I want a divorce,» Katya said quietly, averting her gaze from her husband’s eyes.
Sasha’s face instantly turned pale. A silent question hung in the air.
«I’m letting you go to the one you truly love,» the girl said, realizing that the main woman in his life had always been his mother. «I no longer want to be in second place.»
Katya felt her throat tighten and her eyes betrayingly begin to water. The pain from years of feeling slighted finally burst forth, physically manifesting in her stomach.
«What are you talking about? What other woman?» Sasha stared at his wife in surprise.
«We’ve talked about this more than once. Since our wedding, your mom has literally been sucking money, energy, and time from us. And you just let it all slide because ‘her soup is sourer, and her pancakes are fluffier.’ I can’t do this anymore,» Katya could no longer hold back.
Tears streamed down her reddened face nonstop. She deeply regretted the dreams she had once vividly imagined in her head. A desirable fiancé, a promising career, a life in the center of Krasnodar had turned into a constant battle for her place under the sun.
Back then, 5 years ago, Katya had hesitantly stepped into the large apartment. Furniture, dishes, decor items – for a girl who had lived most of her life in a communal apartment and the last three years in a dormitory, everything looked expensive and fragile.
«And how did I get so lucky to hook up with a guy who owns his own apartment?» the girl smirked, placing her hands on Sasha’s shoulders.
«Just wait until I start leaving my socks everywhere, then you’ll tell me how impressed you are with me.»
Katya moved in with him quite soon after they met. It was a rapidly accelerating romance that simply demanded continuation.
At that time, she was in her final year at Kuban University studying journalism, and Sasha, five years her senior, was a sales department manager with a decent income.
A year after moving in, the couple got married.
«Soon we can convert the guest room into a nursery,» Katya once said, hugging her husband and hinting that she was ready for children.
But a month later, they were unexpectedly joined by Sasha’s mother, Lyudmila Vasilievna, standing at the doorstep of the apartment with two bags. She had a great relationship with her son, or so she believed.
Her upbringing—a mix of endless guilt and duty—had helped her raise a man completely indebted to her. She was proud that her son had made something of himself and believed it was entirely her doing.
Stably, when receiving his salary, Sasha would pay off debts for the apartment, the car, and his childhood. Katya watched from the sidelines, not wanting to spoil relations with her husband, only occasionally broaching the topic subtly.
«Where did you invest the money from the house sale?» the girl poured tea and cautiously felt the ground. Lyudmila Vasilievna had come from the village of Lazurny, where she had inherited a small house with an adjoining plot of land enough for a small garden.
Sasha offered to help find an apartment in the city every year, but the woman did not want to move. Then, unexpectedly, she sold the house: quickly, but cheaply.
«I partially saved it for my future vacation, partially invested in my new business.»
Despite the hardships endured in her youth, Lyudmila Vasilievna remained quite ambitious and active, yet also domineering and conceited.
With such people, you always need to be careful, as they say, «don’t put your finger in their mouth—they’ll bite off your hand.»
Not long ago, the woman discovered an online cosmetics sales company on the Internet. A mandatory condition for continuing cooperation with this firm was the monthly purchase of products for a significant sum. It was into this «income» that Lyudmila Vasilievna had invested the money from the house sale.
«I’ve decided it won’t be a problem if I live here,» the woman confidently said and dipped a spoon of honey into her tea.
«Of course, we are very happy to have guests!» Katya decided to bring up the topic to make sure it was just a temporary measure. «I hope we can soon find you a better place to live. I’ll ask a friend of mine; she’s a realtor and can find an apartment in a convenient area.»
«No need. We don’t need two apartments. We’ll save money on me, no big deal,» Lyudmila Vasilievna concluded, intentionally portraying herself as a victim of circumstances.
Katya stared at her husband expectantly. She had nothing against his mother, but sharing territory on a permanent basis was quite a challenging event, which was in no way justified. And Sasha just shook his head and said, «Whatever makes you comfortable.»
He always supported any of his mother’s endeavors, no matter how questionable they were, and believed he had no right to disagree with how Lyudmila Vasilievna acted.
And she had many endeavors: macramé, making candles, soap making, creating diaries and photo albums.
The woman tried to find a gold mine and found it in Sasha, who paid for all the equipment and supplies needed for her «work,» and other necessary items, as well as giving her money for a decent life.
Ever since he was appointed to a managerial position, Lyudmila Vasilievna had not worked a day officially.
Sasha’s childhood belief that he owed his mother for his life and upbringing literally suppressed his will and was expressed not only in disproportionate financial help but also in complete agreement with everything his mother said and did.
It’s amazing how much a grown and independent man changed under such influence, responding to all manipulations and becoming no wiser than a little child.
In the end, the guest room never turned into a nursery, and little changed over three years. Katya was now working at a publishing house, her articles and research published in the «Family, Relationships» section.
Covering joyful and sad stories of people, analyzing situations from a psychological standpoint, she still couldn’t figure out her own family.
Her opinion meant nothing; she remained out of the frame of her own family life, where Lyudmila Vasilievna had long been successfully ruling.
The girl understood the reasons—a single mother’s only son marrying a woman who would take all his time and money was a danger that could only be suppressed by completely shifting attention to herself.
In the case of Katya’s mother-in-law, this was mixed with a sense of self-superiority and the conviction that her son owed her.
These problems in Lyudmila Vasilievna’s head could only be resolved by herself, and only Sasha could hint at their presence, but he seemed utterly blind in this situation.
All household chemicals in the apartment had been replaced with products from the network cosmetic company, and Katya could no longer stand all these jars and bottles. Lyudmila Vasilievna’s «work» did not bring the expected income, and the girl realized that these were empty investments by her husband and just entertainment for his mother.
She had raised this topic more than once, but each time only heard: «Mom knows what she’s doing» from Sasha, and «You need to be more patient. A tree doesn’t grow overnight» from the mother-in-law. Only the tree hadn’t grown for three years, but the expenses had multiplied many times over.
When Lyudmila Vasilievna spoke about «Katya starting to invest in the family business,» the girl first thought about taking radical measures.
The last straw was a conversation that should not have happened at all.
On the eve of New Year 2023, the couple went out for the first time in a long time to spend time alone. Tired after skating, they sat in a small café.
Cheeky but very pleased, Katya was so enchanted by the evening that she literally radiated love, and everyone within arm’s reach felt warmed by her.
«Sasha, are you happy?»
«Of course,» the man took the girl’s hand. «With you next to me, how can I not be happy?»
«I want a child,» Katya whispered, leaning closer to him.
«Right now?» Sasha smiled, kissing her hand.
That evening they decided it was time to bring their joint miracle into the world. However, exactly a day later, Lyudmila Vasilievna burst into the couple’s bedroom. Only Katya was home, having just returned from work.
«You can’t have a child now!»
Startled by her mother-in-law’s behavior and her statement, the girl couldn’t immediately respond.
«Sasha hasn’t paid off the mortgage yet, he owes for the car.»
«You’re just afraid he’ll stop giving you money for your endless whims,» regaining her composure, Katya spoke. It was the first time she had allowed herself to speak to her mother-in-law in such a way.
«I always wanted only the best for my son, even though I asked for a little help. He’s the only one I can count on because I fed and clothed him, raised him into a good and independent person.»
«He doesn’t owe you for that, stop instilling this in everyone around. You had a son on your own initiative, not as a favor to him. The most you can count on is his help out of love for you, but not out of a sense of duty.»
Lyudmila Vasilievna seemed to understand very well what Katya was telling her, but unwilling to give up a comfortable life stance, after a brief silence she exclaimed, «Sasha will understand that I’m right anyway.»
And Katya feared that might be true, considering how much her husband depended on his mother’s opinion.
No obstacles could stop the girl from wanting to conceive a child with her beloved man, but it was enough of a hurdle in the form of Lyudmila Vasilievna, which saddened her. Inside, there was still hope for his prudence.
However, after a brief conversation late that evening, it became clear that Sasha was hopelessly lost to himself.
Just yesterday he thought the idea of having a child was wonderful, and today he operated with arguments like: «Maybe it’s not time yet, why rush,» «We’re not ready yet, we can’t provide him with everything he needs.» Katya understood that things couldn’t go on like this.
«I want a divorce,» a conversation that was supposed to put everything in its place. The girl consciously took this step because at that point her family life was at a complete deadlock.
Sasha’s face instantly turned pale.
«I’m letting you go to the one you truly love. I no longer want to be in second place.»
From the consuming grievances due to the injustice towards her, it was impossible to turn away any longer. How many times after her mother-in-law moved in had Katya tried to start this conversation, but her husband did not hear her, denied reality.
Reaching him through ordinary conversations was not working. Tears welled up in her eyes on their own.
«What are you talking about? What other woman?» Sasha stared at his wife in surprise.
«Since our wedding, you’ve only been repeating one thing: ‘mom,’ ‘mom’… Your mom manages all our finances. I can’t do this anymore…»
Sasha didn’t hear Katya’s further speech; he was in shock, trying to understand how he had allowed such a situation. At what point had everything gotten out of control? Or was nothing ever under his control? As soon as his wife fell silent, he sat down on the bed next to her and looked at her tear-stained face.
«Is it really just because mom lives with us?»
«How do you not see? She just ate you up completely. You don’t belong to yourself. If it weren’t for my salary, we’d be in a tough spot. Your mother-in-law forbade me to have children because she’s afraid of losing such a generous source of income.
Your mom is a good woman, she just needs to see the boundaries she shouldn’t cross, and you erase these boundaries with your complete compliance. From this, you suffer yourself, and so do I and our future child. You’ve long since paid off your debts, Sasha, live for yourself, not for your mother.»
The conversation was very unpleasant for both, but Sasha persuaded her to give him a chance, promising that he would sort things out with his mother and prioritize their shared future with Katya.
The first steps were hard: first, to refuse his mother the provision of monthly large sums for her futile business, then a conversation about Lyudmila Vasilievna needing to live separately.
A month later, Katya was choosing wallpaper for the nursery. She communicated better with her mother-in-law than when they lived together, sometimes Lyudmila Vasilievna would visit. She had a hard time adjusting to the changes in her son and her own life, but eventually, she came to terms with it, realizing she no longer had enough influence on Sasha.
Without his funds, she couldn’t continue buying products from the company and was literally thrown out of there. But all these events forced Lyudmila Vasilievna to get a proper job and learn to rely on herself.
A year later, the couple had a child, and now Lyudmila Vasilievna gladly helped Sasha and Katya. The whole family often spent time together, and everyone was happy.
