Yulia sat in a café across from work, mechanically stirring her cold coffee. Her colleague Marina nervously twisted a napkin in her hands.
“Listen, there’s something… It’s awkward to say, but aren’t you renting out an apartment?”
“What?” Yulia raised her eyebrows in confusion. “No, my one-room apartment is empty. Why?”
“It’s just strange…” Marina took out her phone. “Look, here’s the listing. Your address, your apartment. I remember exactly—you showed me photos after the renovation.”
Yulia stared at the screen. It really was her apartment—the very one she had poured all her savings into before getting married.
The same European-style renovation, the same wallpaper with the geometric pattern, even the curtains she had chosen with such love.
“This must be some mistake,” she muttered, feeling herself go cold inside. “I’ll call the realtor.”
Dialing the agency number listed in the ad, Yulia introduced herself as a potential tenant. The woman on the other end of the line answered cheerfully:
“Yes, yes, the apartment will be available starting next month. The landlady is a very pleasant woman, Svetlana Ivanovna. We spoke with her and her son…”
Yulia ended the call. Her ears began to ring.
Svetlana Ivanovna was her mother-in-law. Alexey was her husband.
They had rented out her apartment. Without her knowledge.
“Sorry, Marina, I have to go,” she said, standing up abruptly and almost knocking over her cup.
Yulia rushed home as if on autopilot. Broken thoughts circled in her head: How could they? Why? What for? The betrayal of her husband hurt most of all. Three years of marriage, and he…
At the doorway of the apartment, her mother-in-law greeted her with her usual sugary smile.
“Yulenka, you’re home early today! I was just making pies…”
“Svetlana Ivanovna,” Yulia said, struggling to keep the tremor out of her voice. “Tell me, whose idea was it to rent out my apartment?”
Her mother-in-law’s smile faltered, but quickly returned.
“Oh, come now, sweetheart! We’re family. Why should the apartment sit empty? Lyosha agreed that it would be more sensible.”
“Family?” Yulia felt everything inside her begin to boil. “Family is when people respect each other, not when they act behind someone’s back!”
At that moment, Alexey entered the hallway. Seeing the expression on his wife’s face, he froze.
“What happened?”
“What happened?” Yulia let out a bitter laugh. “Maybe you should tell me how you and your mother decided to dispose of my property.”
Alexey turned pale and quickly glanced at his mother. Svetlana Ivanovna immediately stepped in.
“Lyoshenka, don’t worry. Yulia simply doesn’t understand that we wanted what was best. The money is going into the family, after all!”
“Mom, be quiet!” For the first time in three years of marriage, Yulia heard her husband raise his voice at his mother. “Yul, let’s talk.”
“What is there to talk about?” She kicked off her shoes and walked into the living room. “How you betrayed my trust? Or how you didn’t even think to ask my opinion?”
Alexey sat down on the edge of the sofa.
“Mom said it was the right thing to do. That the apartment was just sitting there.”
“Oh, Mom said so!” Yulia threw up her hands. “Do you have a head of your own? Do you even understand that this is illegal?”
Svetlana Ivanovna, who had followed them closely, inserted herself again.
“What nonsense! We’re not strangers. Besides, you’re married now. You live here.”
“That apartment is my property!” Yulia said sharply. “I took out the loan, I did the renovation, I—”
“There you go again—‘I, I, I’!” her mother-in-law interrupted. “There shouldn’t be ‘yours and mine’ in a family!”
Yulia slowly turned to her husband.
“And is that what you think too?”
Alexey remained silent, lowering his eyes. That silence said more than any words could have.
“Fine,” Yulia said, feeling a strange calm settle over her. “Since you’re so sure you’re right, let’s sort this out according to the law.”
She took out her phone and called her lawyer friend.
“Andrey? I need urgent legal advice. Right now.”
“Yulia, don’t do anything foolish!” Svetlana Ivanovna grabbed her daughter-in-law by the arm. “Why air dirty laundry in public?”
Yulia sharply pulled her arm free.
“Dirty laundry? You seem to have forgotten—this is my apartment, not your household!”
Alexey finally raised his eyes.
“Let’s discuss everything calmly. I understand that we acted wrongly.”
“Wrongly?” Yulia gave a bitter smirk. “That’s putting it mildly. Do you know what hurts the most? Not that you rented out the apartment. It’s that you didn’t even think to consult me.”
The doorbell rang in the hallway—Andrey had arrived. The lawyer listened to the situation, occasionally making notes in his notebook. Svetlana Ivanovna tried to interrupt, but Andrey politely yet firmly stopped her.
“So,” the lawyer concluded, “renting out an apartment without the owner’s consent is illegal. We can file a claim for forced eviction and recovery of unlawfully obtained funds.”
“What funds?” the mother-in-law protested. “We put everything into the family!”
“And where exactly is the money going?” Yulia interrupted.
Silence hung in the room. Alexey turned even paler, while Svetlana Ivanovna became visibly nervous.
“Well, where do you think… Toward common expenses.”
“So you not only rented out my apartment, but you’re also managing the money from it?” Yulia felt a lump rise in her throat. “Wonderful. Andrey, prepare the documents.”
“Yulenka, my dear…” her mother-in-law began.
“I am not your dear!” Yulia cut her off sharply. “Enough of this performance. Alexey, gather the tenants’ things—they must be out within a week.”
“And where are they supposed to go?” Svetlana Ivanovna threw up her hands. “They have children, by the way!”
“That is no longer my problem,” Yulia said coldly. “You are adults. Figure it out yourselves.”
She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. Alexey rushed after her.
“Where are you going?”
“To Lenka’s. I’ll stay with her for now.”
“But how can…” he froze, confused. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so drastic?”
Yulia turned around.
“And how should I be? Swallow the betrayal in silence? Pretend everything is fine?”
Something like remorse flickered in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you.”
“Should have?” she said with a bitter smile. “There are many things you should have done, Lyosha. For example, you should have learned to make decisions on your own instead of following your mother’s orders.”
Hearing those words, Svetlana Ivanovna immediately interfered.
“Don’t you dare speak like that! Lyosha is perfectly—”
“Mom, enough!” Alexey suddenly barked. “Just… enough.”
For the first time, Yulia saw her mother-in-law fall silent in confusion.
But now it no longer mattered. She was tired—tired of the constant control, tired of having to adjust, tired of the fact that her opinion meant nothing.
“You know, Lyosha,” she said quietly, “I really did love you. And I was ready to put up with a lot. But there are some things I cannot step over.”
She left, carefully closing the door behind her. The stairwell was quiet; somewhere upstairs, music was playing. Yulia took out her phone.
“Len? It’s me. Can I come over?”
The following days passed as if in a fog. Yulia went to work, mechanically carried out her duties, and in the evenings sat in Lenka’s kitchen. Her friend did not pry with questions; she simply stayed nearby.
Her phone would not stop ringing—Alexey, her mother-in-law, even the realtor tried to explain something. Yulia did not answer. She only sent the tenants an official notice through her lawyer.
“So what now?” Lenka asked one evening, pouring herbal tea into cups.
“I don’t know,” Yulia admitted honestly. “For the first time in my life, I don’t know.”
“Maybe that’s for the best?” her friend suggested cautiously. “You yourself said you were tired of all that control.”
Yulia thoughtfully stirred her tea.
“You know what’s worst? I really tried. I endured all those endless ‘If I were you’ and ‘In our time, things were different.’ I tried to be a good daughter-in-law.”
“Were you more afraid of becoming a bad daughter-in-law than of losing yourself?” Lenka observed perceptively.
At that moment, the doorbell rang. Alexey stood on the threshold—thin, unshaven, worn out.
“Yul, we need to talk.”
“About what?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Everything has already been said.”
“No, not everything,” he said, running a hand over his face. “I… I understood everything. Truly. Mom was wrong. I was wrong.”
“And what has changed?”
“I moved out from her place. I rented an apartment.”
Yulia blinked in surprise.
“You… what?”
“I moved out,” he repeated. “Because you were right—I need to learn to live with my own head. And… I really want to fix everything.”
Yulia remained silent, studying her husband. There was sincerity in his eyes, but still…
“Lyosha,” she finally said, “do you understand that this isn’t just about the apartment? It’s about trust. Respect. The right to make decisions about your own life.”
He nodded.
“I understand. I understand now. You know, after you left, I thought a lot. About us, about Mom, about everything. And I realized that I had been living as if inside a cocoon—Mom decides, Mom knows, Mom will handle it better…”
“And what changed?”
“I changed,” he said, looking her straight in the eyes. “When Mom came to me with that idea about the apartment, I should have immediately said no. But I kept silent. As always.”
Behind the door, Lenka coughed tactfully.
“I think I’ll go for a walk. About forty minutes.”
When the door closed behind her friend, Alexey continued.
“Mom threw a tantrum when I told her I was moving out. She screamed that I was ungrateful, that I was betraying her… And then I suddenly understood—I had spent my whole life afraid of disappointing her, and in the end, I disappointed myself. And you.”
“Lyosha…”
“No, let me finish. I know I ruined everything. I know I betrayed your trust. But I want to fix it. Truly, not just for show.”
Yulia felt tears rise in her throat.
“How? How are you going to fix it?”
“We’ll start from the beginning. Without Mom’s influence, without her advice. Just you and me. If… if you still want to try.”
“And what if she starts interfering again?” Yulia asked quietly. “What if it’s all that ‘I only wanted what was best’ again?”
Alexey shook his head.
“Not anymore. I set a condition—either she learns to respect boundaries, or… or we’ll simply see each other on holidays.”
“And she agreed?”
“Not right away,” he said with a joyless smirk. “First there was a storm. Then tears. Then… you know, she suddenly seemed to deflate somehow. She said, ‘Have I really ruined everything that badly?’”
Yulia walked over to the window. A fine rain was drizzling outside, and passersby hurried to hide beneath umbrellas.
“The tenants have already moved out,” Alexey continued. “I personally made sure of it. And all the money they paid… I transferred it to your account.”
“It’s not about the money…”
“I know. But at least it’s a beginning. A small step toward making things right.”
Yulia turned around.
“And if it doesn’t work? If we try, and then…”
“Then at least we’ll know we tried,” he said, taking a step toward her. “I love you, Yul. And only now have I realized how close I came to losing you.”
From the hallway came the sound of the door opening—Lenka had returned. She peeked out from the corridor.
“Well? Peace?”
“I don’t know,” Yulia answered honestly. “But… maybe it’s worth trying?”
Three months passed.
Yulia stood in the middle of her apartment, looking around at the freshly painted walls. After the tenants, repairs had been necessary, but the result was worth it.
“Last box,” Alexey said, placing a cardboard box in the corner. “Where should I put it?”
“In the bedroom,” she smiled. “It feels strange to come back here… now together.”
The decision to live separately from her mother-in-law had not been easy, but it had turned out to be the right one. At first, Svetlana Ivanovna was offended, but little by little, she began accepting the new rules.
“Mom called this morning,” Alexey said, unpacking the dishes. “She asked if she could come by for the housewarming.”
“And what did you say?”
“That I would ask you first.”
Yulia came up behind her husband and hugged him from behind.
“You know, a couple of months ago I would have said no. But now… let her come. Only…”
“Only she must remember that this is our home and our rules?” he finished for her.
“Exactly.”
Alexey turned to his wife.
“I’m proud of you. Truly. If it hadn’t been for your determination back then, I would have kept drifting with the current.”
“And I’m proud of us,” she said, touching his cheek. “Proud that we managed to overcome it.”
The doorbell rang—Lenka had arrived with the promised housewarming cake. Yulia went to open the door, but halfway there, she turned back.
“By the way, tomorrow I’m going to the notary. I’m filing a restriction so that no actions can be taken with the apartment without my consent.”
“That’s right,” Alexey nodded. “Trust, but verify.”
Yulia laughed and opened the door to her friend. Life went on—now according to new rules, the ones they had set themselves.
And that was wonderful.
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