The morning started with Sergey’s kettle breaking again.
Or rather, it didn’t so much break as burn — because Sergey somehow managed to put it on the stove.
Yes, an electric one.
And yes, this is a thirty-year-old man with two degrees.
“So what now?” he grumbled, scratching the back of his head guiltily while Tatyana fought the urge to say something truly devastating. “We’ll buy a new one, no big deal…”
“Of course we’ll buy one. With my money, like always,” Tatyana snapped the cupboard door shut a bit louder than necessary.
That, by the way, was what their family life looked like. A rented flat in a prefab apartment block, the smell of cats on the staircase, endless renovations from the neighbors. Sergey’s salary was “average at best”, and Tatyana had, fortunately, recently made something of herself: she’d gotten a job at a company where they paid decent money and even gave bonuses.
But the joy didn’t last long — along with the money came new “family obligations”.
That same evening, Galina Ivanovna, the mother-in-law, showed up. In a coat from the last century, but with the air of a bank director. From the doorway she started:
“Oh, Tanya dear, why is your hallway so dirty? Do you ever go over it with a rag?” She arched her brows as she took off her boots, breathing heavily.
Tatyana smiled so hard her cheek cramped. She answered neutrally:
“We just cleaned yesterday. Maybe your eyesight’s letting you down.”
Sergey, as usual, pretended he didn’t hear anything. Men are real masters at that art: eyes on the TV — and that’s it, they’re on another planet.
But today, Galina Ivanovna hadn’t come just “to check how the kids are living.” She was on a mission.
“Son, why are you just sitting there? Go put the kettle on. Oh right, the kettle…” She glanced at the melted corpse of the appliance on the stove. “I knew those hands of yours would be nothing but trouble.”
Sergey shrugged awkwardly. Tatyana was boiling inside, but stayed silent.
“So, children,” the mother-in-law began, settling into the armchair, “we have a matter to discuss. Lenochka”—that was her younger daughter, Sergey’s sister—“wants to go to the seaside. The girl is twenty-five, she’s tired, she needs a rest. And she’s a bit tight on money right now. Well, you understand…”
Tatyana froze, holding a mug in her hands. At first she didn’t even get it.
“Wait,” she said carefully. “Are you seriously suggesting that we… pay for Lena’s vacation?”
“What’s so strange about that?” the mother-in-law asked, genuinely surprised, as if they were talking about a carton of milk. “You two are earning good money now, Tanya dear. I’m happy for you, really. But we’re family! We have to help each other.”
Tatyana clenched her teeth. “Family,” sure. This was the same “family” that two years ago had called her a “freeloader” because she was still studying and barely bringing in anything. And now suddenly it was “we’re all in this together.”
“Mom, maybe Lenka could earn it herself?” Sergey ventured cautiously, but much too quietly.
“Are you out of your mind? She’s a girl! You’re her brother, you’re obliged to support her!” Galina Ivanovna’s voice rang out. “Or is it your wife who’s against it?”
All eyes turned to Tatyana.
And that was the moment she felt something click inside her.
“What do I have to do with it?” she asked, without raising her voice. “This is your family’s business. I’m just not going to support a grown woman who doesn’t want to go to work.”
A pause. The air felt like it was charged with static.
“So that’s how it is,” the mother-in-law said slowly, folding her hands on her knees. “I thought we’d accepted you like one of our own. And you… You’re sitting on money and being stingy! It’s a disgrace!”
Tatyana laughed. She honestly couldn’t hold it in. The laugh came out sharp, almost hysterical.
“Like one of your own? You’ve been picking on me since day one! Everything’s wrong with me: I cook badly, I dress ‘not up to family standards’, I ‘stole your son from the family’. And now I’m still supposed to sponsor someone’s vacation? No thanks.”
Sergey flinched, as if he wanted to step between them, but didn’t make it in time.
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” Galina Ivanovna jumped to her feet. “I’m your husband’s mother!”
“And what of it?” Tatyana stood up too. Her voice trembled, but she didn’t back down. “Being his mother doesn’t mean you get to control my life and my wallet!”
Sergey slapped his palms on his knees.
“That’s enough!” he barked, suddenly loud. “Mom, you’re going too far. Tanya’s right: Lena’s an adult, let her deal with her own problems.”
Silence.
The mother-in-law stared at her son as if he’d just confessed to treason.
“I see,” she hissed. “So your wife has you wrapped around her little finger. You’re not a son, you’re a rag. And you, Tanya…”—she jabbed a finger at her—“you’ll regret this.”
She slammed the door so hard that plaster rained from the ceiling in the hallway.
Tatyana slowly sank down onto the sofa. Her heart was pounding, her palms were sweaty.
“Well, congratulations,” she exhaled. “The first big family war has been declared.”
Sergey silently sat down beside her and lit a cigarette — even though he usually didn’t smoke at home.
The next day, Tatyana came back from work and immediately sensed that something was off: the apartment was deathly quiet. Not even the TV was on, though Sergey normally did nothing but stare at “Match TV”.
In the hallway, like a bolt from the blue, stood a suitcase. Their suitcase. Gray, with a broken zipper, the sleeve of her blouse sticking out of it.
“What’s this?” Tatyana asked, without even taking off her coat.
Galina Ivanovna came out of the room. Yep, her again. Apparently she had a key (which she did, by the way: Sergey had naively given her one “just in case” back in the day).
“Well, Tanyusha,” she said in a honeyed voice, “these are your things. Seryozhenka and I decided that you need some time to think. A little rest, so to speak.”
Tatyana’s head started spinning.
“Are you out of your mind?” She leaned against the wall. “This is my apartment! Well, okay, not mine, but I’m the one paying for it!”
Sergey was sitting on the sofa, his face gray as a bedsheet.
“Tanya, don’t take it the wrong way… It’s just that Mom… she’s worried…”
“Worried?!” Tatyana tore off her coat and threw it on the floor. “What kind of circus is this?!”
“Don’t shout,” he winced.
“I will shout!” Tatyana strode over to the suitcase and kicked it hard with the toe of her boot. “So, dear Mother, you packed my things?”
“Yes,” the mother-in-law replied calmly, straightening her collar. “I’m a practical woman, I dealt with it quickly. Your stuff was all mixed together, of course, but that’s not my problem.”
“Oh my God,” Tatyana laughed. The laugh was so sharp it made her own teeth ache. “You seriously think I’m going to leave?”
“And where will you go?” The mother-in-law’s lips twisted in a contemptuous smile. “You have nothing here. No apartment, no husband if he finally starts using his head. All your happiness hangs by a very thin thread.”
Sergey jumped up.
“Mom, stop!”
“Be quiet!” she snapped. “You’d have been lost without me as a child! I raised you, I put you on your feet, and now this… this little upstart is giving orders!”
Tatyana stood there, her whole body shaking. Something terrible was bubbling up in her chest.
“Listen carefully,” she finally said, slowly, as if every word was a battle. “I am not a little upstart. I’m your son’s wife. And if you touch my things again, I’ll file a report with the police. Are you familiar with the article on vigilantism?”
Galina Ivanovna recoiled, but quickly collected herself.
“You rude little thing! Are you threatening me now?”
“Yes, I am,” Tatyana replied clearly. “And that’s me being polite.”
The pause dragged on. You could hear a drill whining in the neighbors’ flat behind the wall.
Sergey’s eyes darted from his mother to his wife. In the end he grabbed the suitcase and shoved it back into the corner.
“That’s it, enough. Mom, leave.”
“What?!” She practically choked. “You’re throwing me out? Your own mother?”
“Yes,” he said quietly, but firmly. “Leave, while we’re still talking civilly.”
The mother-in-law went pale.
“I understand everything now. She’s bewitched you. She’s turned you against your family. Well fine, son. It’ll all come back to you like a boomerang.”
And she left, slamming the door on her way out.
Tatyana sat down on the sofa and covered her face with her hands.
“I can’t believe this…” she whispered. “This is insane.”
Sergey came over and sat next to her.
“Tanya, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I never should’ve given her a key.”
“Do you realize she literally tried to throw me out?!” Tatyana lowered her hands and looked at him. “Did you see that? Do you get that to her I’m nothing at all here?”
“I get it,” he said wearily. “I get everything now.”
They sat in silence. Tatyana’s fingers were trembling, and to give them something to do she grabbed her phone. There were already five missed calls from Lena.
She called back.
“Tanya, you really outdid yourself!” Lena’s voice was shrill, dripping with fake hurt. “Mom’s in tears! You kicked her out! Do you even have a conscience?”
“Lenochka,” Tatyana said so sweetly she almost wanted to spit at herself, “I think in your family conscience is passed down by inheritance. It just didn’t make it to me.”
“Oh, that’s how it is?!” Lena screeched. “You’re nothing without us! A gray little mouse sitting on our money!”
“On your money?!” Tatyana almost dropped the phone. “It’s with my money you’re all dancing around here!”
“We’ll see who’s living on whose money,” Lena said coldly and hung up.
Tatyana tossed the phone on the sofa.
“That’s it, Seryozha, I can’t do this anymore. Either we draw a line and live our own life, or I’ll pack my own suitcase and leave.”
Sergey lifted his head. There was something new in his eyes. Resolve?
“Don’t go,” he said quietly. “I’ll draw the line myself.”
And for the first time, Tatyana truly believed that maybe he was capable of something more than just sitting in front of the TV.
A week passed in relative calm. The phone was quiet, no one pounded on the door, and even the neighbors noticed.
“Your mom’s been suspiciously quiet,” chuckled Uncle Slava from the third apartment, smoking on the landing.
Tatyana rejoiced in this lull, though she understood: the storm was still ahead. In families like this, it’s always the same — first a truce, then a new blow.
On Friday evening, just as she’d kicked off her heels and was dreaming of a shower, the doorbell split the silence. Sergey opened it — and froze.
Lena was on the threshold. Short puffer jacket, bright red lipstick, and the look of someone who’d come to deliver a sentence. Behind her loomed their mother, all in mourning — black coat, sorrowful face.
“Well, shall we talk?” Lena drawled lazily, stepping over the threshold.
Tatyana came out into the hallway.
“Talk.”
“We’ve been thinking with Mom,” Lena began, adjusting her hair, “since you’re so rich and independent, maybe you could share? At least with Mom. She deserves it! She’s sacrificed her life for you, and you…”
“For me?” Tatyana narrowed her eyes. “Pretty sure I’m a stranger to her.”
“Not a stranger!” cut in Galina Ivanovna. “You owe us. You’re part of our family now, which means you have to help.”
“Owe you?!” Tatyana raised her voice. “The only things I’m obligated to do are pay my taxes and my mortgage. That’s it. I don’t owe anything to anyone else.”
Lena rolled her eyes.
“It’s because of people like you families fall apart. Sitting on your money like a broody hen. Meanwhile Mom has high blood pressure, she needs expensive pills.”
Tatyana felt a pounding in her temples.
“But you still have a dad,” she said coldly. “Or is he just there as decoration?”
Lena flushed crimson.
“You bitch…”
“That’s enough!” Sergey barked, stepping between them. “I said: no more money, no more demands. You can live however you like. But leave us alone.”
Mother and daughter froze.
“Seryozhenka, what are you…” Galina Ivanovna moaned softly. “You’re betraying us?”
“No, Mom,” his voice was firm. “I’m just finally choosing my own family. Tanya.”
Silence. Thick, like jelly.
And then Lena snapped.
“Just so you know,” she yelled, “you don’t even have your own apartment, it’s all because of Tanya! Without her you’d still be in a dorm! And who would you be then?! A nobody!”
Sergey said nothing. But Tatyana suddenly stepped forward and said clearly:
“Better to be a ‘nobody’ than to hang off someone else’s neck forever.”
That hit home. The mother-in-law jerked, Lena bit her lip. They turned around and left. No hysterics, no door slamming. Just quietly.
When the door closed, Tatyana felt like she was breathing fully for the first time in all the years of their marriage.
Sergey dropped onto the sofa and covered his face with his hands.
“You know,” he said dully, “I get that this is it now. They’ll never forgive us.”
Tatyana sat down beside him.
“Let them not forgive us. At least we’re free now.”
And for the first time in a long while, she felt: this was the right thing.
The ending wasn’t about tears, it was about relief.
Because sometimes, to survive, you have to cut away the rotten part of the family like a tumor.
Otherwise, it will devour you whole.
