Lena, don’t you trust my son?» Marina Sergeyevna put her phone down on the table and crossed her arms over her chest.
«What does trust have to do with it? It’s my personal phone,» Lena tried to speak calmly, although she was boiling inside.
«What are you hiding in your phone? Come on, give it here. I just wanted to look up a borscht recipe. You have a recipe, right? Or is there something else?»
Lena mentally counted to ten. Two weeks. Just two weeks to endure in this house until the renovation in their apartment is finished. She could do it, right? She had to.
«Marina Sergeyevna, you have a laptop. There are plenty of recipes online.»
«There! That’s exactly the kind of response I expected. Typical behavior of someone who has something to hide. If you live in my house, you must show your phone! I know what you’re hiding from my son.»
Lena remembered how Vitalik had persuaded her to move in with his mother during the renovation. «Why spend money on a hotel? It’s just for a short while. Mom will be happy.» Happy? Oh yes, Marina Sergeyevna was just delighted. Especially when she could rummage through other people’s things and make remarks.
«I’m not hiding anything. Just respect my boundaries.»
«Boundaries?» the mother-in-law scoffed. «There shouldn’t be any boundaries in a family. We are relatives! My house, my rules. And here you are with your boundaries!»
«We are only living here temporarily, until the renovation is finished. I appreciate the help, but…»
«Oh, you’re grateful?» Marina Sergeyevna interrupted. «Grateful people usually don’t hide their phones from relatives. What’s in there? Chats with someone? Maybe that’s why you didn’t want to move in with us?»
At that moment, the front door slammed—Vitalik had returned. Lena breathed a sigh of relief, but it was premature.
«Vitalik!» Marina Sergeyevna exclaimed, throwing up her hands. «Imagine, your wife won’t give me her phone. She says it’s personal. Are you hiding something from your husband too?»
Vitalik looked tiredly at his mother, then at his wife:
«Mom, let’s not start this. What does it matter what’s in anyone’s phone?»
«No, son, you don’t understand! If a person has nothing to hide, why a password? I never lock my phone.»
«Because it’s normal to have a password on your phone,» Lena retorted. «It’s basic protection of personal data.»
«Personal data?» Marina Sergeyevna looked meaningfully at her son. «Hear that? She’s talking about personal data!»
Vitalik frowned, «Lena, maybe you really should just show Mom your phone? What’s the big deal?»
Lena couldn’t believe her ears. Was he really supporting this absurd situation?
«Vit, are you serious? We’ve never snooped in each other’s phones. And now you want me to show it to your mom?»
«There you go!» Marina Sergeyevna exclaimed triumphantly. «She doesn’t even trust her husband! And I told you, son…»
«What did you tell him?» Lena turned sharply to her mother-in-law. «What exactly did you tell Vitalik about me?»
A heavy silence fell in the room. Marina Sergeyevna pursed her lips, showing a wounded innocence. Vitalik’s gaze shifted uncertainly from his mother to his wife.
«Son, I’m just worried,» Marina Sergeyevna put her hand on Vitalik’s shoulder. «You and Lena have been married for three years, and I still feel like she’s hiding something.»
«What are you talking about?» Lena snatched her phone from the table. «Vitalik, can’t you see what’s happening?»
«Lena, but really, what’s in your phone?» Vitalik stepped toward his wife. «Just show it, and we’ll end this topic.»
«No,» Lena stepped back. «That’s not right. First, the phone, then what? Are you going to read my messages with friends with Mom? Check who I talk to?»
«And what, is there something to check?» Marina Sergeyevna asked insidiously.
«Mom!» Vitalik raised his voice, but his mother just shrugged.
«What, Mom? I see how she acts. She came to our house and immediately started being secretive. And you, son, are so trusting.»
Lena felt a lump in her throat. Three years she had tried to build a relationship with her mother-in-law. Three years of enduring hints and barbs. And now this story with the phone.
«Vit, remember how we agreed at the beginning of our relationship? Never to snoop in each other’s phones, to respect personal space.»
«I remember,» Vitalik nodded. «But now it’s a different situation.»
«How is it different? Because your mom decided to interrogate?»
«Here we go,» Marina Sergeyevna sighed dramatically. «The slightest thing, and it’s the mother’s fault. And I, by the way, kindly offered you to live here. I sheltered you in my home.»
«We can leave for a hotel right now,» Lena cut her off.
«Lena!» Vitalik frowned. «Stop it. Mom really wants what’s best.»
«What’s best?» Lena scoffed bitterly. «We’ve been here two days, and she’s already trying to read my messages. Is that normal to you?»
«I’m not trying to read anything,» Marina Sergeyevna protested. «I just wanted to look up a recipe. And you’re making a scandal out of nothing.»
«Let’s all calm down,» Vitalik raised his hands peaceably. «Mom, don’t take someone else’s phone without asking. Lena, don’t react so sharply.»
«So I’m the one to blame?» Lena clenched her phone in her hand. «Great. Keep defending Mom.»
«I’m not defending anyone! I just don’t understand why you can’t just show the phone and end the topic?»
«Because it’s wrong! Because it’s an invasion of personal boundaries!»
«Here we go with these boundaries again,» Marina Sergeyevna stretched. «I remember, my friend Vera also always talked about boundaries. Then it turned out she was having an affair at work. All sorts of things are hidden behind these boundaries…»
«What are you trying to say?» Lena turned to her mother-in-law.
«Nothing, nothing,» Marina Sergeyevna raised her hands. «Just thinking aloud.»
«Finish your thought. Are you accusing me of something?»
«Me? God forbid! Just strange when a married woman fusses so much over her phone. Vitalik, son, don’t you find that suspicious?»
Lena looked at her husband. Vitalik stood there, looking bewildered, glancing from his mother to his wife.
«You know what,» Lena decisively headed for the exit, «I’m not going to listen to this. I need some air.»
«Lena, wait!» Vitalik tried to stop her.
«There!» Marina Sergeyevna exclaimed. «She runs away! A clear conscience doesn’t behave like that.»
Lena froze in the doorway:
«And you, Marina Sergeyevna, are apparently an expert on clear consciences? Maybe you’ll tell how you convinced Vitalik as a child that his first girlfriend was cheating on him? Or how you called his former fiancée and spread lies about him?»
«What?» Vitalik turned sharply to his mother. «What calls?»
«Lena, how could you!» Marina Sergeyevna clutched her chest. «I never! Vitalik, don’t listen to her, she’s making it all up!»
«Ask Katya yourself,» Lena shrugged. «She told me everything when we accidentally met last year. But I was silent, didn’t want to upset you, Vitalik.»
A heavy silence hung in the room. Vitalik looked incredulously from his mother to his wife.
«Mom, is it true? Did you call Katya?»
«Son, don’t believe her!» Marina Sergeyevna threw up her hands. «She’s just trying to cause a rift between us. See how cleverly she changes the subject?»
«I’m not changing the subject,» Lena replied calmly. «I’m just showing who really loves to stir up intrigue and meddle in other people’s lives.»
«Vitalik,» Marina Sergeyevna raised her voice, «Do you really believe these stories? Katya left you herself, I had nothing to do with it!»
«No, Mom,» Vitalik shook his head. «Katya didn’t leave me. I broke up with her because you constantly told me she was cheating on me. Did she really call you?»
«What does it matter now?» Marina Sergeyevna turned to the window. «It’s been so many years.»
«It matters to me,» Vitalik approached his mother. «Tell me: did you call Katya?»
Marina Sergeyevna was silent, nervously fidgeting with the curtain.
«Mom!»
«Well, I did call, I did!» she suddenly turned around. «And I did the right thing! She wasn’t right for you. Do you think I didn’t see how she looked at other men?»
«Mom, she was nineteen years old,» Vitalik said wearily. «She was just a young, cheerful girl. And you harassed her.»
«I was protecting you!»
«From what? From my own happiness?»
«Don’t you dare talk to me like that!» Marina Sergeyevna pounded on the windowsill. «I’m your mother! I know better what you need!»
«No, Mom, you don’t,» Vitalik shook his head. «And now you’re doing the same thing. Trying to destroy my relationship with Lena.»
«Me?» Marina Sergeyevna placed a hand on her heart. «I just wanted to look at the recipe on her phone!»
«Stop it,» Vitalik cut her off. «I’m not blind. From the beginning, you were against my marriage with Lena.»
«Of course I was!» Marina Sergeyevna couldn’t hold back. «Look at her! Always hiding something, scheming. Even hiding her own phone.»
«You know what, Mom,» Vitalik took a deep breath. «It’s not Lena who’s hiding something. It’s you always trying to find some ulterior motive where there isn’t one.»
«Me?! How dare you! After everything I’ve done for you!»
«What have you done, Mom?» Vitalik gave a bitter smile. «Ruined my relationship with Katya? Constantly meddling in our life with Lena? Making up horrible stories?»
«I’m not making anything up!» Marina Sergeyevna stamped her foot. «You’ll see, I’m right! She’s hiding something!»
«The only thing I’m hiding,» Lena spoke up, «is my irritation at your constant interference in our lives.»
«There! Do you hear how she talks to me?» Marina Sergeyevna pointed at Lena.
«I hear, Mom. And you know what? She’s right.»
«What?!» Marina Sergeyevna clutched her heart. «You’re taking her side?»
«I’m not taking sides. I’m finally seeing the truth. All these years, you’ve manipulated me, and I let you do it.»
«So that’s how it is,» Marina Sergeyevna straightened up. «I wished you well. I sheltered you in a difficult moment. And you? You even accuse me?»
«Mom, stop,» Vitalik shook his head. «No one is accusing you. We just want you to respect our boundaries.»
«Again with these boundaries!» Marina Sergeyevna threw up her hands. «You and your boundaries! Ungrateful! Get out of my house!»
«Mom…»
«Out!» Marina Sergeyevna pointed to the door. «If it’s so bad with me, pack your things and leave!»
Lena quickly packed in the bedroom, while shouts from Marina Sergeyevna echoed from the living room. Her hands trembled, but she tried to act methodically. Just don’t forget anything.
Vitalik entered the room:
«I called a taxi. Let’s go to a hotel.»
«Okay,» Lena nodded, folding clothes into the suitcase.
«Forgive me,» Vitalik sat on the edge of the bed. «I should have realized this sooner.»
«Yes, you should have,» Lena paused for a second. «Do you know what hurts the most? I really tried to get along with her. All these years.»
From the living room, Marina Sergeyevna’s voice carried:
«And let there be no trace of you here! Ungrateful!»
«Pay no attention,» Vitalik grimaced. «She always does this: first she yells, then she calls and apologizes herself.»
«And you always forgive her,» Lena looked him in the eye. «And she continues the same way.»
«I know. I know now.»
Just then, Vitalik’s phone vibrated. «Mom» flashed on the screen. He looked at Lena, then firmly pressed «Decline.»
«That’s the first step,» he said. «Small, but important.»
Lena gave a sad smile: «Yes, important. But there are many more steps ahead. And the hardest part is learning not to give in to her manipulations.»
«I’ll manage.»
«Good,» Lena grabbed her purse. «Because I truly love you, Vitalik. But I won’t let anyone destroy our happiness. Not even your mother.»
She headed to the door, but paused on the threshold:
«And one more thing. There are no secrets in my phone. There are just things that belong only to me. And I have the right to that.»
Vitalik nodded:
«I know. I’m sorry I gave in to Mom’s manipulations.»
«The main thing is not to give in to them in the future,» Lena opened the door. «Call me when you’re ready for real changes.»
She left, leaving Vitalik alone in the hotel room. The phone vibrated again. «Mom.»
