Son, you need to file for divorce immediately and divide the property!» These were the words that Katya accidentally overheard while she was helping her mother-in-law in the garden.
Changes in her husband’s behavior began subtly. At first, Katya simply ignored Oleg’s displeasure. Then she compared his behavior from a week ago to today and realized something was wrong with him. She wanted to talk to him, to find out what had happened—why he had suddenly begun getting irritated over trivial things, and often even without reason at all. But then she decided against it; maybe Oleg was just having problems at work and would explain everything himself. It wasn’t worth bothering him.
But as time went on, her husband became increasingly irritable. He took offense at any step Katya made. Whether his wife did something wrong or, conversely, acted exactly as Oleg wanted, Katya endured.
«Tomorrow’s Saturday,» Oleg said one evening, pausing his binge-watching of another episode of some TV series. «My mother asked me to come over; she needs help in the garden and to fix up the shed.»
Katya’s mother-in-law, Anna Sergeyevna, lived in a village five kilometers from the city. Katya didn’t refuse to help her. She understood that at that age it wasn’t easy for a woman to manage even a small garden. So she simply nodded and said,
«Alright, let’s go and help.»
The next day, Katya diligently carried out the gardening tasks assigned by her mother-in-law. It was hot, and the woman decided to rest in the shade for a while.
«I told you so,» Katya heard as she approached the house—the voice of her mother-in-law. «This fool is not good enough for you! You’re a city guy, intelligent, a university graduate with honors, working as a manager at a good firm. And who is she?»
«I understand,» Oleg agreed.
«If you truly understood, you wouldn’t have gotten involved with that country bumpkin,» said Anna Sergeyevna. «What kind of brains did she mess with? She’s just an ordinary hairdresser. And so what? What prospects does she have? Sure, her salary is good, but the salon owner makes even more. Why doesn’t Katya open her own salon instead of always working for someone else? Because she’s content with what she has. She hooked up with a prominent man, inherited an apartment from her grandfather, and bought her first car on credit.»
«Mom, but she did earn good money later,» Oleg reminded her. «You used to be surprised. And it wasn’t the first time. She changed her car, and we managed to buy a three-room apartment.»
«Remember, son, it wasn’t her car that changed—it was you two. The new one cost half as much as the old one. You got the apartment by selling that two-room Khrushchev-era flat, added some extra money, and that’s how it happened.»
«Yeah,» agreed Oleg. «Katya had some money in her account, and I had a little, so we bought the three-room apartment. And then our parents sent us some money.»
«Oleg,» his mother pressed on insistently, «it’s not just a little money. Everything you acquired during the marriage is considered common property. Do you understand? What, are you clinging onto her? She’s not right for you. How many times must I tell you? You need to divorce her as soon as possible before you have children. Get a divorce, or you’ll end up paying alimony. You’re prominent, smart—remember how many girls used to chase after you: the daughter of the village chief, the daughter of the chief engineer at our factory—yet you decided to get involved with this Katya.»
«Interesting,» thought Katya, standing near the veranda window and crouching so that neither her husband nor her mother-in-law could see her. «What’s gotten into Oleg? Is it because my work doesn’t suit them? And what about the fact that I work hard, have many regular clients, and earn three times more than him?»
Meanwhile, the conversation on the veranda continued:
«Here’s what, son: go file for divorce on Monday,» his mother demanded. «File immediately. Remember Irochka, Tatiana Vasilievna’s daughter? Yes, that one who wouldn’t take her eyes off you. She must come back home. I don’t know what happened—Tatiana Vasilievna didn’t say—but now she’s single, divorced. You need to divorce immediately. That Irochka is going to work as the deputy director at the factory.»
«Well, I never thought that at his age Oleg would dance to his mother’s tune,» thought Katya, hiding near the veranda window. «It turns out my mother-in-law has long been trying to get Oleg to divorce me. Now it’s clear why he was so irritable.»
«And file for asset division right away too,» she heard as the conversation continued. «Half of the apartment and half of the car are yours. Have you kept the receipts for the purchased furniture and appliances? You’ll have to provide them as well. You yourself said that Katya’s salary is good. Let her splurge a little.»
Katya didn’t know what to think. She had no plan for what to do next. Judging by her husband’s words, his mother had completely turned him against her, so it was quite likely that he would file the application.
«Which half of the money is she talking about?» Katya wondered, recalling what she had heard. «Oleg could barely afford a thousand or so for both the car and the apartment. The furniture and appliances were bought with my money. And my parents contributed to the apartment.»
After assessing her own expenses, Katya began to think about what to do next. «Tomorrow, I’ll go to Svetlana. She’ll definitely advise me on how to handle this situation,» she decided. «For now, I’ll pretend I heard nothing and know nothing.»
She had known her friend Svetlana since their student days. They had once shared an apartment together—Katya studied technology while Svetlana pursued law.
The next morning, Katya arrived at her friend’s place and told her everything.
«Remember how I didn’t let you throw away the old documents for the apartment and the car? Well, now they’ll come in handy!» Svetlana began explaining what Katya should and shouldn’t do.
Katya listened and thought how fortunate she was to have a lawyer friend who could foresee what might happen.
«I knew from the moment I met your mother-in-law at your wedding that she wasn’t a good person,» Svetlana said. «And Oleg? He’s the youngest in the family—probably used to obeying his domineering mother. And your mother-in-law likely considers you a fool. She decided that you’d be clueless and wouldn’t know what to do, and that’s how she managed to swindle you.»
«Actually, she was planning to take away half of everything,» Katya reminded her.
«Half of what? Have you forgotten?» Svetlana exclaimed. «Suppose your apartment is worth six million. Your mother-in-law will insist that this sum be split in half. However, she already has three million from the sale of your Khrushchev-era flat. You received that from your grandfather long before you lived together. I persuaded you to give me the documents proving that.»
«Yes, I gave them to you, even though I didn’t really want to.»
«Katya, you’re so trusting. If you had kept those documents, your mother-in-law would have asked Oleg to find and hide them by accident. I’m sure she would have been clever enough. I also convinced you to transfer all the records concerning the money your parents gave you for the apartment from your smartphone to me. That way, the division will only include what remains after deducting the amount from the sale of the Khrushchev flat and your parents’ contribution. The same applies to the car. And there’s another interesting detail about it.»
«What is it?» Katya asked in surprise.
«Remember when we went to buy the car, and Oleg transferred you the missing sixty thousand? He even left a message about his share. Look it up on your phone.»
And indeed, Katya found a message indicating that those sixty thousand were the only contribution her husband had made toward the car purchase.
A week later, Oleg came home and announced that he had filed for divorce. He looked at his wife expectantly, but Katya was watching a TV series and mumbled something unintelligible in response.
«Are you listening? I filed for divorce,» Oleg repeated.
«Understood,» Katya replied without taking her eyes off the TV.
«Don’t you get it?» her husband fumed. «I’m divorcing you. The court hearing will be in three weeks. We’ll also divide our assets.»
«I understand. Court in three weeks.» Katya’s response threw Oleg off balance. He stared at her silently before finally asking, «Does it not matter to you?»
«You know, I’m busy right now,» Katya replied as she turned to him. «You filed the application, not I. It’s too late. I have work early tomorrow. I have a ton of records to review. I’m going to sleep.» After sending her husband out of the room and closing the door behind him, Katya turned off the light, settled into bed, and closed her eyes.
A few minutes later, she heard Oleg’s quiet voice. Listening closely, Katya realized her husband was talking to his mother.
«He doesn’t have any reaction at all. It’s as if this divorce doesn’t concern her. I even thought she was happy about it.»
«What about the division of assets?»
«No, she didn’t ask about it.»
The divorce process went quickly and without complications. But when it came to splitting the assets, many unexpected things occurred. Neither Oleg nor his former mother-in-law had anticipated the appearance of documents confirming the origin of the larger sum of money spent on acquiring the car and the three-room apartment. And the message indicating that Oleg’s contribution to the car purchase was only sixty thousand triggered an outright hysteria in his former mother-in-law. She screamed and swore at Katya. Anna Sergeyevna fell silent only after the judge warned her that if she didn’t stop immediately, she would be removed from the courtroom.
Oleg received his share of the divided money on the same day. Svetlana helped Katya get out of her difficult situation.
«You can pay it in installments. You earn well. I think two years will be enough,» her friend smiled.
And a week later, Katya received a call from her ex-husband. At first, she didn’t understand what he wanted, but then it became clear. It turned out that Oleg wanted to come back and undo everything.
«You know what, don’t call me anymore,» Katya said firmly and hung up the phone. She regretted nothing. The most important thing was that everything had ended well. And she would still find her own happiness—everything would be just fine.
