“Are you out of your mind, Antonina Mikhailovna? Who exactly did you think you could ask for help? Have you already forgotten how you threw my husband and me aside five years ago? Of course, why would you remember that?” the daughter-in-law snapped, unable to believe her mother-in-law had dared to call.
“Larisochka, where is Borya?” her husband’s mother asked in confusion when she realized it was not her son who had answered the phone. Her voice sounded completely unlike her usual self — sweet, flattering, almost pleading.
For a moment, Larisa thought she had misheard. Her mother-in-law? After all these years? But when she glanced at her husband’s phone, she saw that it really was Antonina Mikhailovna calling.
“Antonina Mikhailovna! Is that really you? Well, well, what a surprise,” Larisa said, deliberately ignoring her question. “And what made you suddenly remember us? Don’t tell me you need help with something. Is that it? For five years my husband and I didn’t see or hear from you — and thank God for that. And now, out of nowhere, here you are. I wonder why.”
Larisa spoke in a tone meant to make one thing perfectly clear: she had not forgiven her in-laws, and she had no intention of doing so.
“Larisa, you still haven’t told me where Boris is. I called his mobile hoping to hear my son’s voice,” Antonina Mikhailovna said, trying hard to pretend she had not noticed the sarcasm in her daughter-in-law’s voice.
“Well, I’m not going to tell you. And I’ll ask you, Antonina Mikhailovna, not to bother us again. You managed perfectly well without us all these years, so I’m sure you’ll continue just fine. And we don’t need you or your problems either.”
“Larisa, what are you saying? I understand we once had a quarrel, but you can’t keep dragging it through your whole life. And there’s no need to be so rude. I always told Borya you had no tact and no manners. But then again, where would you have learned them, growing up in an orphanage?”
“Then why are you calling such a rude, ill-mannered daughter-in-law?” Larisa shot back, hurt flashing through her voice, momentarily forgetting that Antonina Mikhailovna had actually called her husband’s phone. “There is no Boris for you anymore. You erased your son from your life a long time ago. Back when he was still trying to treat you like family. You pampered your daughter, worshipped her, gave everything to her — and did nothing but hurt your son. That’s enough. This conversation is over.”
Larisa hung up before Antonina Mikhailovna could say another word.
“So she didn’t call for nothing,” Larisa thought angrily. “Something must have gone wrong. Now she suddenly needs her dear son’s help. Some people really have no shame at all.”
And with bitterness, she remembered the conflict that had torn the family apart five years earlier.
Back then, Antonina Mikhailovna had announced that the old grandmother’s house — the one that had long been promised to Boris — would instead be given to her eldest daughter, Vera. More precisely, to Vera’s eldest son. And although Vera had already once received a generous wedding gift from her parents — the money from the sale of their grandfather’s apartment — that did not bother Larisa’s mother-in-law in the slightest. She had acted unfairly and knew it.
When Boris returned from the garage, Larisa immediately told him about his mother’s call.
“Can you imagine? She suddenly remembered you. How does she even have the nerve? She must have understood that what she did hurt you. She couldn’t not understand it. But she never apologized, never tried to explain anything. Five years of silence, and now suddenly — here I am, welcome me with open arms!” Larisa said emotionally.
“What did she want?” Boris asked quietly.
“I have no idea. She wanted to speak to you.”
“Then she’ll call again. If she appeared after all this time, it definitely wasn’t for nothing.”
Antonina Mikhailovna called again an hour later. This time Boris answered. Larisa watched as his face darkened during the conversation.
“Well? What did your mother surprise and delight you with this time?” Larisa asked as soon as he ended the call.
“She’s crying, trying to make me feel sorry for her. She says Father is seriously ill, and she herself also needs treatment. She can’t take care of him anymore. They need money for a caregiver.”
“How lovely. So now they need money. Well, we need money too. We’re squeezed into a small apartment with our ten-year-old son and can’t afford anything bigger. Maybe we should call someone too and start complaining about our problems,” Larisa said with bitter irony.
“Mother says she asked Vera for help, but my sister refused. She said she has enough problems of her own. Her eldest, Vanya, got married, their granddaughter was born, and now all their money goes to their son’s family,” Boris explained.
“Of course. Who would have doubted it? Your mother gave Vera all the money, gave her the grandmother’s house on top of it, and thought her precious daughter would take care of her and Father in old age. But look how that turned out. Your sister turned out to be ungrateful.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what happened,” Boris said. “Mother says they sold the grandmother’s house and used the money to pay for Ivan’s wedding. Then when the great-granddaughter was born, Mother gave them everything she and Father had saved for a rainy day. Vera supposedly insisted. She kept telling Mother that the baby needed so many things, and that her son and daughter-in-law had spent everything buying an apartment and were deep in debt. She said they had to help the young parents. Told them not to be stingy, to do a good deed. And she managed to squeeze every last kopeck out of them.”
“Well, that doesn’t surprise me at all. The real question is, what does your mother want from us?” Larisa asked coldly.
“What do you think she wants? Money. She wants us to help so she can hire a caregiver for Father. And while he’s being looked after, she wants to go to the hospital for the operation she’s been postponing because of him.”
“Oh, really? They need money now? Doesn’t your mother want a nice little miracle too? Look, I’m not gloating about anyone’s health. No one is safe from illness. And yes, grown children should help sick and helpless parents. But not in our case. Have you forgotten how your parents cheated you out of your inheritance? How they deceived you with the house they had promised you? How they helped your sister not once, but twice? Actually, three times now, if they gave all their savings to Vera’s son and his wife.”
Boris said nothing. He did feel sorry for his parents, whom he had not seen in five long years. But the resentment sitting deep in his heart would not let him simply forgive them. As far as he was concerned, responsibility now lay with his sister. Vera should be the one taking care of their parents. After all, everything they had ever owned — money, the house, the apartment — had gone to her family.
“What did you tell Antonina Mikhailovna?” Larisa asked, seeing how thoughtful her husband had become.
“What could I say? Where are we supposed to get that kind of money?”
“That’s right. Don’t say anything yet. I’ll handle it myself.”
The next day, after thinking everything through carefully, Larisa called her mother-in-law herself.
“Antonina Mikhailovna, I hear you’ve decided to ask us for help. From your rude, tactless daughter-in-law and your kind son who forgave all your dirty tricks. Is that right?” she began confidently.
“Oh, Larisa, why do you have to speak like that? You see how life has turned out. Boris’s father is nearly at the end; he doesn’t have much time left. And I can’t go on without treatment either. Fate has already punished us. I have no one else to ask, so I turned to my son. Whatever happened, he is still my flesh and blood,” Antonina Mikhailovna replied in a miserable voice.
“How surprising. I thought he was adopted. I thought only your daughter was truly yours,” Larisa continued in the same cutting tone.
She understood that her in-laws had already paid in some way for betraying their son. But Vera, Boris’s sister, had not. And teaching Vera a lesson was now Larisa’s main goal. At the same time, it would not hurt to remind Antonina Mikhailovna of her place.
“Fine. We’ll find the money for you,” Larisa said, beginning her game.
“You will?” Antonina Mikhailovna asked, afraid to believe it.
“Yes, we will. We’ll borrow it or take out a loan — it doesn’t matter. But only on one condition.”
“What condition?” the mother-in-law asked, confused.
“You transfer ownership of your two-room apartment to your son, Boris.”
“What? But what about Vera? This apartment is supposed to be the shared inheritance of both children after we’re gone.”
“Inheritance?” Larisa repeated loudly. “Then we have nothing more to discuss. Take all your requests and problems to your daughter.”
“No, Larisa, wait. I understand Boris is hurt because we didn’t help him and you, and everything went to Vera. But this doesn’t seem right. Vera has three children. She should also have a claim to part of our apartment.”
“I’ve stated my condition. There won’t be another one. If you insist on arguing, let’s end this pointless conversation right now,” Larisa said firmly.
“Well… all right. I agree.”
Over the next few days, Larisa and Boris searched for the money his mother needed. Then they traveled to the city where his parents lived and went to a notary. Antonina Mikhailovna gave up the apartment in favor of her son. His father also gave his consent.
When Larisa’s sister-in-law found out that their parents had transferred the apartment to Boris, she tried to start a scandal. She called again and again, but neither Boris nor Larisa answered. They simply blocked her number.
Soon after, Boris’s father passed away. Antonina Mikhailovna had her operation and spent a long time recovering. She tried not to bother her son and daughter-in-law with calls.
But one day, something terrible happened — something she had never expected.
“Antonina Mikhailovna, please vacate our apartment. Borya and I are putting it up for sale. It’s time for us to move into a bigger place. Our son is growing up; he needs his own room. And my husband and I deserve to finally live in decent conditions too,” Larisa told her over the phone.
“Vacate it? What are you saying? Where am I supposed to go? I thought I would live here peacefully until the end…”
“No, that was never our agreement. The apartment belongs to us, so please be kind enough to leave it. And quickly,” Larisa insisted.
“But where will I go?” her mother-in-law nearly cried.
“That isn’t my problem. Probably to your daughter. You did so much for her and her family, after all.”
“To Vera? But she isn’t expecting me. And they don’t have room…”
“They’ll make room for their mother.”
Antonina Mikhailovna was forced to move in with her daughter, who was furious about what the cunning daughter-in-law had done. But there was nothing she could do — she couldn’t throw her mother out into the street. What would people say?
Although, of course, there was another option: a nursing home. She could send her mother there. She would only need to arrange everything properly.
As for Boris and Larisa, they sold both apartments, bought a three-room one, renovated it, and now live comfortably.
