Tatiana was dusting the dresser in the living room when she heard the familiar sound of keys in the lock. Her husband came home from work an hour earlier than usual, and that could mean only one thing — news again about his sister Marina.
“Tanechka,” Igor called from the hallway, “we’re going to have a guest. Marina is coming the day after tomorrow.”
Tatiana froze, rag in hand. The last time her husband’s sister stayed with them was three years ago, and those two weeks had forever remained in her memory as one of the most tense periods in their family life.
“For long?” she asked cautiously.
“Mom is asking us to settle her in the city. Marina is already twenty-seven, and she still can’t find her place in life. I think the big city will give her more opportunities.”
Tatiana sighed. She remembered Marina — a tall blonde with petulant lips and a habit of treating those around her like servants. The girl had never worked, lived with their mother in a small town, supported by her mother’s pension and money sent by her brother.
“All right,” Tatiana said, realizing she had no choice. “I’ll set up a place for her in the living room.”
Marina arrived on Thursday morning with two huge suitcases and a bag stuffed with cosmetics. She was just as striking, but her eyes showed weariness from provincial life and a thirst for change.
“Igoryok!” she exclaimed joyfully, hugging her brother. “How I’ve missed real civilization!”
Tatiana silently watched the reunion of relatives. Marina barely nodded at her in greeting, as if her brother’s wife were part of the furniture.
“Show me my room,” Marina asked. “I’m so tired from the trip. And is there anywhere to eat? I didn’t have breakfast.”
The next few days set a certain rhythm. Marina got up around noon, took a long time to get ready, and then demanded breakfast. Tatiana, who worked remotely from home, had to interrupt her tasks to prepare food for the guest.
“Tanechka, do you have better coffee? This one is kind of sour,” Marina complained, frowning.
“Tanechka, can you wash my blouse? I want to go downtown today.”
“Tanechka, do you have an iron? My dress is all wrinkled.”
Igor saw how his wife was getting stressed but preferred to ignore it. Moreover, every day he gave his sister money for pocket expenses — sometimes for taxi, sometimes for lunch in a café, sometimes for shopping at malls.
“Igor,” Tatiana spoke cautiously one evening when Marina had gone out to meet some new acquaintances, “maybe we should talk to her about finding a job? She’s been here two weeks already and all she does is entertain herself.”
“Give her time to settle in,” her husband waved it off. “She’s lived her whole life in a small town. Let her get to know our city first, understand what suits her best.”
Tatiana remained silent, but inside she was boiling. She saw how their family budget was melting away before her eyes, how their home was turning into a hotel for a spoiled girl who couldn’t even say ‘thank you’ properly.
A week later, Marina came home in a good mood. She had met her school friends Alena and Sveta at the mall. Both had married well and were now living comfortably.
“Imagine,” she excitedly told her brother, “Alena is married to a businessman; they have an apartment in an elite district. And Sveta married a doctor who opened a private clinic. They vacation somewhere every year — sometimes Turkey, sometimes Greece.”
“That’s great,” Igor answered distractedly, scrolling through news on his tablet.
“They invited me to come with them!” Marina blurted out. “To Cyprus! They say it’s very beautiful there now, not as hot as in summer. We could buy a twelve-day tour.”
Igor looked up from the screen. Silence fell in the room.
“Marina,” he said slowly, “but you don’t have money for such a trip.”
“Igoryok,” Marina sat down next to her brother and took his hand. “You understand what kind of position I’ll be in if I tell my friends I can’t go? They’ll think I’m poor. And then they’ll spread these rumors all over our little town.”
“Marina, that’s serious money. The Cyprus tour, plus pocket money…”
“But you’re my brother!” Tears sounded in Marina’s voice. “I can’t ask anyone else. Mom already gave me all her savings for the move here. And I… I was hoping to start a new life.”
Tatiana heard this conversation from the kitchen, where she was washing dishes. Her hands trembled with indignation. She fully understood where this was going.
“How much will it cost?” Igor asked.
“The tour is about eighty thousand. Plus twenty thousand for pocket money. I can’t show up empty-handed when my friends have the best of everything.”
One hundred thousand rubles. Tatiana knew that was exactly the sum they had in their account — they were saving for repairs on the summer house she inherited from her grandmother.
“All right,” Igor sighed. “I’ll help you.”
When Marina happily ran off to call her friends, Tatiana came out of the kitchen. Her face was pale with anger.
“Igor, are you out of your mind?” she said quietly but firmly. “One hundred thousand rubles for your sister’s whims?”
“Tanechka, you see how she’s doing. Who else will help her but me? If I refuse, she’ll throw a tantrum and go home. Then all our efforts will be wasted.”
“What efforts? She’s not even looking for work! She turned our home into a hotel and me into a servant!”
“Don’t exaggerate,” Igor frowned. “She just needs to get used to the new place.”
“Get used? In three weeks? Igor, we were saving that money for the summer house. The roof is leaking, the porch is falling apart.”
“The summer house can wait. And the chance for Marina to start a new life might not come again. She needs connections to find a good job.”
“A new life?” Tatiana felt a lump in her throat. “Igor, do you realize what you’re saying? We’ll spend all our savings so she can pretend to be a rich lady in front of her friends for two weeks!”
“My sister will go on vacation even if it means selling your summer house! Mark my words,” Igor said in anger and immediately realized he had gone too far.
Tatiana looked at him with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe that the husband she had lived with for five years could say such things.
“Got it,” she said quietly. “So my summer house is a bargaining chip for your sister. Clear.”
She turned and went to the bedroom. Igor tried to stop her, but she closed the door behind her.
Tatiana didn’t sleep all night. She lay awake thinking about how her husband, without blinking, was ready to sacrifice her property for his sister’s whims. In the morning, when Igor left for work and Marina was still asleep, she sat down at the computer.
Tatiana opened a popular classifieds website and posted an ad to sell Igor’s car — a black Skoda he had bought two years ago. She set the price very attractively — significantly below market value. The description said the car was in excellent condition, urgent sale, and she left her husband’s phone number. Confirming the ad while he was asleep was easy. She knew the phone password.
The first call came to Igor at seven in the morning. Then at eight-thirty. By lunchtime, his phone never stopped ringing.
“Hello, are you selling the Skoda? I’m calling about the ad,” buyers asked.
“What ad?” Igor was puzzled. “I’m not selling the car.”
“But there’s an ad online with your phone number.”
“That must be a mistake.”
By evening, Igor was exhausted. He counted more than thirty calls from potential buyers.
At home, his wife met him calmly, preparing dinner. Marina sat at the kitchen table enthusiastically talking about her trip plans.
“Tanechka,” Igor addressed his wife, “all day long I’ve had calls from people about selling my car. Do you know what’s going on?”
“I do,” Tatiana answered calmly, not looking up from the frying pan. “I posted the ad to sell your car.”
“What?!” Igor turned pale. “Are you crazy?”
“Not at all. I’m helping you collect money for Marina. Your sister is more important than your car. You can take the bus to work.”
Marina stopped chewing and looked at her brother attentively.
“Tanechka, this isn’t funny,” Igor said.
“And I’m not laughing,” his wife turned to him. “Yesterday you said you were ready to sell my summer house for Marina’s vacation. I thought it made sense to start with your property.”
“I overreacted. I didn’t mean that.”
“No, Igor, that’s exactly what you meant. You’re ready to sacrifice everything for your sister’s whims. Then sacrifice your car.”
Marina realized she was causing a family quarrel and tried to intervene:
“Igoryok, maybe we shouldn’t argue?”
“No, Marina,” Tatiana said firmly. “Your brother thinks your vacation is so important that he’s ready to sell my summer house. So he can part with his car, too.”
“Take down the ad,” Igor asked. “People won’t stop calling.”
“I’ll take it down when you apologize to me and give up this crazy vacation idea.”
“But I promised Marina!”
“And I was promised you’d love and respect me. Where is that respect when you’re ready to sell my property?”
Igor looked confused, first at his sister, then at his wife. For the first time in all these weeks, he saw the situation from the outside. His sister really had become a spoiled parasite who thought of nothing but her own pleasures. And he, trying to help her, was ready to ruin his relationship with his wife.
“Marina,” he said quietly, “I can’t give you money for the trip.”
“What?” Marina jumped up from her chair. “But you promised! I already told the girls I’m going! They’re already buying tickets!”
“Sorry, but I can’t spend all our savings on your vacation.”
“You’re a traitor!” Marina screamed. “I never thought my own brother could do this! Mom will be shocked!”
“Mom will understand,” Igor replied calmly. “She always said family is the most important thing. And family is me and Tatiana.”
“I won’t stay in this house!” Marina ran to her room. “I’m leaving for home tomorrow!”
The door slammed shut loudly. Tatiana turned off the stove and looked at her husband.
“Forgive me,” Igor said quietly. “I fell for her manipulations and almost ruined everything we have. Take down the ad,” he asked.
“I’m already taking it down.”
The next day Marina packed her suitcases and conspicuously called a taxi. She didn’t say goodbye to Tatiana, only nodded coldly to her brother.
“Don’t think I’ll forget this,” she said at last. “Mom will find out how you treated me.”
“Tell mom I love her,” Igor answered. “And that I’m always ready to help family. But only reasonably.”
When the taxi disappeared around the corner, Tatiana took her husband’s hand.
“Don’t you regret it?” she asked.
“No,” Igor shook his head. “I realized I almost lost the most precious thing for someone who doesn’t appreciate it.”
That evening, while they sat at the kitchen table drinking tea, Igor said:
“I will never again let anyone, even relatives, dictate how we spend our money.”
“Family is important,” Tatiana said gently. “But family is you and me. The rest are just relatives.”
“Exactly,” Igor agreed. “And I swear I will never confuse these concepts again.”
A week later they received a message from Igor’s mother. She apologized for her daughter’s behavior and asked them not to be angry with her. Marina told everything her own way, but their mother was not as naive as the girl thought.
“I know my daughter,” she wrote. “She’s used to everyone around fulfilling her wishes. Thank you for trying to help her. Maybe this lesson will do her some good.”
The savings remained untouched. That summer Igor and Tatiana repaired the summer house, and now they could spend weekends there comfortably. And Marina, according to rumors, got a job as a saleswoman in a clothing store in her town and rented a room. Maybe life really taught her to appreciate what she has.
But the main thing — Igor realized that a real family starts with respect for his wife, not indulging the whims of spoiled relatives. And he would never again risk his marriage for the sake of someone else’s whims, even if those whims come from his own sister.
