“Irina, I wanted to talk to you about something important,” Igor tapped his fingers nervously on the table, avoiding his wife’s eyes.
Irina tore herself away from her laptop and looked at her husband closely. Something in his voice put her on guard.
“About what?” she asked, closing the lid.
“You see, my mom needs to make her mortgage payment this month, and she’s run into some financial trouble…”
Irina raised her eyebrows in puzzlement.
“And? What does that have to do with us?”
“I thought maybe we could help?” Igor finally looked up at his wife. “After all, we’ve been living here for two years…”
“This is your mother’s apartment—why should I be the one to pay for it?” Irina asked in surprise when he asked for money for the mortgage payment.
Igor sighed.
“Ira, try to understand, Mom’s in a tough spot right now. She’s done so much for us, she took us in.”
“Igor,” Irina tried to keep her voice even, though she was boiling inside, “we pay the utilities, we buy the groceries, I helped with the kitchen renovation. We’re not living here for free. But paying your mother’s mortgage is a completely different matter.”
“Different?” Igor’s voice took on a hurt tone. “And where do you think we’ll live if they take Mom’s apartment for nonpayment?”
Irina froze. For the first time in four years of marriage, she heard that kind of note in her husband’s voice.
“They’ll take your mother’s apartment? What happened? Why can’t she pay all of a sudden?”
Igor looked away.
“They… cut her hours at school. Her salary went down.”
Something about his answer struck Irina as insincere. He said it too quickly, too pat. But she decided not to press—yet.
“Fine, let’s talk to your mom first, find out what’s going on, and then decide how we can help.”
Valentina Alekseyevna sat at the table with her hands folded like a model student. The impeccable posture of a teacher with thirty years’ experience, the stern gaze over her glasses—everything about her projected someone used to staying in control.
“Valentina Alekseyevna, Igor said you’re having trouble making your mortgage payments?” Irina decided to get straight to the point.
“Yes, Irinochka,” the mother-in-law sighed. “School’s hard right now. They cut my hours, my pay fell. And one still has to live on something.”
“How much are you short?”
“The monthly payment is twenty thousand. I can manage half.”
Irina did the math quickly. Ten thousand a month wasn’t catastrophic, but it wasn’t nothing either—especially when she and Igor were saving for a place of their own.
“And how long would you need help?”
Valentina Alekseyevna spread her hands.
“Who can say… Maybe a month, maybe a year. Everything’s unstable at school now.”
“A year?!” Irina couldn’t hide her surprise. “But that makes a hundred and twenty thousand!”
“And what did you think?” steel crept into the mother-in-law’s voice. “That you could sit on the old mother’s neck for two years and not have to help?”
“Valentina Alekseyevna,” Irina felt herself starting to boil over, “we are not living off you. We pay the utilities, we buy the groceries, we helped with the renovation…”
“Oh, renovation!” the mother-in-law cut her off. “You put up some wallpaper in the kitchen and think that’s a renovation? And who does your laundry? Who cooks?”
“I do our laundry myself, and I often cook for everyone!” Irina protested.
“Mom, Ira really does help a lot,” Igor, who had been sitting silently to the side, spoke up.
“Oh, go on, defend her!” Valentina whipped around to her son. “So I’m supposed to be paying a mortgage at my age, while the young and healthy just enjoy the apartment?”
Irina felt the conversation was going nowhere.
“Let’s all calm down and think about how to solve the problem,” she said, trying to keep her tone gentle.
“There’s nothing to solve,” Valentina snapped. “Either you help with the mortgage, or you find somewhere else to live.”
“I can’t believe your mother gave us an ultimatum like that,” Irina paced their room while Igor sat on the bed with his head down.
“She’s just upset,” Igor tried to excuse her. “It really is hard for her.”
“I don’t think it’s just about the money,” Irina stopped in front of him. “Your mom never mentioned mortgage problems before. Why now?”
Igor dropped his eyes guiltily.
“Actually… she’s been asking me to help with the payments for a few months.”
“What?” Irina froze. “And you didn’t say anything?”
“I didn’t want to worry you…” Igor looked like a schoolboy caught misbehaving. “For the last three months I’ve been giving her part of my salary.”
“Igor! We agreed to discuss all major expenses! You know how important it is for us to save for our own place!”
“I know,” Igor looked up at her pleadingly. “But she’s my mother. I couldn’t refuse her.”
Irina took a deep breath, fighting back hurt and disappointment.
“How much have you given her already?”
“Thirty thousand…”
“Thirty thousand!” Irina threw up her hands. “Igor, that’s almost half our monthly savings for our future apartment!”
“I’m sorry,” was all he could say.
The next day, Irina met her friend Natalia in a little café near work.
“I can’t believe Igor kept something like that from you,” Natalia shook her head after hearing the story.
“I was shocked too,” Irina admitted. “But the strangest thing is that Valentina Alekseyevna never complained about money before. She was always proud of managing on her own.”
“Maybe she’s just testing you?” Natalia suggested. “You know, a loyalty test to her son’s family.”
“If so, it’s a very odd way to do it,” Irina frowned. “Besides, Igor said they really cut her hours at school.”
Natalia stirred her coffee, thinking.
“Ira, I’ve known you for years. You’ve always been principled. But sometimes it’s worth giving ground for the sake of family peace. Maybe you should agree? Ten thousand isn’t that much.”
“It’s not about the amount,” Irina countered. “It’s about how it was done. Behind my back. As an ultimatum.”
“You’re right, the method isn’t exactly honest,” Natalia conceded. “But think about the consequences. You’ll have to rent, and that’s a lot more than ten thousand a month.”
Irina sighed.
“I get that. But something tells me if I give in now, it’ll only get worse later.”
That same evening guests gathered at Valentina Alekseyevna’s. Igor’s sister Marina and her husband Sergey had supposedly come just to visit, but Irina sensed a setup right away.
“How are you lovebirds?” Marina asked, though Irina and Igor had been married four years.
“Fine,” Irina answered curtly.
“Mom said you’re having some financial disagreements?” Marina went on, with an innocent face.
So that’s it, Irina thought. A family council.
“Not disagreements—discussions,” Igor said diplomatically.
“What discussions!” Valentina burst out. “Your bride refuses to help with the mortgage even though she’s been living in my apartment for two years!”
“Mom!” Igor looked at her pleadingly.
“What ‘Mom’?” Marina chimed in. “She’s telling the truth. We rented for five years before we could buy our place. No one helped us.”
“So you’re saying we should pay to live here?” Irina asked, feeling anger rise in her. “Then let’s call things by their name: this isn’t ‘help with the mortgage,’ it’s rent.”
“No need to be crude,” Valentina winced. “I’m just asking for help from close family.”
“You ask close family openly—not behind someone’s back,” Irina shot back. “And you don’t issue ultimatums.”
“You see what she’s like?” Valentina said theatrically to her daughter. “I took them in, and she’s the one laying down conditions!”
“Mom, stop,” Igor tried to intervene.
“And you be quiet!” his mother snapped. “Spineless! Can’t you put your wife in her place!”
A heavy silence fell.
“Let’s go, Igor,” Irina said softly, standing up. “We need to talk in private.”
“That was a staged row,” Irina said once they were outside. “Your mother invited Marina on purpose to put pressure on us.”
“I don’t think she planned it,” Igor said uncertainly.
“Igor, open your eyes!” Irina turned to him. “Your mother is manipulating you. First she secretly asked you for money, now she’s pulling in relatives.”
Igor looked lost.
“What do you suggest?”
“Let’s move out. We’ll rent.”
“Move out?” Igor went pale. “But that’s much more expensive!”
“More expensive than ten thousand a month—yes. But cheaper than losing our self-respect and wrecking our relationship.”
Igor said nothing, and that silence hurt Irina most of all.
“You don’t want to leave your mother, do you?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know, Ira,” he answered honestly. “I’m caught in the middle. I love you, but I can’t just abandon Mom.”
“No one’s asking you to abandon her. We’ll just live separately, like a normal family.”
Igor rubbed his forehead.
“Let’s think a bit more. Maybe there’s another way.”
At work Irina couldn’t focus. The numbers in the reports swam before her eyes, and her thoughts kept circling back to the conflict at home. Her colleague Svetlana noticed and invited her to lunch.
“I had a similar situation with my mother-in-law,” Svetlana said after Irina shared. “Ours wasn’t about the mortgage, but about renovating her apartment.”
“And how did you solve it?” Irina asked hopefully.
“We didn’t,” Svetlana smiled sadly. “I gave in—we paid for the renovation. Six months later she demanded new furniture. Then a car. In the end my husband and I divorced because he couldn’t say ‘no’ to his mother.”
A chill ran down Irina’s back.
“You think it could come to divorce for us?”
“Not necessarily,” Svetlana shrugged. “But if you give in now, the boundary will be crossed. After that—it’s a snowball.”
“What would you advise?”
“Stand your ground. If your husband really loves you and values your marriage, he’ll understand that your family has to come first.”
That evening Irina ran into Valentina’s neighbor, Pyotr Semyonovich, in the stairwell.
“Ah, Valentina’s daughter-in-law!” the elderly man greeted her cheerfully. “How are things?”
“Hello, Pyotr Semyonovich,” Irina replied politely. “Well, they’ve been better.”
“Family squabbles?” he nodded knowingly. “I heard you talking loudly yesterday.”
Irina was embarrassed.
“Sorry if we disturbed you.”
“Oh, no apologies necessary,” he waved it off. “I understand. Valentina Alekseyevna’s no sugar, character-wise. I’ve been her neighbor thirty years—I know.”
On impulse, Irina decided to confide in him.
“Pyotr Semyonovich, you’ve known her a long time. Tell me, does she really have financial trouble? She says they cut her hours at school…”
The neighbor raised his eyebrows.
“At school? She’s been retired for a year! She only tutors on the side.”
Irina went still.
“Retired? But she leaves for work every day!”
“Well, maybe to students, I don’t know,” he shrugged. “But she definitely doesn’t work at the school. She told me herself she left as soon as she qualified for her pension.”
Something clicked in Irina’s head. If Valentina had lied about the school, what else was she hiding?
“Do you happen to know if she has any other income?” Irina asked carefully.
Pyotr Semyonovich squinted slyly.
“You mean her parents’ apartment? She’s been renting it out for about ten years. Says she gets good money.”
It was like a bolt from the blue. Irina barely kept herself from gasping.
“Are you sure?” she asked again.
“Of course,” he nodded. “She bragged to me that she takes the rent in foreign currency. Says it’s safer that way.”
Igor didn’t believe it when Irina told him about the conversation.
“That’s impossible,” he shook his head. “Mom would’ve told me if she’d retired. And she said her brother lives in Grandma and Grandpa’s apartment.”
“Her brother?” Irina was surprised. “What brother? You never mentioned your mom had a brother.”
Igor frowned.
“A cousin… I think. I’ve never met him.”
“Igor, we’re being lied to,” Irina took his hands. “Let’s check. Do you have the address of that apartment?”
“Somewhere…” he said uncertainly. “But what do you suggest? Spying on my mom?”
“Not on your mom—on the apartment. Just to make sure it’s really her ‘brother’ and not tenants.”
Igor hesitated.
“I don’t know, Ira… It feels wrong.”
“And lying to your son and daughter-in-law is right?” Irina shot back. “If we’re wrong, I’ll be the first to apologize to your mother. But if we’re not…”
“Okay,” he gave in. “I’ll find the address.”
Valentina’s parental apartment was in a neighboring district. Igor and Irina went there on Saturday morning, when Valentina had left “for work.”
“This is it,” Igor pointed to an old five-story building. “Apartment twelve.”
They climbed to the second floor and stopped at the door. Irina pressed the bell decisively.
A young woman holding a child opened it.
“Who are you looking for?” she asked with a slight accent.
Igor faltered, and Irina took the lead.
“Hello, we’re looking for Valentina Alekseyevna—it’s her apartment.”
“Oh, the landlady!” the woman nodded. “She comes on the first to collect the money. Today is the sixteenth, too early.”
“So you’re renting this place?” Igor clarified.
“Yes, for the third year now,” the woman replied. “And you are?”
“I’m her son,” Igor looked completely stunned.
The woman stared at him in surprise.
“Her son? She never said she had a son. Only that she’s a single pensioner.”
Igor turned pale.
“Sorry, we must have made a mistake,” Irina said quickly, taking her husband by the arm. “Thank you for the information.”
“I can’t believe it,” Igor sat on a bench in the park, head bowed. “She’s been lying to me all this time. Why?”
“I don’t know,” Irina put a hand on his shoulder. “But now we know for sure she’s not in financial trouble. She gets a pension and rent from that apartment.”
“And she still demands that we pay her mortgage,” Igor gave a bitter laugh. “How could she?”
“People do strange things sometimes,” Irina said gently. “Maybe she just wanted to test how devoted you are to her.”
“Devoted? That’s just deceit!” Igor flared. “All these years I thought she was honest, principled… And she…”
He didn’t finish, but Irina understood. Betrayal by someone close is one of life’s worst pains.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
Igor lifted his head, and Irina saw a resolve she’d never noticed before.
“Move out. You were right. We need to live on our own.”
Valentina didn’t expect her son and daughter-in-law back so soon. She was cooking lunch, humming to herself, when they walked in.
“Back already? I thought you’d be out until evening,” she smiled.
“Mom, we need to talk,” Igor’s voice was unusually firm.
Valentina sensed something and grew wary.
“About what?”
“About your job at the school,” Igor looked her straight in the eyes. “And about Grandma’s apartment.”
Valentina’s face changed.
“What do you mean?”
“We know you’ve been retired for a year,” Igor said. “And that you rent out Grandma’s apartment. You’re not in financial trouble, Mom. Why did you lie to us?”
For a moment Valentina was taken aback, but she quickly pulled herself together.
“Who told you that? It’s all gossip!”
“We were at that apartment,” Irina cut in. “We spoke to your tenant. She said she’s been renting for three years.”
“You were spying on me?” Valentina went on the offensive. “What right did you have?!”
“And what right did you have to deceive us?” Igor shot back. “To demand money for the mortgage when you have income of your own!”
“I’m your mother!” Valentina raised her voice. “I raised you—you’re obliged to help me!”
“I would help you if you truly needed it,” Igor tried to speak calmly. “But you lied to me. You used me.”
“It’s all her!” Valentina pointed at Irina. “She turned you against your own mother!”
“Leave Irina out of it,” Igor stepped between them. “This is between us, Mom. You betrayed my trust.”
Valentina fell silent. She hadn’t expected this pushback from a son who had always yielded to her.
“What are you going to do?” she asked at last.
“We’re moving out,” Igor said firmly. “We’ll start looking for a place today.”
“Moving out?” Valentina went pale. “Over such a trifle?”
“It’s not a trifle, Mom,” Igor shook his head. “It’s about trust. And respect.”
“You won’t find anything as cheap!” Valentina switched tactics. “You’ll go broke on rent!”
“That’s our business,” Irina replied calmly. “We’ll manage.”
“All right,” Valentina gave in unexpectedly. “I admit I was wrong. Let’s forget it. Live here as before, free of charge.”
Irina and Igor exchanged glances.
“It’s not about the money, Mom,” Igor said gently. “It’s that you tried to manipulate us. We can’t live together anymore.”
“But I apologized!” there was a pleading note in Valentina’s voice. “What more do you want?”
“We want to live as our own family,” Irina said firmly. “Separate from you.”
A week later Irina and Igor moved into a small rental. Valentina tried to interfere—she cried, she threatened, she offered various compromises. But the decision had been made.
“I thought it would be harder,” Igor admitted when at last they were alone in their new place.
“How do you mean?” Irina asked, unpacking boxes.
“Standing up to Mom,” Igor paused. “She always got her way. And I always caved.”
“What changed?”
“I realized she isn’t always right. And that my real family is you.”
Irina hugged her husband.
“I’m proud of you. That wasn’t easy.”
“You know what’s strange?” Igor looked thoughtfully out the window. “I feel relieved. Like some weight fell off my shoulders—one I’d been carrying all my life without noticing.”
“That’s normal,” Irina came up behind and wrapped her arms around him. “Living under constant pressure is very hard.”
The doorbell rang. The couple exchanged glances—they weren’t expecting anyone.
“I’ll get it,” Igor said and went to the door.
Marina, his sister, stood there with a small basket.
“May I come in?” she asked in an unusually timid voice.
Igor stepped aside silently to let her in. Irina tensed—their last meeting had been anything but friendly.
“I brought some homemade food,” Marina set the basket on the table. “I thought you might not have time to cook.”
“Thanks,” Irina said coolly. “But we’re managing.”
Marina fidgeted with the hem of her sweater.
“I didn’t just come for that. I wanted to apologize.”
It was so unexpected that Irina and Igor both raised their eyebrows.
“For what?” Igor asked.
“For taking Mom’s side without getting the facts,” Marina sighed. “I talked to Pyotr Semyonovich. He told me about Grandma’s apartment and that Mom has been retired for a year.”
“And you believed us?” Igor was surprised.
“Not right away,” Marina admitted. “First I went to the apartment myself. I talked to the tenant too. Then I gave Mom the third degree.”
“And what did she say?” Irina asked.
“At first she denied everything,” Marina smiled sadly. “Then she confessed. She said she just wanted the mortgage paid off by the young and healthy so she could enjoy herself.”
Igor shook his head.
“I can’t believe it. She always taught us to be honest.”
“She’s ashamed,” Marina said. “Though she’ll never admit it. But I saw it.”
“What happens now?” Igor asked.
“I don’t know,” Marina shrugged. “She said she’ll manage on her own, like before. And she asked me to tell you that if you want to come back, you can live free of charge.”
“We’re not coming back,” Irina said firmly, looking at her husband. “Right, Igor?”
“Right,” he nodded. “We need to build our own life. Apart from Mom.”
Marina nodded in understanding.
“I figured. And honestly, I’m on your side. What Mom did wasn’t fair. I couldn’t live with someone who lied to me either.”
“Thank you,” Irina said sincerely. “That means a lot.”
After Marina left, Igor looked at Irina thoughtfully.
“Do you think Mom will ever admit she was wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Irina answered honestly. “For some people it’s very hard to admit mistakes—especially to those they consider dependent on them.”
“I’m not dependent on her anymore,” Igor said firmly. “And that’s thanks to you.”
Three months passed. Irina and Igor settled into their new apartment and, despite the added expense of rent, got their routine in order and even kept saving bit by bit for a place of their own. Relations with Valentina remained tense—Igor called his mother once a week, but the conversations were short and formal.
One evening the doorbell rang. When Irina opened it, she was surprised to find her mother-in-law on the threshold.
“Good evening,” Valentina said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. “May I come in?”
Irina stepped aside silently to let her in. Igor came out of the room and froze when he saw his mother.
“Mom? Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened,” Valentina looked embarrassed. “I just… came to talk.”
Irina and Igor exchanged glances.
“Come in, sit down,” Irina gestured to the couch.
Valentina sat, smoothing the folds of her skirt.
“I’ve been thinking for a long time about how to start this. I decided it’s best just to say it as it is. I was wrong.”
Igor raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“You admit that?”
“Yes,” Valentina sighed. “I’m ashamed. I lied to you about my situation. I tried to manipulate you.”
“But why?” Irina asked. “You have enough money to pay the mortgage.”
“I…” Valentina hesitated. “I just got tired of paying. I thought, why shouldn’t the young help their old mother? After all, you were living in my apartment…”
“We paid the utilities,” Irina reminded her. “And we helped with repairs more than once.”
“I know,” Valentina lowered her eyes. “It was a foolish idea. I got greedy.”
“And you lied to us,” Igor added.
“And I lied,” Valentina agreed. “That’s inexcusable.”
Igor looked at his mother carefully.
“What changed, Mom? Why admit it now?”
“I realized I was losing my son,” she said simply. “And that’s scarier than any money.”
Silence fell. Irina could see Igor wrestling with himself—he always forgave his mother easily, but this was about more than just him; it was about their family.
“I’m not asking you to come back,” Valentina went on. “And I’m not asking for money. I just want you to know I understand my mistake and I regret it.”
“Thank you for your honesty,” Irina said after a pause. “That matters to us.”
“What are you doing about the mortgage now?” Igor asked.
“Paying it myself, as before,” Valentina answered. “I have enough, you’re right. I’m not destitute.”
Igor nodded.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“May I ask a question?” Valentina looked at Irina. “Why did you resist so stubbornly? Ten thousand a month isn’t that much.”
“It wasn’t about the amount,” Irina replied. “It was about principle. You tried to manipulate us, and you did it behind my back. If you had told us honestly that paying the mortgage was hard, we would have helped. But lies and manipulation… that’s no basis for a relationship.”
Valentina nodded slowly.
“I understand. And you’re right.”
She stood.
“I won’t bother you anymore. I just wanted you to know: my door is always open to you. Without conditions and without manipulation.”
After she left, Igor stood at the window for a long time, watching his mother walk toward the bus stop.
“What are you thinking about?” Irina asked, coming up beside him.
“How strangely things turned out,” he said. “Six months ago I couldn’t imagine living apart from Mom. That I could stand up to her. And now…”
“And now you’ve grown up,” Irina finished softly. “And that’s how it should be.”
“Are you angry with her?”
Irina thought.
“I’m not angry. But I don’t fully trust her. Trust is fragile; it’s hard to restore.”
“Do you think she’s changed?”
“I don’t know,” Irina said honestly. “People rarely change completely. But at least she admitted her mistake. That’s something.”
“Do you think we should visit her more often?”
“We can,” Irina nodded. “But live separately. We have our own family now, our own rules. And your mom has to respect that.”
Igor hugged his wife.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For standing up for our family. Even when I was too weak to do it myself.”
“We stood up together,” Irina smiled. “And now we’ll build our life together. By our rules.”
It was starting to rain outside, but the apartment was warm and cozy. Their own home, their own rules, their own life. And no manipulation could change that.
A year passed. Irina and Igor saved enough for a down payment and took out a mortgage on a small but their-own apartment. Their relationship with Valentina gradually improved, though it never went back to the way it was—now it was a relationship between adults, based on mutual respect rather than dependency and manipulation.
And whenever Irina remembered the day Igor asked her for money for his mother’s mortgage, she always thought: sometimes you have to go through a conflict to build truly healthy relationships. And she didn’t regret a thing.
