This Sunday morning began as usual, and nothing seemed to foreshadow trouble. Marina Nikolaevna, a beautiful thirty-eight-year-old woman, woke up when the sun had already begun peeking through the window. She glanced at the clock. It was eight in the morning.
Deciding that, since it was the weekend, she could allow herself to stay in bed a little longer, she turned on the television for background noise, picked up her phone, and started scrolling through the news feed online. Just then, the phone in her hand vibrated. It was her former mother-in-law calling again. Marina grimaced in annoyance, but answered.
“Marina! Come quickly! Roma needs help!”
Marina and Roma had separated a month ago. Ten years of marriage had been one continuous stretch of stress for Marina. Roma, his mother’s only son, had turned out to be incredibly spoiled and self-absorbed. For a long time, Marina had tried to reeducate her husband, to fight against his selfishness, and while they lived far away from his mother, she had slowly begun to succeed.
But three years earlier, because of financial difficulties, the couple had been forced to return to their hometown. That was when the nightmare began.
Her husband’s mother, Zinaida Sergeyevna, having finally waited for her moment, attacked her son’s family with endless visits. In the seventh year of their marriage, Marina learned that she had apparently been taking care of her husband incorrectly all along, that she had no idea how to run a household, and that it was because of her that Zinaida Sergeyevna still had no grandchildren.
And even Roman’s own words, admitting that the problem was with him, did not convince Zinaida Sergeyevna of her daughter-in-law’s innocence.
At first, Marina tried not to pay attention to the aging, lonely woman, but it was difficult. Zinaida Sergeyevna could show up at their place in the evening, just as the spouses were returning from work, and sit there until late at night.
Or she could come early in the morning on a day off and stay until evening. The couple’s private life almost disappeared entirely.
Marina became nervous and irritable. Roman, however, saw nothing unusual in his mother’s behavior. He was perfectly happy that on weekends his mother brought him his favorite greasy homemade chebureki or a bag of sweet buns. His mother did not bother him at all.
Roma would recline on the sofa while Zinaida Sergeyevna sat in the armchair with her legs tucked under her. They would passionately discuss the latest news, completely unconcerned by the fact that Marina was forced to spend her time in their tiny kitchen, since there was simply nowhere else to go in their rented one-room apartment.
Marina tried to get through to her husband, but Roman seemed like a different person. In his words and judgments, Marina began to hear his mother.
“You arranged the clothes in the wardrobe wrong. You made the wrong kind of soup. You set the table badly…”
The list of complaints grew exponentially with each passing day. And soon Marina could no longer bear it.
“You can go live with your mother, since everything about me dissatisfies you,” Marina told her husband.
To her surprise, Roman quickly packed his things, as if he had been waiting for exactly that.
But Zinaida Sergeyevna clearly had not expected such a result from her efforts. The moment her son appeared on her doorstep with his things in his hands, she realized what a mistake she had made. Having long grown used to living alone, she now had to share her room with her overgrown son.
Besides, she had completely forgotten what it was like to feed an adult man. The portions Zinaida Sergeyevna cooked for herself for several days were enough for her son for only one meal, and he did not care in the slightest whether anything was left for his mother.
Roma preferred to spend his salary on himself. He bought himself a powerful gaming laptop, and now spent all his evenings and weekends not talking with his mother, as he had done when he lived with his wife, but playing online games.
At night, Zinaida Sergeyevna could not fall asleep because of Roman’s conversations with his virtual gaming partners. Sometimes, when she finally managed to doze off, Igor could shout so loudly that she woke up in terror, her heart pounding wildly. Zinaida Sergeyevna’s life turned into hell.
Marina, meanwhile, after worrying for a week, suddenly felt free and happy. It turned out that even without her husband’s income in the household budget, she could live quite comfortably on her own salary, whereas before even two salaries had barely seemed enough.
She suddenly had a lot of free time, and she gladly began taking care of herself. She got her hair done, had her nails extended, and visited a cosmetologist.
After analyzing her feelings, Marina realized that she had probably been living with Roman out of habit for a long time. Nothing remained of her former feelings. She liked that she no longer had to rush home from work and could calmly walk through the shops. On weekends, she could meet her friends or go to the cinema.
About a month into her single life, Marina received her first call from her mother-in-law.
“Are you not going to apologize to Roma at all?” Zinaida Sergeyevna shouted into the phone.
“I am not, because I have nothing to apologize for,” Marina tried to speak calmly, though everything inside her immediately rebelled.
An indignant snort came from the other end of the line.
“Roman must return home. His place is beside his wife!” It was clear that Zinaida Sergeyevna had decided to change tactics.
“Well, soon he won’t have any wife at all. I’ve filed for divorce!” Marina announced.
She was being slightly deceitful. The thought of divorce had only just come to her at that moment, and now she was even grateful for her mother-in-law’s call, because it had helped her find the right decision.
“Marina! How can you destroy a family over some foolish disagreements?” her mother-in-law whined into the phone.
“Before you interfered in our family, my husband and I lived together for many years,” Marina reminded her. “But you helped me see your son’s true face, and for that I am grateful to you. Goodbye!”
Her mood was ruined for the rest of the day. Similar calls began to repeat regularly. Marina wanted to change her number, but too many contacts were tied to it.
And today she heard her mother-in-law’s voice again:
“Marina! Come quickly! Roma needs help!”
This was something new.
“What happened?”
“He said he met a girl and wants to bring her to our home!”
“Well, I’m happy for him,” Marina said. “And how exactly can I help?”
“You have to save him and yourself! Don’t you understand? There may be no way back for you!”
“Zinaida Sergeyevna, there has been no way back for Roman and me for a long time already, largely thanks to your efforts. Don’t call me anymore, and don’t repeat your mistakes with your new daughter-in-law!”
As soon as she hung up, Zinaida Sergeyevna called again. Marina did not answer. She realized it would be easier to send her new phone number to all her acquaintances than to continue these meaningless negotiations.
She got dressed and headed to the nearest mobile phone store. She had to turn off her phone because Zinaida Sergeyevna kept calling.
When Marina returned home, a surprise was waiting for her by the door. Roman, with the same suitcase he had left home with, was standing in the entrance hall.
“Mother kicked me out. Told me to come back to you,” Roman muttered instead of greeting her.
“Sorry, but you’ll have to look for shelter somewhere else. For example, with that girl you found for yourself,” Marina said.
“How do you know?” Roma asked in surprise.
“Your mother reported it.”
“There’s nothing serious there. Just for health.”
“I no longer care what it’s for. I don’t let strangers into my home, so leave,” Marina said firmly.
She slammed the door in her former husband’s face. A few hours later, her mother-in-law showed up. She pounded on the door until Marina threatened to call the police. The woman had to change apartments too.
She moved to the other side of the city and hoped that now neither her mother-in-law nor her former husband would disturb her peace.
Six months after her breakup with Roman and her move, Marina’s life settled into a relatively calm routine. She immersed herself in work, trying to think less about the stress she had endured and her relationship with her former husband and his intrusive mother. Her new cozy little apartment on the other side of the city became her quiet harbor and refuge.
But one April day, Marina’s usual rhythm of life was disrupted by an unexpected event.
That morning, Marina arrived at work later than usual. She had had a meeting scheduled for the morning and returned to the office afterward. Opening the door to her office, she saw an enormous bouquet of lush scarlet roses on her desk. Marina looked at the flowers in surprise, trying to remember what holiday she had missed or forgotten. But nothing came to mind.
“Who brought this?” she asked her colleague Alyona, who had looked into her office.
“A courier brought it. He asked where you were and left it here,” Alyona shrugged. “Probably from one of your admirers.”
Marina merely waved it off. After her divorce from Roman, she had not thought about new relationships at all. And which of her coworkers would make such an expensive gift? The bouquet was clearly not cheap.
The next day, the situation repeated itself. There was a new huge bouquet of roses in different shades of red. Soon, anonymous romantic messages began arriving on Marina’s phone:
“Good afternoon, beautiful stranger! The weather is especially lovely today, but your smile is brighter than sunlight.”
“A rose is a symbol of love and passion. But no rose can compare with your beauty.”
At first, Marina merely deleted the banal confessions in irritation. But soon something stirred in her soul. For so many years, she had been deprived of attention and tenderness that now these beautiful words, even from a stranger, began to warm her heart. Whoever her mysterious admirer was, he definitely knew how to write compliments.
Unable to withstand her curiosity, Marina one day replied to one of the messages:
“Thank you for the flowers and kind words. But I would like to know who they are from.”
The answer came immediately:
“I cannot reveal my identity right now. I am merely someone who wants your happiness. Let us meet, and you will understand everything.”
Marina hesitated. On one hand, such attention flattered her. On the other, she feared new disappointments. But in the end, curiosity won, and she arranged to meet him a few days later at one of the city’s restaurants.
On the appointed day, when Marina arrived at the restaurant, she froze at the entrance, looking around and trying to understand where her admirer was.
At one of the tables, holding a bouquet of roses, sat… her former husband, Roman! He rose to meet her with a happy smile on his face.
Marina felt a wave of indignation boiling in her chest. All those flowers, those messages—what was this, a new method of manipulation and humiliation? After everything that had happened between them, he had dared to do this?!
“So what is this, some new game?” she burst out, upset.
Marina was already about to turn around and leave, but Roman stopped her, taking her by the hand.
“Marina, please, I’m begging you—hear me out. I know I was incredibly selfish and caused you a lot of suffering. But I really have changed a lot over these months, and I want to fix everything. Please, give me one more chance!”
Marina looked distrustfully at her former husband, who suddenly sounded nothing like he had before. There truly was a flash of repentance in his eyes. Maybe the separation and the break with his mother had done him good?
She froze for a moment… Then she sighed tiredly and shook her head.
“No. I’ve seen enough of your attempts to ‘start over’ to stop falling for them,” she said with a kind of doomed calm. “You are not capable of changing, Roma. It simply isn’t in your nature.”
“What?! How dare you?!” he exclaimed indignantly.
But Marina only shook her head again.
“Well, there you go. When things didn’t go the way you wanted, you showed your true face again. Don’t waste your strength, Roman. You and I are not on the same path. I endured too much from you and your dear mother to step on the same rake again.”
With those words, Marina turned and headed for the exit, leaving the stunned Roman behind, clutching the bouquet in his fist.
Outside, she took a deep breath, feeling incredible relief. It was as if she had thrown a huge burden off her shoulders, freeing herself from that relationship once and for all.
Marina realized that she no longer had any feelings left for Roman—not anger, not resentment, only indifference and emptiness. That chapter of her life was finally behind her.
For the first time in a long while, Marina felt truly free. She walked forward with an incredibly light heart and renewed strength. It was time to begin a real, happy life without looking back at the past.
One fine day, an old acquaintance named Olga came to visit Marina. She looked agitated and told a heartbreaking story about how her mother-in-law was forcing the whole family to live under one roof.
