“If I’m honest…” Her friend paused for a moment, as though afraid of saying too much. “I still don’t understand how you could bring yourself to do it. It’s beyond the pale, Liza!”
“Beyond the pale in what sense? Good or bad?”
“Well, that depends on how you look at it.”
“Look at it however you like, dear.” Liza smiled. “What matters is the result. And my result is wonderful. I got what I wanted!”
“Even so…” The neighbor frowned. “There are bound to be consequences.”
“Don’t jinx it!” Liza snapped. “We’ll deal with them if they come. Right now, I’m happy. I’ve won, fair and square, so don’t spoil it for me!”
The neighbor gave an offended shrug and turned away, pretending to be fascinated by the view outside the window.
It had all begun the evening Liza’s husband came home from work and said, trying hard to hide his embarrassment, “We need to talk.”
Liza’s stomach tightened. She had been waiting a long time for Igor to finally work up the courage. And now it was happening.
“Go on,” she said, turning the cutlets she was making for dinner.
“Could you sit down and listen to me properly?” Impatience crept into Igor’s voice. “Or am I supposed to talk to your back?”
“I don’t have time to sit down, dear,” Liza replied calmly. “Oleg will remember he needs me any minute now, and then it’ll be ‘Mom, this’ and ‘Mom, that.’ So let’s not waste time. What did you want to tell me?”
“I…” Igor faltered, struggling to find the words. “I’ve met another woman.”
“And?” Liza didn’t even turn around. She kept tending to the cutlets. “What else?”
“Turn off that stove!” Igor roared, unable to contain his irritation. “Are you hearing me? I’m in love with another woman!”
“I hear you.” At last, Liza turned to face him. “Congratulations.”
“What?” Igor was astonished. He had expected anything but indifference and congratulations.
“Please don’t shout. You’ll frighten the children.” Liza was still calm and seemed entirely unsurprised.
“You knew?” Igor breathed.
“No, I didn’t know.” Liza shook her head slightly. “But I suspected.”
“You suspected?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t you suspect something if I started coming home several hours late, spent all my time on my phone and kept hiding it in my pocket? If I moved into another room to sleep and came up with some ridiculous excuse? Besides, Igor, anyone can tell whether they’re still loved.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything if you’d figured it out?” Igor asked, a little calmer now.
“Well,” Liza said, narrowing her eyes slyly, “you were the one who proposed to me. You can be the one to break up the family, too.”
“Why put it like that?”
“How else should I put it? If all you wanted was a little fun, you’d have kept hiding your affairs. Since you’ve started this conversation, you’ve obviously made a decision. So stop agonizing and tell me.”
Igor stared at his wife as if he no longer recognized her. She was so composed, so calm, so sure of her own worth. He had expected her to have a hysterical fit.
“Anyway, I have a proposal.”
“That sounds interesting.” Liza sat down on a stool and looked him straight in the eye.
“I’ve been thinking… We have the mortgage. You probably won’t be able to make the payments, even with child support.”
“Aren’t we going to discuss the divorce first?” There was a steely edge to Liza’s voice, though Igor failed to notice it.
“What is there to discuss?” he said carelessly. “Obviously, you won’t forgive me.”
“Of course.” Liza gave a dry smile. “You know me inside out.”
“So,” Igor continued, still missing the warning in her tone, “it would be best if you moved into your one-room apartment and I stayed here.”
“And the children?”
“What about them? They’ll go with you, of course,” he answered grandly.
“So I’ll live with two children in eighteen square meters, while you and your new love live in our three-room apartment. Is that right?”
“Well, yes. You can’t afford the mortgage. That’s obvious. I’ve been paying it myself all along,” Igor explained confidently, surprised that she seemed unable to grasp something so simple.
“I see.” Liza stood up. “I need to think.”
She went out onto the balcony.
“Go ahead, then,” Igor called after her with a sneer. Think about it. Honestly, women. What’s there to think about?
While Liza was on the balcony, Igor served himself a couple of cutlets and some warm mashed potatoes from the multicooker, then eagerly began eating.
He didn’t get to finish.
“I agree,” Liza announced as she stepped back into the kitchen. “On one condition.”
“What condition?” Igor asked with a condescending smile.
“You’ll stay in this apartment with your girlfriend and our son. Our daughter and I will move out.”
“What?” Igor’s face fell, his eyes widening. “You want to… split up the children?”
“Yes. What’s wrong with that?” Liza replied calmly. “They’re our children, and we share responsibility for them. So the son you wanted so badly can live with you, and our daughter can live with me. That seems fair.”
“Are you out of your mind? You can’t divide up children! They’re not furniture!”
“Of course they aren’t,” Liza said, unmoved. “But apparently I’m supposed to carry the whole burden of raising them for the rest of my life while you live comfortably. No. That’s not going to happen.”
“I’ll pay child support! And help when I can.”
“Naturally. You’ll pay me, and I’ll pay you. We had these children together, and we’ll raise them together. If you don’t want our son, take our daughter. She’s older, so it’ll be easier. See? I’m willing to meet you halfway.”
“I knew you were crazy, but I had no idea it was this bad!” Igor exclaimed. “You’re using the children to get revenge on me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Igor. You’re not worth taking revenge on. I just want things to be fair. You get the three-room apartment, the mortgage, and our son. I get the one-room apartment and our daughter. And we pay each other child support. That’s the only way we’ll divorce amicably. Otherwise, we’ll fight over everything. I won’t give you so much as a spoon. Think it over. Somewhere else.”
Igor left.
He consulted his girlfriend, his mother, and his sister. They all reassured him that Liza was bluffing. No normal mother would give up her child for a few square meters of living space, they said. He could safely agree. Within three days, Liza would take the boy back anyway.
As for the woman Igor loved, Oksana, she was thrilled. A three-room apartment in the city center! She couldn’t have dreamed of a better gift.
Somehow, she overlooked the fact that the apartment came with a four-year-old boy.
A couple of days later, Igor told Liza he accepted her condition.
“Excellent,” Liza replied. She insisted that he file for divorce the very next day.
“Why me?” he protested.
“Because you’re the man. And it’s easier for you to pay the filing costs.”
Igor found the argument reasonable and filed for divorce.
They had to wait three months. By agreement, Igor moved in with Oksana. Liza prepared to move out and patiently fended off attacks from relatives and acquaintances.
Igor had already told everyone that Liza was splitting up the children over the apartment and giving him their son.
“How could you?”
“What kind of mother are you?”
“Have you no shame?”
“How can you separate the children? You have no heart!”
Those were among the gentler things people said to her.
Liza listened. Sometimes she answered. Sometimes she stayed silent. Sometimes she simply walked away so she wouldn’t have to listen or respond.
Even her twelve-year-old daughter, Katya, reproached her.
“I thought you loved us.”
Liza ignored everyone and waited patiently for the divorce.
At last, the hearing took place.
The judge looked surprised. “You want your son to live with his father?”
“Yes,” Liza answered calmly. “We’re equally responsible for our children. Besides, his father agrees. He’s even happy about it. Aren’t you, Igor?”
Igor nodded.
The matter was settled exactly as Liza had proposed.
Igor breathed a sigh of relief.
Too soon.
Things were only beginning.
Liza prepared everything for her departure. She packed her belongings and her daughter’s, taking only what they needed most.
She also prepared notes for Igor. She wrote down what little Oleg liked and disliked, which kindergarten he attended, his teacher’s name, which foods he was allergic to, which cartoons he watched, where the clinic was, and much more.
Igor skimmed the page and whistled.
“Look at you! What’s all this for? We’ll manage perfectly well on our own. Won’t we, son?” He picked up the boy and tossed him into the air.
Oleg squealed with delight.
“All right, we need to go,” Liza said, interrupting their game. “Call me if you need anything.”
As soon as she and Katya had left, Igor called Oksana.
“That’s it! The coast is clear. Come over!”
That very evening, Oksana posted “The start of a new life!” on social media, along with a photo of herself and Igor leaning over the sleeping boy’s bed.
Then reality set in. For Igor, it was miserable. For Liza, it was a test of patience.
The very next day, Oleg had a tantrum and demanded his mother. He refused to eat what Oksana cooked and absolutely would not stay alone with her.
Getting him ready for kindergarten in the morning drove Igor to distraction. The boy refused to get dressed, fussed, screamed the whole way there, and fought with all his strength when his teacher tried to take him into the classroom. Igor was constantly late for work.
Then Oleg fell ill: fever, cough, rash. Igor didn’t know what to do. Taking care of a sick child was harder than he had imagined.
When Oleg returned to kindergarten, Igor had to make it back in time to pick him up every evening. He kept leaving work early, and his bosses began to take notice.
Oksana suddenly went away on a business trip. Then she disappeared altogether, leaving him a text message: “I’m not prepared to devote my life to your child.”
Igor’s mother refused to help, citing her health.
Liza came over exactly once a week, for two hours. After she left, Oleg would spend hours crying and wearing his father down.
Igor could still cover the mortgage, but he had never expected a child to cost so much. He had no time to rest. Exhaustion and irritation overwhelmed him. To his horror, he caught himself thinking that he hated his own son.
About three months later, Igor called his former wife.
“Liza, we need to talk. Urgently.”
Liza came over.
“What happened?” she asked with some sympathy, noticing how worn out he looked.
“Please, take him,” Igor said quietly. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“I’m exhausted, Liza. Oksana left me. Our son is driving me out of my mind. I’m having problems at work. My boss is threatening to find someone else.”
“I understand.” Liza tried very hard to hide her smile. “Only…”
“Liza, please. No ‘only.’ Take Oleg. Take the apartment, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Move back here. All three of you can live together. I’ll leave and rent somewhere else. I’ll pay child support for both children and keep paying the mortgage.”
“And then you’ll hold it against me?”
“I won’t make any claims, Liza. I’ll put the apartment in your name. I’ll handle everything myself. Just get me out of this. I can’t take it.”
“Is looking after a four-year-old boy really so difficult?” Liza asked with a smile. “You used to say I did nothing, that I’d grown too comfortable. And I was working, too, Igor.”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t realize… So, do you agree?”
“Provided everything is settled legally.”
Igor looked at his former wife for a long moment.
“I never knew you were so greedy.”
“I had good teachers,” Liza replied.
Igor kept his word. He put the apartment in Liza’s name. He pays the mortgage and child support for both children. With rare exceptions, he visits them every weekend.
He even remembers to bring his former wife a bouquet of flowers—as thanks for agreeing to take the children and for letting him live in her one-room apartment while paying only the utility bills, until he can buy a place of his own.
Now all their friends and relatives feel sorry for Igor and consider Liza a heartless mother. They say she had no pity for her little son.
For now, Liza is enjoying her victory. She regrets nothing.
And she doesn’t believe there will be any consequences.
