Lera locked the car, and she and her husband hurried toward the office entrance. Rain came pouring down from the sky, turning the street into streams of water. Colleagues who arrived a bit later lingered by the parking lot, unwilling to step out into the cold downpour. They glanced helplessly at their watches—the workday was about to start, and getting to their desks meant braving the rain.
Her husband planted a quick kiss on her cheek and disappeared into the elevator, while Lera stopped by the first floor to see her friend Vera. Vera was already leaning over a drafting table, carefully tracing the first lines of a new blueprint. The two women exchanged quick looks as if to say, “See you at lunch.” Then Lera headed toward Accounting. As she approached the door, she heard her name being discussed—clearly without much fondness.
“Lerka has no clue,” said senior colleague Valya Ivanova, who had never experienced family life. “All she wants is more overtime! She’s completely blind to the fact that her husband’s been unfaithful for ages.”
“Yeah, her husband’s not the best,” sighed a younger employee.
“Or maybe he’s fallen in with the wrong crowd?” Ivanova suggested, then suddenly cut herself off and fell silent.
Lera couldn’t take it anymore and walked into the accounting office. She greeted everyone calmly and sat down at her desk, though her heart was pounding with pain and betrayal. “What? Zhenya is cheating on me? And everyone knows but me? What about Vera? Why hasn’t she said anything?” Lera pressed her palms against her temples—a headache pounded like thunder.
“Valeriya Olegovna, maybe you should take a pill?” Ivanova asked kindly.
“No, thanks, Valya, I have one. It’s just this weather,” she replied, nodding toward the window, where the rain was still pouring down.
Lera took a painkiller from her bag and swallowed it, grimacing in annoyance because she had forgotten her water. She rushed to the cooler, filled a cup, and drank. Even then, the throbbing in her temples wouldn’t stop.
“Who is she? Who is this other woman? Though does it matter? The real question is why? Zhenya is still playing the perfect husband—what a hypocrite!” Lera was close to exploding, but she couldn’t find the right words to express her anger. She wanted to go straight to the fifth floor, where the logistics department was, and demand an explanation. But she had no proof. Making a scene now would only show her weakness.
The day passed in unbearable tension. Lera never took a break, working until the last minute. On the way home, Zhenya chattered cheerfully as usual, sipping beer. He assumed she would drive—their usual arrangement had always been that she was the driver.
“Hey, Lerchik, can you speed it up? We’re gonna be late for the soccer match!” he said, urging her on as she cautiously passed another car.
Lera clenched her teeth, holding back the anger threatening to burst out. When they got home, Zhenya immediately headed to the fridge, took out a can of beer, turned on the TV, and settled onto the couch.
Lera changed, washed up, and went to the kitchen. “If only I could serve him dinner spiked with laxative!” she fumed, frying potatoes with bacon and aggressively cracking quail eggs into the pan. The loud clatter of utensils made Zhenya pause the soccer match to call out:
“Ler, what’s with the noise? Can you keep it down?” he yelled from the living room.
Lera brought a tray of food and set it on the coffee table in front of him, then went back to eat in the kitchen. The thought of his betrayal kept gnawing at her, and the pounding in her head drowned out even the TV.
That evening, her daughter called:
“Mom, Vadik and I can’t come on Sunday after all—our plans changed. You’re not upset, right?”
“Of course not. The important thing is that you two are doing fine,” Lera answered, trying to steady her voice before hanging up. Left alone, she buried her face in a pillow, letting her tears flow freely. It was a Friday night she wouldn’t soon forget.
Early the next morning—at half past six—the phone rang. It was her mother-in-law.
“Lera, it’s Saturday, right? Or haven’t you caught up on your sleep? Maybe you can drive me to the village? I have to tidy up the graves before Easter. My son is obviously too busy for that.”
“Lidiya Arkadyevna, why don’t you ask your son? He’s well rested, unlike me. Besides, I’m feeling really unwell,” Lera tried to protest.
“Oh, the same old story! You’re either too busy or too sick. I see how it is—you make time for your own mother, but never for your mother-in-law!”
“Please don’t say things that aren’t true, Lidiya Arkadyevna. I’m the one who always drives you when you ask. If you insist, I can pick you up right now.”
“I’ve already been waiting half an hour while you sleep in!” the mother-in-law snapped, then hung up.
Lera dragged herself out of bed, scarfed down a sandwich and coffee, and went downstairs to the car. At the cemetery, there was the usual pre-Easter hustle: adults hurried to tend to their loved ones’ graves, children happily carried buckets of sand. Amid all this activity, energetic Lidiya Arkadyevna stood out even more. She was pulling out weeds with her bare hands, grumbling:
“Everything’s in such a state! Nobody lifts a finger.”
As Lera hauled yet another bucket of sand, she noticed her mother-in-law’s odd behavior. Lidiya stiffened, raised her eyebrows, and started glancing around nervously. Then she stood directly in front of Lera, as though shielding her from something, shading her eyes from the sun with her hand.
Peering past her mother-in-law, Lera caught sight of a car passing slowly by the cemetery—Alina’s car, the boss’s daughter. Sitting in the passenger seat was Zhenya. The car turned onto a dirt road leading to the cottages and disappeared.
“So that’s who she is…” Lera felt a new surge of pain. “He’ll do anything for his career. But why did my mother-in-law drag me here? Could this be on purpose?”
Back home, Lera took a shower and curled up under a blanket. “I’ll sleep until I can’t sleep anymore,” she decided. Half an hour later, her college-age son called:
“Mom, I won’t make it this weekend. My friends and I are going fishing. Let Nastya know she doesn’t need to apologize. We’ll all meet next time!”
“Alright, Stasik. Thanks for letting me know. Don’t worry about your sister—she’s not coming either.”
“Oh, what a coincidence!” he said, amused. “Well, Mom, have fun with Dad. Bye!”
“Sure, a blast,” Lera muttered, trying to drift back to sleep.
She had barely dozed off when the doorbell rang. Standing there was Zhenya, looking excited.
“Guess what, Ler! My friends and I decided to open the swimming season!”
“In May? Well, okay,” she replied. “Why didn’t you take your keys?”
“I forgot. I left really early, and you were still asleep.”
“What a smooth liar,” Lera thought, feeling her anger rise. She blurted:
“And how am I supposed to sleep in on a Saturday if your mother wakes me up at seven?”
“Really?” Zhenya looked genuinely surprised. “I had no idea. When I woke up on the couch, I figured I should just let you sleep.”
Lera listened to his explanation, but a storm of thoughts swirled in her head. She wanted to believe it was all just rumors, that their family would remain as strong as ever. But she couldn’t forget seeing Alina’s car, or the wet swim trunks hanging on the balcony.
Suddenly, she felt the urge to make Zhenya taste some of the pain he was causing her. She said:
“The kids called. They won’t be coming on Sunday. Nastya and Vadik have new plans, and so does Stas.”
Zhenya looked disappointed for a second, then composed himself.
“What can you do? We used to skip visiting our parents, too. Remember how we hated the lectures?”
“Yeah, I remember lots of things, unlike you,” she responded bitterly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You haven’t forgotten the kids think we’re the perfect couple, have you? Stas is always saying he wants a family exactly like ours. Nastya says that when she and her husband argue, she thinks of us—no matter what happens, her parents stay together.”
“I’m not following,” Evgeny frowned.
Unable to stand the lies and evasions any longer, Lera took a deep breath.
“I saw you with Alina driving past the cemetery.”
Zhenya froze, like a statue. His reaction spoke volumes. After a long silence, he finally said:
“If you already know, then let’s be honest: yes, I’m in love with Alina and want to be with her.”
“With her, or with her father?” Lera couldn’t resist the jab.
“Think whatever you want!” he snapped. “I’m sick of you loafing in the office and drinking every Friday. I deserve better. Let’s just have a civilized divorce, no scenes.”
Lera couldn’t speak; tears streamed down her cheeks. She locked herself in the bedroom. Meanwhile, Zhenya rummaged in the fridge, pulled out something to eat, and grumbled under his breath:
“Looks like we won’t split amicably. She’ll keep making a fuss about the kids, like they’re little children…”
What hurt Lera the most was the realization that the image of a perfect family she had upheld for her children was about to crumble. How would this affect what they believed in? Would they even want to start families of their own one day? She wept like a child who’d just learned Santa isn’t real. All her dreams of true love and loyalty fell apart in the face of Zhenya’s opportunism and his mother’s scheming.
She was certain her mother-in-law had played no small part in it. After all, the company director had been her late father-in-law’s classmate. Likely, Lidiya Arkadyevna had leveraged that connection, painting her daughter-in-law as an overbearing wife and then presenting Alina—divorced and newly returned to her father after a failed marriage abroad.
Lera made a decision: there would be no divorce. Let him do whatever he wanted, but she wouldn’t let him go so easily. She had no idea what trials lay ahead…
Several months passed. When Zhenya failed to get his wife’s consent to divorce, he turned to his mother for help. She devised a cunning plan: frame Lera with the help of a colleague. They settled on Valya Ivanova, a woman who had always envied Lera’s supposed marital bliss. Bribed by them, Valya made discreet changes to the financial reports, so it would look like the chief accountant—Lera—had made serious errors.
When an external audit took place, the auditors uncovered major discrepancies. The entire accounting department came under investigation, but Lera’s team took the biggest hit, especially her. She was charged with embezzlement, tax evasion, and professional misconduct.
She was sentenced to two years and couldn’t fathom how her usually perfect accounts could suddenly be so riddled with errors. She had a phenomenal memory, and everything always matched in her head. Yet she was denied access to the documents during the investigation and couldn’t explain the discrepancies. Her only solace came from her children, who worried about her more than anyone else.
Family and friends pulled every string they could to help her. Meanwhile, Alina, Zhenya, and his mother celebrated their “victory,” convinced that with Lera in jail, they could finalize the divorce without her. She had twice refused to consent, but on the third hearing, they were sure she simply wouldn’t appear, and the case would be closed by default.
On the appointed day, Evgeny arrived at court with a whole entourage—Alina and his mother—who nearly begged the prospective daughter-in-law to be part of their family. They made themselves comfortable in the courtroom, waiting for the final verdict. Then someone knocked on the door.
The judge gave permission to enter, and to everyone’s shock, Lera walked in. She looked thinner, but her eyes sparkled with relief.
It had begun in the pre-trial detention center, where she had fallen gravely ill. They transferred her to the prison infirmary, where an old classmate, Vitya Ruslanov (a widower), was working. He diagnosed a lung infection and arranged gentler conditions for her. Later, he helped her reconnect with her children, who had started their own investigation. They found the key piece of evidence: a forensic analysis of the computer showed that Valya Ivanova had used special software to access Lera’s files and alter the financial reports. Confronted with the truth, Valya wrote a confession. At a second hearing, Lera was fully exonerated.
After her came her son, daughter, and son-in-law. The judge, clearly displeased, asked why there were so many “outsiders” in the courtroom. Lera answered calmly:
“I’m this man’s wife, and these people are my witnesses.”
The judge, a bit irritated, explained that in a divorce case that had dragged on for more than three months—due to one spouse’s stubbornness—witnesses were unnecessary. Lera listened quietly and replied:
“Don’t worry. This will be resolved today. I agree to divorce a man who has no honor or conscience, who tried to use the law to put me behind bars. But justice has prevailed, thanks to professionals who proved the slander and forgery.”
At that, Evgeny and his mother, who had been silent until then, exploded in anger:
“What is she talking about? How dare she?!”
The judge quickly called for order, declared the marriage dissolved, and asked the former spouses to sign the paperwork. Approaching the table, Zhenya leaned over to Lera and whispered:
“How did you pull this off?”
She just smirked:
“You know, Zhenya, we had wonderful children and what seemed like a lovely family—until one rotten apple spoiled the whole barrel. Guess who that might be?”
When the proceedings were over, she stepped into the hallway, took Vitya’s arm, and headed out. Their relationship, which began in the infirmary, had grown into something more after Lera’s acquittal. Now they met often and made plans for the future.
Zhenya, accompanied by Alina and his mother, left the courtroom next. But they were in for a surprise: police officers were waiting for them. It turned out that the same actions that had put Lera under investigation could earn Zhenya a suspended sentence and a hefty fine. Valya Ivanova faced similar charges, already under investigation herself. Alina and Lidiya Arkadyevna would end up with tarnished reputations and public scorn.
But none of that mattered to Lera anymore. She looked to the future with hope, discussing with Vitya the details of an upcoming trip.
