Anastasia stood by the living room’s floor-to-ceiling window, admiring the park’s evening lights. The three-bedroom apartment was her pride and joy—every interior detail had been created with love, from the Italian sofa to the designer lamps. High ceilings and a modern renovation made the space feel airy and cozy at the same time.
The doorbell interrupted her thoughts. Kristina and Maksim were standing on the doorstep.
“Hey, Nastya!” her sister-in-law chirped as she stepped into the entryway, glancing around. “Are we getting in the way?”
“Come in, of course,” Anastasia replied, helping her nephew take off his jacket.
As always, Kristina went straight into the living room and froze by the windows.
“My God, it’s gorgeous,” she drawled in admiration. “These ceilings, all this space… At Mom’s and mine, the ceilings press down on you like a matchbox. But here you can breathe differently.”
Maksim was already racing around the apartment, thrilled at the chance to run.
“Aunt Nastya, can I play in the big room?” the boy asked.
“Of course, Maksim,” Anastasia nodded.
Kristina sank into an armchair and ran her hand along the armrest.
“Well, it’s easy to have furniture like this when you can afford it,” she remarked casually. “That sofa in the store costs as much as my salary for three months.”
Anastasia said nothing, but something unpleasant pricked inside her. Her sister-in-law had been making remarks like that more and more often.
“Mom’s sick again,” Kristina went on, looking out the window. “She sleeps on a folding cot—there’s just no space at all. Maksim’s already six, he needs his own room, and the three of us are crammed into one. Living like this is becoming unbearable.”
In recent months, visits like these had become more frequent. Kristina brought her son almost every day, left him for weekends under the pretext of errands with their mother. Anastasia began noticing strange disappearances—an expensive face cream vanished from the bathroom, headphones disappeared from the nightstand, and a flash drive went missing.
When Denis got home, his sister immediately switched her attention to him.
“Denis, how are you?” Kristina asked, rising. “Nastya and I were just chatting about life.”
“Fine, Kristina,” her husband said, kissing Anastasia. “What’s new with you?”
“Oh, same as always,” the sister-in-law sighed heavily. “Housing prices have shot up so much over the years. It’s scary to think how much a two-room apartment costs now. And living three people in one room…”
Anastasia saw Denis’s face darken. He always reacted sharply to his sister’s problems.
Later, when the guests had left, Anastasia carefully brought it up.
“Denis, I have the impression that things are going missing here,” she said, clearing the cups. “Remember the new cream I bought? It disappeared from the bathroom.”
“Nastya, don’t talk nonsense,” her husband waved it off. “Kristina isn’t like that. You probably put it somewhere yourself.”
“And the headphones? The flash drive with photos?”
“You’ve just gotten inattentive,” Denis shrugged. “Kristina’s going through a hard time. Don’t suspect her of anything.”
Anastasia bit her lip. Her husband categorically refused to see what was obvious, and his sister was becoming more and more intrusive. Something told Anastasia this was only the beginning.
The following weeks brought new surprises. Kristina showed up almost daily, each time with fresh ideas.
“Hi, Nastya!” her sister-in-law exclaimed as she walked into the living room. “You know, I’ve been thinking… You and Denis are young, healthy. It’s time to start planning kids, don’t you think?”
Anastasia choked on her tea. Where was this coming from?
“Just imagine how great it would be for kids to live in a big house,” Kristina continued dreamily. “There’d be room to run around, room to play. A big house is big happiness for the whole family.”
“We’re not planning yet,” Anastasia answered cautiously.
“And that’s a mistake!” her sister-in-law flung a hand. “It would be amazing to live all together as one big family, helping each other.”
Kristina pulled out her phone and started showing photos of cottages with land plots and bathhouses.
“Look how beautiful!” she said excitedly. “Denis has always dreamed of having his own workshop in the garage, and Maksim could grow up in fresh air instead of city smog.”
Anastasia silently watched the screen. The houses were beautiful—but why was Kristina studying the real estate market so thoroughly?
“And think about it,” Kristina leaned closer, “why do you need such a big apartment for two people? And my family is suffering in cramped conditions. Family should help each other.”
That evening at dinner, Denis began a careful conversation.
“Nastya, have you ever thought about moving out of the city?” he asked, avoiding her eyes.
“Not really,” Anastasia replied. “Why?”
“Fresh air, quiet,” her husband shrugged. “For kids, when they appear, there’ll be somewhere to play.”
“I like it here. My work is close.”
“Of course, I’m just thinking out loud,” Denis agreed quickly.
Kristina grew more and more blunt.
“Nastya, you can see how we live,” she said during yet another visit. “Maksim is already embarrassed to bring friends home. And Mom is really unwell in that cramped place. You could help the family.”
Her mother-in-law joined the pressure. Lyudmila Petrovna called on Saturday morning.
“Nastya, dear,” she began softly. “You’re so smart, so successful. Won’t you help your loved ones? We aren’t strangers anymore.”
Anastasia massaged her temples. The pressure was building. Denis avoided direct conversations, but kept bringing up family values.
“In a family you have to support each other,” her husband would say, switching channels. “It’s especially hard for Kristina right now.”
On Thursday, after a rough day at work, Anastasia came home and froze at the kitchen doorway. On the table lay printouts of house listings, photos of cottages, a calculator, sheets covered in calculations.
Kristina sat at the table, bent over the papers.
“Oh, Nastya, you’re right on time!” her sister-in-law exclaimed. “Look what magnificent houses I found! What a wonderful chance for everyone to live comfortably.”
Anastasia slowly walked up to the table. Kristina enthusiastically described the advantages of country living, gradually moving on to financing details.
“I’ve calculated everything,” she said confidently. “Sell the apartment and buy a house for the whole family. A three-room place is worth around ten million; you can find a great house for eight or nine, and there’ll even be money left for renovations.”
Anastasia stood in the middle of her own apartment, not believing what was happening.
“Everyone will have their own rooms, a big kitchen, a yard,” Kristina kept going. “Maksim will finally be able to live normally!”
“And where in these plans is my opinion?” Anastasia asked quietly.
Kristina waved it off.
“You’re not an egoist!” her sister-in-law declared. “Family is sacred. The house will be registered to everyone—no one will be offended.”
Anastasia stared at the calculations spread across the table. A cold feeling rose inside—she understood she wasn’t facing a request for help, but an attempt to take everything she had built for years. Her personal boundaries were being trampled in plain sight, and Anastasia’s opinion didn’t matter at all.
“This is my apartment,” Anastasia said firmly, straightening up. “I bought it before marriage with my own money. And I don’t owe anyone anything.”
Kristina whirled around, outrage freezing on her face.
“How can you not owe anything?” she snapped. “We’re family! Denis, say something to your wife!”
Her husband hesitated, shifting his gaze from his wife to his sister.
“Nastya, maybe we really should think about it?” he said uncertainly. “Kristina’s right—family should help each other.”
Anastasia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her husband was ready to sacrifice her interests for his relatives. Kristina saw Anastasia’s success as a way to solve her own problems.
Anastasia thought:
“If I give in now, they’ll expect endless sacrifices from me for the rest of my life.”
She stated decisively:
“I’m not selling my apartment. And if ‘family’ for you only means that I’m supposed to pay for other people’s problems, then maybe we need to rethink our relationship.”
Kristina jumped up and screamed:
“How dare you! You only think about yourself!”
She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. The front door slammed so hard the glass in the display cabinet rattled.
Anastasia turned to her husband, expecting support, but in Denis’s eyes there was confusion—and reproach.
“You could’ve helped the family,” he began in a lecturing tone. “They really are in a difficult position, and we have a big apartment. Kristina’s right—you shouldn’t think only about yourself.”
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“I can’t believe you’re saying that!” Anastasia cried. “This is my apartment, bought with my money! No one has the right to decide what happens to it!”
“We’re family—everything should be shared,” Denis objected, raising his voice. “Kristina is my sister. I can’t abandon her in trouble!”
“Shared?” Anastasia laughed bitterly. “I bought this apartment myself! Before I even met you and your family!”
“Nastya, you understand—circumstances are different now,” Denis tried to justify himself, but his voice sounded unsure.
The conflict flared up with renewed force. Anastasia saw a completely different person in her husband.
“You married me only for the apartment!” she accused Denis. “Your relatives have been making plans for my property from the very beginning!”
“What nonsense!” Denis snapped. “I love you!”
“Love me?” Anastasia snatched the sheets with Kristina’s calculations from the table. “Then why are you ready to give my home to your sister? Why didn’t you stand up for me?”
“And you’re an egoist!” her husband shouted back. “You only think about money, not people!”
“What people?” Anastasia’s voice trembled with fury. “The ones who stole my things? The ones who planned my future behind my back?”
Denis spun around and went into the bedroom. Anastasia heard him throwing clothes into a bag.
“If you don’t want to be a family,” Denis threw over his shoulder as he passed her, “then live here alone.”
The front door shut. Anastasia was left alone in her apartment—but she understood she had made the right choice, protecting her independence from people who saw her only as a solution to their own problems.
