The number on the phone screen was wrong. Galina stared at it as the elevator carried her up to the twelfth floor, unable to believe that only a little over four thousand rubles remained in their joint account after payday—her payday, just two days earlier. Not one hundred and four thousand. Not forty-four thousand. Four. […]
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The folder of documents was lying in the bottom drawer of the dresser, beneath a stack of bed linen, and Anna had not opened the drawer looking for it. She was searching for a spare duvet cover. A friend was coming to stay overnight that evening, and Anna needed to make up the fold-out sofa. […]
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“Have You Decided to Turn Me into Your Obedient Maid? You Picked the Wrong Woman!” the Wife Snapped Alina carried the box of books with her chin pressed against the lid to keep everything from spilling out. The first thing she noticed in the entrance hall of her new home was a floor cloth, neatly […]
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“You Have Three Rooms, While My Daughter Has to Rent! Where’s the Fairness?” the Mother-in-Law Exclaimed Tamara Viktorovna had a way of walking through someone else’s apartment as though she were appraising it. Lidia had noticed it during her mother-in-law’s very first visit. The moment Tamara Viktorovna crossed the threshold, her eyes traveled over the […]
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“Your husband works himself to the bone while you lie around and still have the nerve to argue? I’ll throw you out of here myself!” the mother-in-law snapped. “Hello, Zlata Viktorovna. I’m busy right now… No. No, I’m not ‘just sitting at home.’ I’m working… This is work… I’ll call you back.” Karina placed her […]
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Adelina stepped out of the shower and heard the front door slam. Valentin was back. She threw on a bathrobe and walked into the hallway. Her husband was standing there without taking off his shoes, staring at the floor. “Hi,” Adelina said. Valentin raised his head. His face was gray, with dark circles beneath his […]
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Zlata held the ATM receipt between two fingers, the way you hold something slimy that you do not want to throw into the trash with your bare hands. The number printed on it was round and vicious. Account balance: 412 rubles. And yet only yesterday, before going to sleep, she had calculated that there should […]
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“Did you really expect me to sign the documents without asking any questions?” Victoria slowly placed the folder on the kitchen table and looked up at her husband. “It’s just a formality,” Artyom replied irritably. “We’ve already discussed everything.” “Then why does it say here that the apartment will become entirely yours?” For a moment, […]
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“You do understand that this is the right thing to do, don’t you? You don’t have children, and Kristina is due in two months,” her mother said calmly. Valentina Andreyevna was already taking off her coat in the hallway and arranging her bags along the wall as though the move had been agreed upon long […]
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“You are obligated to help your mother! Her pension is tiny!” Artyom declared indignantly in the middle of the family dinner, slamming his palm on the table so hard that the dishes rattled.m Elena slowly put down her fork and looked first at her mother, then at her brother. Tamara Pavlovna nervously twisted a napkin […]
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