Ksenia looked at the numbers on the computer screen for the third time, as if they could change under her intense gaze. The bonus turned out to be even bigger than she had expected. Twenty-four months of work in a state corporation, endless negotiations, nights spent on documents — and here was the result. The biggest deal of the year was closed by her.
“Ksyusha, how are you?” her colleague Marina peeked into the office. “Your face looks kind of strange.”
“They credited the bonus,” Ksenia quietly replied without taking her eyes off the monitor.
“And what, was it small?”
“Big. Very big.”
Marina whistled when she saw the amount on the screen.
“Congratulations! Now you can afford everything you dreamed of.”
Dreamed of… Ksenia opened a browser tab with photos of the Maldives. She had been looking at these pictures for years — the snow-white sand, turquoise water, huts on stilts over the ocean. How many evenings had she spent scrolling through travel bloggers’ Instagrams, imagining herself in their place.
“The Maldives?” Marina guessed. “About time! If I were you, I’d also rent my own apartment. How old are you, twenty-seven? Time to live separately.”
Ksenia nodded. Yes, she had thought about that too. Living with her mother and older sister Lena was getting harder. Especially since Lena, at thirty, still hadn’t found a steady job but had found many reasons why it wasn’t her fault.
Ksenia returned home in a good mood. In the kitchen, her mother was washing dishes in a familiar checkered apron.
“Mom, I have news,” Ksenia began, taking a yogurt from the fridge.
“What kind?” her mother turned, wiping her hands with a towel.
“They gave me a bonus. A big one. For the deal I closed.”
Her mother’s eyes lit up.
“Ksyusha, you’re such a smart girl! How much?”
Ksenia named the amount. Her mother even sat down on a chair.
“Oh my God… That’s a fortune!” She paused, then her face lit up with an idea. “You know what, Ksyusha? Let’s give your big bonus to your sister for her thirtieth birthday! She’ll be so happy!”
Ksenia choked on her yogurt.
“What?”
“Well, think about it yourself,” her mother said enthusiastically, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Thirty years is a big anniversary, a very important date. Let Lena remember this day! She can use that money to buy a trip abroad, finally go somewhere.”
“Mom, are you serious?” Ksenia slowly put the cup down.
“What’s so funny about it? The money should stay in the family. Lena is also a daughter, and she’s the eldest. Besides, you have a good salary, you’ll earn more.”
At that moment, Lena came into the apartment, cheerful after a walk with friends.
“What’s the conversation about?” she asked, taking off her jacket.
“Ksyusha got a huge bonus,” Mom said. “And we’re thinking of giving it to you for your birthday.”
“We’re not thinking,” Ksenia said firmly. “That’s you thinking.”
Lena raised her eyebrows:
“How much is the bonus?”
Mom proudly named the amount. Lena whistled just like Marina did in the morning.
“Ksyusha, what are you doing?” she sat next to her sister. “I could really use such a gift for my thirtieth. I’ve never been anywhere all my life. And you’re still young, you have plenty of opportunities ahead.”
“I have plenty of opportunities ahead?” Ksenia felt her blood boil inside. “Lena, I’m twenty-seven! I studied at university for four years, then interned for two years for peanuts, then worked hard for another two years to get this position. I earned this money myself!”
“Ksenia, don’t raise your voice at your sister,” Mom scolded.
“Why can she raise her voice at me? Why can she claim money I earned?”
Lena crossed her arms:
“I didn’t raise my voice. I just said that the gift would be useful to me. You know how hard it is to find a decent job these days.”
“Hard to find, right?” Ksenia stood up. “Hard to look for one? How many interviews did you go to last year? Three? Four?”
“Ksenia!” Mom raised her voice. “How are you talking to your sister? Lena is looking for a job in her field, not grabbing at anything.”
“Mom, I’m working in my field too. And I looked for two years. I went to interviews every week. I was rejected dozens of times before I got this job.”
“So what now?” Lena intervened. “You got your position, got the bonus. Can’t you feel sorry for your sister?”
“Feel sorry?” Ksenia’s voice rose. “Lena, I feel sorry for you every month! Who pays for the internet? Who buys groceries? Who pays the bills? Mom and I! And what do you do?”
“I’m looking for a job!”
“You’re hanging out with friends! You’re on your phone! You sleep until noon!”
“Girls, stop it!” Mom stood between them. “Ksenia, Lena is right. It’s very hard to find a job now. And you got such a big bonus… Are you really unwilling to share with the family?”
“Unwilling?” Ksenia felt tears of hurt fill her eyes. “Mom, I planned to use that money to go to the Maldives. I dreamed of that trip since university. Then I wanted to rent an apartment and finally live on my own.”
“The Maldives?” Lena snorted. “Ksyusha, seriously? Throwing that kind of money away on two weeks of lying on the beach?”
“That’s not throwing away! It’s my dream!”
“My dream is to go at least to Sochi,” Lena said. “And I’m almost thirty. If not now, then when?”
“When you earn it yourself!”
Mom sighed heavily:
“Ksenia, I don’t recognize you. You’ve become so harsh, so selfish. Has success at work changed you that much?”
“Selfish?” Ksenia felt something break inside. “Mom, am I selfish? I’ve been living in this apartment for two years paying for everything. I buy your medicine. I give you presents for every holiday. And when I want to spend my own earned money on myself, I become selfish?”
“You’re exaggerating,” Mom said. “We all contribute to this family.”
“What contribution does Lena make?”
“Lena helps me around the house.”
“Helps?” Ksenia laughed bitterly. “Mom, when was the last time you saw Lena mop the floor? Or clean the bathroom? Or even take out the trash without being reminded?”
“Lena has depression because of unemployment,” Mom said quietly. “It’s hard for her.”
“Is it easy for me? Do you think it’s easy for me to work twelve hours a day? Do you think it’s easy for me to come home and see you making plans for my money?”
Lena stood up:
“You know what, Ksyusha? If you treat the family like that, then don’t give anything. I’ll manage somehow.”
“Lena, don’t say that,” Mom put a hand on her eldest daughter’s shoulder. “Ksyusha is just tired. She’ll understand and share.”
“No, I won’t understand or share!” Ksenia shouted. “I earned this money! I will spend it on what I need!”
Mom looked at her long and hard:
“Alright, Ksenia. If you don’t want to help your sister voluntarily, I’ll make you.”
“How?”
“You will pay much more for the apartment. Much more. Lena doesn’t work, I’m retired. If you’re so independent, then pay for everything yourself.”
“Mom…”
“Either share the bonus with your sister, or pay for everything. Choose.”
Ksenia stood in the middle of the kitchen feeling her world crumble. The family she supported, helped, loved was giving her an ultimatum. Give up the money or become the family’s cash cow for good.
“I see,” she said quietly. “Everything is clear.”
She turned and went to her room. Behind her, she heard her mother say to Lena:
“Don’t worry, she’ll understand. She just needs time.”
Ksenia closed the door, took out her phone, and dialed Marina’s number.
“Marish, can I bother you?”
“Of course. What happened? Your voice sounds strange.”
“I told them about the bonus at home…”
She told her friend the whole situation. Marina listened, occasionally saying “Really?” and “No way.”
“Ksyush,” she finally said, “do you understand what’s happening? This is pure abuse. They’re blackmailing you.”
“But it’s mom and sister…”
“So what? Being family doesn’t give them rights to your money. Are you a slave? Working to support an adult healthy sister?”
“She can’t find a job…”
“Can’t or won’t? Ksyush, how long can you fool yourself? She’s comfortable sitting on your neck. And Mom is comfortable having someone to pay the bills.”
Ksenia was silent, digesting her friend’s words.
“You know what,” Marina continued. “Move in with me. Temporarily. I have a big kitchen, there’s enough room. You need to rest from them and think calmly.”
“Marish…”
“No options. Pack your things and come. And you will definitely fly to the Maldives. Stop living someone else’s life.”
An hour later Ksenia was packing her suitcase. Mom stood in the doorway silently watching.
“Where are you going?”
“To Marina’s. For a while.”
“Ksyusha, don’t do anything stupid. We’re family.”
“Family?” Ksenia didn’t look up from the suitcase. “Family is when they rejoice in your success, not plan how to use it.”
“We do rejoice…”
“You rejoice in my money, not me.”
Mom was silent, then quietly asked:
“And how long are you going to sulk?”
“I don’t know. Maybe until you learn to see me as an adult, not an ATM.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Exaggerating?” Ksenia finally looked up. “Mom, name one time in the last year when you or Lena cared about my plans, dreams, desires. Not related to money.”
Mom opened her mouth, then closed it. She was silent for a long time.
“We didn’t know you had plans…”
“You didn’t know because you never asked.”
Ksenia zipped the suitcase and picked it up.
“Ksyusha, wait…”
“Mom, I need time to think. I’m not angry at you. I’m just tired of being convenient.”
At Marina’s it was warm and calm. Her friend made tea, and they sat in the kitchen discussing what had happened.
“You did the right thing leaving,” Marina said. “Now go to your Maldives. Turn off your phone and just rest.”
“But what if Mom worries?”
“Ksyush, you’re twenty-seven. Mom will survive. But you’ll finally live for yourself.”
The Maldives turned out even more beautiful than in the photos. Ksenia spent two weeks there, and for the first time in many years felt truly free. Her phone stayed off in the suitcase. No one demanded reports or made plans for her time and money.
Returning to Moscow, she seriously started looking for an apartment. Work went on as usual, projects followed one another. At Marina’s, she felt like a guest but didn’t rush to meet with her family.
Mom called regularly. The conversations were tense, full of unspoken things. Lena didn’t call at all.
“How are you?” Mom asked.
“Fine. Working.”
“When will you come home?”
“I don’t know, Mom. I’m looking for an apartment.”
“Why do you need an apartment? It’s good at home…”
“Mom, I need to live separately.”
The conversations reached dead ends. Mom didn’t understand what her daughter wanted. Daughter couldn’t explain without hurting Mom more.
Three months after moving in with Marina, Ksenia finally found a suitable apartment. Small, one-room, but bright, nicely renovated, within walking distance from work. She paid a deposit and prepared to move.
That evening the doorbell rang. Marina opened it and called out in surprise:
“Someone’s here for you.”
At the door stood Lena, confused, eyes downcast.
“Hi,” she said quietly.
“Hi. How did you find me?”
“Through Sveta Komarova. She gave me Marina’s detailed address.”
They went into the room. Lena sat on the edge of the bed, Ksenia in the armchair.
“Ksyush, I came to apologize.”
“For what exactly?”
“For everything. For me and Mom acting like… like greedy idiots. For me not working. For leeching off you and getting used to it.”
Ksenia was silent, studying her sister. Lena looked tired and… somehow more mature.
“After you left, I thought a lot,” Lena continued. “And I realized Mom and I were wrong. Your bonus is your money. You earned it, you have the right to spend it however you want.”
“And what changed?”
“I got a job. At a coffee shop for now, but it’s still a job. The salary is small but enough for my expenses. Now I help Mom — both with money a little and doing more around the house.”
Ksenia raised her eyebrows:
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. You know, it turned out that working isn’t so scary. Yes, it’s tiring, but there’s a feeling you do something yourself, not just hang on someone.”
“And Mom?”
“Mom…” Lena sighed. “At first she was angry. Said I was betraying the family, working for peanuts. But then she got used to it. She’s even a bit proud that both her daughters work.”
“Did she ask you to come?”
“No. It was my initiative. I felt ashamed, Ksyush. Very ashamed. You were always responsible, always helped. And we took it for granted.”
Ksenia was silent, then asked:
“What do you think about the Maldives?”
Lena smiled:
“I think you’re great. I saw your photos on social media — unbelievably beautiful. I’d like to go there someday too.”
“You’ll get there someday. When you earn it yourself.”
“Yes, when I earn it myself. But for now, I plan to go on vacation to Krasnodar. Not the Maldives, of course, but there’s also the sea. And most importantly — with my own money.”
Ksenia felt something warm stirring in her chest. Her sister had really changed. Not just outwardly — something new had appeared in her, some dignity.
“Ksyush,” Lena said. “I’m not asking you to come back home. I understand you need to live separately. Just… can we be sisters again?”
Ksenia stood up and hugged Lena.
“We can,” she said. “Of course, we can.”
“Ksyush, have you found an apartment yet?”
“Yes, I’m signing the lease next week.”
“Far from us?”
“Not really. About twenty minutes by metro.”
“Good. We’ll see each other more often. But now I’ll invite you to cafes with my own money.”
Ksenia laughed:
“Deal.”
Lena was getting ready to leave:
“Thank you for forgiving me.”
“Thank you for changing.”
“I tried. I really tried to become better.”
“It shows. And that’s great.”
Later, they met in the kitchen with Marina over tea.
“So? Made up?”
“We did. Lena really changed. She works, helps Mom.”
“That’s great. So your lesson paid off.”
“What lesson?”
“The lesson of boundaries. You showed you have boundaries that can’t be crossed. And they understood.”
Ksenia nodded. Yes, boundaries are important. It took her twenty-seven years to understand, but better late than never.
A week later she moved into her own apartment. Small, but hers. The first evening she sat on the windowsill with a glass of wine. No one demanded reports on where she had been or what she did. No one planned her money. No one expected her to feed someone or buy anything.
Her phone beeped with a message from Lena: “Ksyush, how’s the new place? If you need anything — let me know. But I’m not rich yet, keep that in mind :)”
Ksenia smiled and replied: “All good. I’ll invite you for tea at my place soon.”
Yes, they had become sisters again. Finally.
