“You waste my son’s money on nonsense, so you’d better explain where every penny goes!”
The enormous television mounted on the living-room wall was showing a sports channel with the sound turned off. A bright green football field flickered across the screen, casting a faint glow over the guests as they ate.
Uncle Fedya was enthusiastically helping himself to salad, occasionally glancing toward the match. Aunt Alla delicately dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin.
The atmosphere around the table had the dense, slightly stuffy feeling of a family celebration. The room smelled of roasted meat, warm food, and the expensive perfume worn by Rita’s mother-in-law.
“Now this is something!” Maksim slapped his palm against the table to get everyone’s attention. “Seventy-five inches, Uncle Fedya. Latest-generation panel. I spent a whole month choosing it. I wanted us to be able to watch movies properly as a family. Beautiful, isn’t it?”
 
He admired the television’s thin black frame with obvious pride, then adjusted the new smartwatch with a metal bracelet on his wrist.
“Yes, Maksim, well done,” Elvira Leonidovna said approvingly, straightening the amber brooch pinned to her blouse. “Everything for the home, everything for the family. That’s what a real man should be like. Unlike certain other people.”
She cast a meaningful glance toward the kitchen, where Margarita was taking a second tray of hot food from the oven.
Rita pretended not to notice.
She transferred the roasted potatoes onto a serving dish, wiped her hands with a damp cloth, and carried the food into the living room.
“Help yourself, Uncle Fedya,” she said, placing the dish in the middle of the table.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Uncle Fedya immediately reached for a portion. “That television really is impressive. Must have cost a fortune, huh?”
Maksim waved vaguely and took a sip from his glass.
“It was fine,” he said casually. “I bought it for us, not for strangers.”
 
Elvira Leonidovna speared a marinated mushroom with her fork and fixed her daughter-in-law with a sharp look.
“There’s just one thing I don’t understand, Rita. My son works himself half to death from morning till night, ruining his health, while you seem to do nothing except spend his hard-earned money.”
A heavy silence fell across the table.
Aunt Alla quickly lowered her eyes to her plate.
“Elvira Leonidovna, perhaps we shouldn’t make a scene in front of the guests,” Rita said evenly as she took her seat at the end of the table.
“And why should I be embarrassed?” her mother-in-law shot back, raising her voice. “Everyone should know the truth! My Maksim runs around like a hamster on a wheel. He has dark circles under his eyes from all those late hours at the office. Meanwhile, you’ve made yourself very comfortable!”
Maksim lowered his head over his brand-new smartphone.
He pretended to be absorbed in an important conversation, clearly determined not to involve himself in what he considered a quarrel between women.
“Mom, maybe later,” he muttered without looking up.
“No, son, I’m not going to keep quiet anymore!” Elvira Leonidovna slapped her palm against the tablecloth. “You’re far too kind. And she certainly likes expensive things. I saw those new winter boots of yours in the hallway, Margarita. Real leather, thick soles. Boots like that cost half an ordinary person’s salary!”
 
Rita pushed her plate away.
Whatever appetite she had left disappeared completely.
“Whose money am I supposedly living on?” she asked, looking directly at her mother-in-law. “I have a job.”
“Oh, we know all about your so-called job!” Elvira scoffed. “You sit at home in pajamas in front of a laptop, pressing buttons. You earn a few coins for hairpins. Who pays the mortgage? Maksim does! Who pays the utilities? Maksim again!”
Aunt Alla tried to soften the situation, nervously rearranging her cutlery.
“Elvira, young couples should sort out their finances themselves. Money inside a marriage is a delicate matter. Besides, it’s Fedya’s anniversary. We all came here to have a nice evening. The meat is wonderful…”
“Alla, stay out of it!” Elvira Leonidovna snapped. “I’m his mother. I have every right to know where the family’s money goes. I know how expensive life is these days. She orders groceries instead of carrying the bags herself, then runs off to the salon to have her roots dyed.”
She paused dramatically and folded her hands together.
“You are wasting my son’s money on nonsense, so I want a full report! Tell us, down to the last coin, where you spend your husband’s salary!”
Rita slowly turned toward her husband.
Maksim sat in a new designer polo shirt, still scrolling through his phone as if none of this concerned him.
“Maks,” Rita said quietly, narrowing her eyes. “Is there anything you’d like to tell your mother?”
 
He shifted uncomfortably.
“Rita, don’t start. Mom had some wine. Why make things worse? Sit down and eat.”
“I’m not making anything worse,” Rita replied. “Your mother is demanding a financial statement from me, right here in front of everyone. She’s accusing me of wasting your salary on things I want.”
“And I have every right to demand one!” Elvira declared triumphantly, looking around the table. “My son looks exhausted, while you look fresh and happy. Obviously you’re living off him without a care in the world.”
Rita slowly reached into the pocket of her house trousers.
She took out her phone and tapped the screen several times without taking her eyes off her mother-in-law.
“This conversation is over.” Maksim pushed back his chair as if to stand. His face tightened. “Mom, come outside to the balcony with me. You need some air.”
“Sit down,” Rita ordered.
Her voice was so firm that Maksim dropped back into his chair before he had even fully stood up.
Rita opened the control panel on her phone and selected screen sharing.
The huge television blinked.
 
The football field disappeared.
A moment later, Rita’s phone display appeared across all seventy-five inches of the screen.
“What kind of performance is this?” Elvira Leonidovna asked suspiciously.
“You wanted a financial report,” Rita replied. “So here it is. You can see everything. Since tonight has apparently become an evening of honesty and family accounting.”
She opened her banking app.
Her personal account filled the television screen.
Then she opened the transaction history.
On a display that size, every number was impossible to miss.
Uncle Fedya instinctively leaned forward.
Aunt Alla covered her mouth with one hand.
“Look carefully, Elvira Leonidovna,” Rita said, scrolling. “The twenty-fifth of every month. See this recurring payment? That’s the mortgage. Almost fifty thousand every single month.”
 
“So what?” Elvira replied, though her confidence had already weakened. “Maksim transfers the money to you, and you make the payment. Very convenient. You’re just the one distributing his money.”
“Really?” Rita gave a thin smile. “Let’s check.”
She searched for transfers from Maksim.
The results appeared on the television.
There had been only three transfers from him during the entire previous month.
Each amount was tiny.
The payment notes read:
“For bread.”
“For internet.”
“Add some for cat food.”
Elvira Leonidovna’s mouth fell slightly open.
Even the amber brooch on her chest stopped rising and falling with her previously indignant breathing.
“What is this?” she asked, staring at her son. “Maksim? Where is the money for the apartment?”
Maksim sank lower in his chair and began stabbing at a potato with his fork.
“Mom, it’s complicated,” he mumbled. “They cut our bonuses at work. We haven’t been reaching our targets. The department’s going through a difficult period.”
“They cut them two years ago?” Rita asked coldly. “Because it has been exactly two years since you contributed a single cent toward this apartment.”
She returned to the full transaction history.
 
“And here are the utility bills, Elvira Leonidovna. Paid from my account. Here are the supermarket purchases every weekend. Also my account. A huge part of the salary I earn as a remote accountant goes toward keeping this household running.”
She looked directly at her mother-in-law.
“And those boots you were so worried about? I bought them with money I earned myself while doing accounting work late at night.”
Aunt Alla let out a slow breath.
“Wait.” Elvira blinked several times, struggling to process what she had just seen. “Then what does Maksim spend his salary on? If he’s not paying for the home, where does all his money go?”
Rita locked her phone.
The television went dark for a moment, throwing the room into softer shadows.
“That’s something you should ask him,” Rita replied. “Ask him how much the original alloy wheels on his car cost. Ask about the new smartwatch he bought last week. Ask him about the expensive fish finder sitting in the storage room. Or his Friday nights drinking with friends.”
Uncle Fedya slowly pushed his plate away.
Apparently even the marinated mushrooms had lost their appeal.
 
“Maks,” he said quietly, “who paid for this huge television? You told me you bought it yourself. Said you paid cash.”
Maksim shrugged without looking at him.
“The installment plan is in my name,” Rita answered instead. “The monthly payment comes from my card too.”
A thick silence settled over the room.
From the neighboring apartment came the faint sound of someone hammering against a wall.
“Alla, maybe we should go,” Uncle Fedya finally said, getting to his feet.
Aunt Alla nodded quickly and reached for her handbag.
The guests began standing one after another, carefully avoiding Maksim’s eyes.
Elvira Leonidovna remained sitting.
Her usual confidence had disappeared. The commanding tone was gone too.
Now she looked less like an angry judge and more like an older woman who had suddenly discovered that the story she had believed was completely wrong.
“Maks,” she whispered, swallowing hard. “Is this true? Are you living off your wife?”
 
Maksim shot to his feet so quickly that he nearly knocked over the salad bowl.
“No one is living off anyone! We’re married! We have a shared budget! I contribute too! I pay for petrol when we drive to your country house, Mom! I pay for oil changes!”
“A shared budget means both people contribute,” Rita replied calmly. “When one person pays for the home, the food, and the bills, while the other spends his salary exclusively on toys and entertainment, that has a different name.”
She paused.
“And in this marriage, Elvira Leonidovna, I’m the sponsor.”
Her mother-in-law stood up.
She did not look at Rita.
She did not look at her son either.
“I’m leaving,” she said quietly, picking up her glossy handbag.
Rita did not walk anyone to the door.
 
She simply began carrying the dirty plates to the kitchen sink.
A couple of weeks later, Maksim moved out.
It took him several trips to transfer his belongings to his mother’s apartment. He made sure to take the smartwatch and the fish finder with him.
Rita did not scream.
She did not demand apologies.
She simply changed the lock.
Living on a truly separate budget turned out to be far more difficult for Maksim than he had expected.
Rita continued making the payments on the television herself.
After all, the screen really was excellent.
Especially when you could watch a movie in complete silence.
