”
“Mom, a dacha is expensive…”
“I saw some listings. There are plots for four hundred thousand. You can take out a loan and pay it off little by little. Stepochka, I’m not going to live forever. While I still have strength, I want to work a little on the land, grow some tomatoes…”
Adelina put her book aside. She looked at her husband. He rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes.
“Mom, I’ll think about it. All right? I need to discuss it with my wife.”
“Of course, discuss it. Just don’t take too long, or the good plots will be taken.”
Maria Semyonovna said goodbye. Stepan put down the phone and sat on the sofa. He was silent. Adelina waited.
“You heard?”
“I heard.”
“What do you think?”
“Stepan,” his wife sat down across from him. “We have two loans. We can barely make ends meet. You work two jobs. I deny myself everything. And you’re asking me what I think about taking out another loan?”
“Adelina, she’s my mother…”
“Your mother lives in a three-room apartment. She has a pension of twenty thousand. She is healthy, she is sixty-two years old. Why can’t she save up for a dacha herself?”
“Because she spent her whole life on us! On me and Nina! She raised us alone, without a father!”
“And is that a reason to put you on a credit needle?”
“It’s not a needle! It’s helping family!”
“Stepan, we already economize on everything. We can’t find money for repairs. And you want to take out a loan for your mother’s dacha?”
“My mother deserves a peaceful old age!”
“At our expense?”
Stepan jumped up from the sofa.
“You’re selfish, Adelina! You don’t care about my family!”
“I don’t care for the fact that your mother is manipulating you!” Adelina shouted back. “She knows you won’t refuse! That you’ll feel guilty! And she uses it!”
“How dare you! She is my mother!”
“She is a woman who is demanding that her son buy her a dacha, even though she knows perfectly well he has no money!”
“I’ll find the money!”
“From where?”
Stepan grabbed his jacket and yanked the door open.
“That’s none of your business!”
The slam of the door echoed through the silence of the apartment. Adelina was left alone. She knew where her husband had gone. To his mother. To complain about his heartless wife.
Stepan returned only in the morning. Rumpled and sleepless. He went into the kitchen and poured coffee. Adelina stood by the window.
“The bank refused,” her husband said without turning around.
“What?”
“The bank refused to give me the loan. My debt burden is too high. I can’t handle another one.”
Adelina exhaled. At least there was that.
“Stepan, maybe this is a sign? Maybe it’s time to stop?”
Her husband placed the cup on the table and turned to his wife.
“You have a clean credit history. You can take out the loan in your name.”
Adelina froze.
“What?”
“You heard me. Take out the loan in your name. For four hundred thousand. I’ll pay it myself, I promise. They just won’t approve anything under my name anymore.”
“Stepan, are you serious right now?”
“Absolutely. Adelina, this is the last time. Honestly. I won’t ask for anything else. Just help Mom. She needs so little…”
“Four hundred thousand is little?”
“Well, by dacha standards, yes. It’s a good plot, six hundred square meters, with a little house. You can live there right away. Nothing needs to be built.”
Adelina looked at her husband and did not recognize him. This was a stranger. Not the man she had married five years ago. That man had been cheerful, caring, attentive. And this one… this one was ready to drag her into a debt pit for the sake of his mother’s whim.
“Stepan, I will not take out a loan.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s madness.”
“She is my mother!”
“And this is my money! My credit history! My responsibility!”
“I’ll pay it! I promise!”
“Like you’re paying for Nina’s car?” Adelina stepped toward her husband. “She promised to pay the money back. Where is it? Six months have passed, Stepan. Six months! She hasn’t returned a single kopeck!”
“She will. She just has expenses right now…”
“Of course, expenses. And what do we have? Income?”
“Adelina, please,” Stepan took his wife by the hands. “I’m begging you. One last time. Help me.”
Adelina pulled her hands away.
“You got into debt for your family, and now you want to drag me into it? No way, darling. Get yourself out of it!”
Stepan turned pale. His lips trembled.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me. I will not take out a loan. Not for a dacha, not for anything else. Enough.”
“So you’re against me?”
“I’m for myself,” Adelina answered calmly. “For the first time in a long time.”
“You’re betraying me!” Stepan’s voice broke into a shout. “You’re betraying my family!”
“I’m protecting myself.”
“You’re destroying everything! Mother wanted a dacha! She dreamed of it! And you…”
“And I am not obligated to fulfill other people’s dreams with my own money!”
“Then get out!” Stepan pointed at the door. “If you’re not with us, then leave!”
Adelina silently went into the bedroom. She took out her phone and dialed her friend Sveta’s number.
“Sveta, hi. Can I stay at your place for a couple of days?”
“Of course, Adelina. What happened?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Adelina took a bag and packed the essentials. Stepan stood in the hallway, looking at her with eyes red from anger.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you ashamed?”
“No,” Adelina zipped up the bag. “I’m not ashamed to protect my life.”
She left the apartment without looking back. Stepan did not stop her.
Adelina stayed with Sveta for five days. She thought, analyzed, remembered. Five years of marriage. Five years during which she had gradually become a hostage. Stepan lived for the interests of his mother and sister. And she, Adelina, merely existed beside him. A convenient attachment. A source of income.
On the sixth day, Sveta asked directly:
“Adelina, are you going back to your husband?”
Adelina was silent for a long time. Then she shook her head.
“No. I’m not going back.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Sveta put her arm around her friend’s shoulders.
“It’s the right decision.”
Adelina came home to collect her things. She entered the apartment and heard voices. Stepan was talking to his mother. Maria Semyonovna was sitting on the sofa, waving her hands around.
“Stepochka, find the money! Borrow from friends, from colleagues! The plots have almost all been sold already. Only our option is left! I want that dacha so much!”
“Mom, I’m trying…”
“Ask that wife of yours! Let her take out a loan!”
“She refuses. I kicked her out.”
“She was always willful!” Maria Semyonovna jumped up and jabbed her finger into the air. “I said from the beginning that she wasn’t one of us! A stranger! Selfish! She only thinks about herself!”
Adelina entered the room. Her mother-in-law turned around, her face twisting.
“And here she is! The destroyer of the family!”
“Hello, Maria Semyonovna,” Adelina said calmly.
“Don’t say hello to me! My son is suffering because of you! Because of your greed!”
“Mom, stop,” Stepan tried to calm his mother.
“I will not stop! Let her know. Stepochka works like a slave, and she…”
“And I came to collect my things,” Adelina said, walking into the bedroom and taking out a suitcase.
“What are you planning?” Stepan appeared in the doorway.
“I’m moving out. I’ll file for divorce.”
“Adelina, wait, hold on… I only wanted to scare you. I didn’t actually want to kick you out.”
“No, Stepan. I’m not staying.”
“I can change! I promise! I won’t take out any more loans!”
“Until your mother asks again,” Adelina said, folding clothes into the suitcase. “Until Nina comes up with a new need. And then once again you won’t be able to refuse. Because you don’t know how to say no to your family.”
“But you’re my wife!”
“I was,” Adelina corrected him. “I was your wife.”
“Adelina, please…”
“Enough, Stepan.”
She packed her things in twenty minutes. Stepan stood in the doorway, looking helpless. Maria Semyonovna was shouting something from the living room about ingratitude and selfishness. Adelina did not listen.
“Wait…”
“Goodbye, Stepan.”
The divorce was finalized a month later. Without scandals, without division of property. Stepan was left with his debts. Adelina left lightly.
She rented a small studio apartment on the outskirts of the city. Twenty-five square meters, bright and airy. Adelina arranged her things, hung curtains, and placed flowers on the windowsill.
The first month after the divorce felt strange. Quiet. Adelina was used to constant tension — scandals, demands, reproaches. And now there was silence. She came home from work — silence. She had dinner — silence. She went to bed — silence.
Gradually, she began to notice that she smiled more often. That money remained at the end of the month. That she could buy herself a new lipstick or go to the cinema with her friends. Small joys that had once seemed like an inaccessible luxury.
Sveta came to visit and looked around the studio.
“You’ve settled in nicely, Adelina.”
“Yes,” Adelina said, pouring tea. “I like it.”
“Do you regret it?”
“What?”
“The divorce.”
Adelina thought for a moment.
“No. I regret not doing it sooner.”
“And Stepan?”
“I don’t know. I’m not interested.”
Sveta smiled.
“You’ve changed, Adelina. You’ve become… stronger, I think.”
“I simply learned to protect myself.”
Six months passed. Adelina was sitting on the sofa. The phone rang. An unknown number. She answered.
“Hello?”
“Adelina, it’s Nina.”
Adelina frowned. What did she want?
“I’m listening.”
“Adelina, could you… well, help Stepan? He has completely worn himself out. He works three jobs and walks around barely alive. The loans are eating him alive.”
“Nina, I divorced him.”
“Well, I know, but you’re not exactly a stranger…”
“I am a stranger,” Adelina said calmly. “A complete stranger. And his problems no longer concern me.”
“But Adelina…”
“Goodbye, Nina.”
Adelina hung up. Then she blocked the number. She got up from the windowsill and walked over to the mirror. She looked at her reflection. A calm face. Clear eyes. No tension, no anxiety.
Free. Finally free from other people’s debts, other people’s problems, other people’s manipulations. Her money now belonged only to her. Her time did too. Her life was hers.
And that was the best decision she had ever made.
