Kristina closed the door of the rented apartment and leaned her back against it. The third year in these walls. The third year renting instead of having her own home. Dmitry was sitting on the couch, buried in his phone, not even looking up.
“Dimочка, how are you?” Kristina asked, taking off her shoes.
“Fine,” Dmitry grunted without taking his eyes off the screen. “Mom called again.”
Kristina froze, holding one shoe in her hand. Every time Dmitry mentioned his mother, something clenched inside her. Two years ago, that woman had destroyed their dream of owning a house.
“And what did she want?” Kristina asked cautiously.
“The same as always,” Dmitry finally looked up from his phone. “She says that franchise was a failure. Now she somehow needs to pay off debts, close the loans.”
Kristina sat on the edge of a chair, trying to keep calm. Memories of the day when Dmitry silently handed over almost their entire mortgage down payment to his mother still burned inside her.
“Dima, we agreed,” Kristina said quietly. “After that failed investment…”
“Kristina, she’s my mother!” Dmitry cut her off sharply. “She lost money not because of her fault. The market changed, competition…”
“The market?” Kristina’s voice trembled. “Dima, she spent our money on a business she didn’t understand!”
Dmitry got up from the couch and paced the room. His shoulders were tense — Kristina knew that sign.
“You don’t understand,” he said, walking to the window. “Mom is alone. She has no one but me.”
“But you have a wife!” Kristina couldn’t hold back. “Or did you forget?”
“Of course, I haven’t forgotten. But Mom is having troubles now. Debts on loans…”
Kristina closed her eyes. Again. The same words, the same explanations. For three years they had been saving for the down payment, and her mother-in-law kept having urgent problems.
“Dima, when will it end?” Kristina asked quietly. “We rent an apartment, count every kopeck, and you want to give everything to your mother again?”
“I never said anything about money!”
“But you think about it. Always think about it.”
Dmitry turned away. The silence said everything. Kristina understood — tomorrow or the day after he would ask to help his mother again. And their plans would fail once again.
In the morning, Kristina received a message from her boss. The project was successfully completed. The bonus — two hundred thousand rubles.
Kristina looked at the numbers in the bank message and unexpectedly made a decision. She wouldn’t tell Dmitry anything. Neither about the bonus, nor that she was already mentally buying tickets for herself and her mother to the seaside.
She needed air. She needed to remember who she was without Dmitry’s mother’s constant problems.
Kristina slowly sifted through papers on the kitchen table. Utility bills, old receipts, some checks — the usual junk that accumulates in every home. Dmitry had gone to his friends, the apartment was filled with rare silence.
Setting aside another pile of documents, Kristina leaned back in her chair. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she quietly dozed off right at the table.
A sharp scream shattered the silence.
“Why didn’t you say you got a bonus?” yelled a painfully familiar voice. “We could have paid off the loan a long time ago!”
Kristina snapped awake. Her mother-in-law stood in the kitchen, waving a bank statement. The very statement showing the bonus amount. The woman’s face burned with indignation.
“How did you get in here?” Kristina asked, confused, getting up from the chair.
“Dima gave me the keys,” the mother-in-law answered triumphantly. “Good thing he did! Otherwise, you’d still be hiding it!”
Kristina reached for the statement, but the mother-in-law quickly hid the paper behind her back. The woman’s eyes burned with righteous anger, her lips were tightly pressed.
“Give me back my documents,” Kristina said firmly.
“Yours?” the mother-in-law snorted contemptuously. “Dima is my son! So the money is family money!”
“This is my bonus for my work,” Kristina tried to speak calmly, but her voice trembled.
“For work?” the mother-in-law sneered mockingly. “And who provides the house? Who gives the roof over your head? Huh?”
Kristina clenched her fists. Three years of renting! Three years every month sending money to a stranger instead of paying off a mortgage for their own home.
“We live in a rented apartment,” Kristina said slowly. “Because of your unchecked investments. Because of your mistakes!”
“Mine?” the mother-in-law was outraged. “The market changed! Competition! It’s not my fault!”
Kristina looked at this woman and remembered that day two years ago. How Dmitry silently withdrew all the money from their joint account. How their dream of owning a home crumbled to dust.
“I have a debt,” the mother-in-law continued. “Dima helps as he can. And what about you? You’re hiding money!”
“This money is for vacation,” Kristina said firmly. “I’m going on a trip with my mom.”
“With your mom?” the mother-in-law threw up her hands. “And your husband? Your husband’s family?”
“What about my husband’s family?” Kristina could no longer hold back. “You already took all our savings! And Dima did it without my consent! That’s it! I don’t owe any of you anything!”
The mother-in-law took out her phone and started dialing. Kristina understood who she was calling. Dmitry answered after the second ring.
“Dima, come home immediately!” the mother-in-law yelled into the phone. “Your wife has gone completely insolent! She got a bonus and is hiding it!”
Kristina heard her husband’s muffled voice through the speaker. Dmitry said something, but the words were unclear.
“No, she’s here!” the mother-in-law continued shouting. “She says she’ll spend the money on herself! On her mother! Deal with her!”
Half an hour later, the door slammed. Dmitry entered the kitchen, not even greeting his wife. His face was grim, movements sharp.
“What’s going on?” Dmitry asked, looking at his mother.
“Look for yourself,” the mother-in-law handed the statement to her son. “Two hundred thousand! And she didn’t say a word about the money!”
Dmitry took the paper, scanned the numbers. Kristina saw his face change. First surprise appeared. Then the first hints of resentment. The husband clenched the paper in his hands.
“Kristina, is this true?” Dmitry asked quietly.
“It’s true,” Kristina replied shortly.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“No.”
Dmitry silently looked at his wife. In his eyes, Kristina read the usual judgment. As always, when it came to his mother, Dmitry automatically took her side.
“Why did you hide the bonus from me?” Dmitry’s voice was quiet, but Kristina heard cold tones in it.
“Because I knew this would happen,” Kristina answered calmly, pointing at the mother-in-law.
“Dima, just look at her!” the mother-in-law interrupted. “Completely out of control! Hiding our shared money!”
Kristina looked at her husband and understood: the conversation was pointless. In Dmitry’s eyes, it was the same as always — mother is right, wife is guilty. A mechanism worked out over years.
“Mom is right,” Dmitry said, folding his arms on his chest. “We are family. We must decide everything together.”
“Family?” Kristina smirked. “When you gave away our down payment, did you consult me then?”
“That was two years ago!” Dmitry snapped. “Mom was in a difficult situation! We had to urgently find money!”
“And now what?” Kristina stood up from the chair. “Another difficult situation?”
The mother-in-law nodded approvingly, looking at her son. Kristina saw triumph in that woman’s eyes — she had again managed to turn her son against his wife.
“Mom has a debt,” Dmitry said. “We must help her pay off the rest!”
“We?” Kristina asked again. “Or am I helping while you just take my money?”
“Kristina, don’t start!” Dmitry sharply interrupted.
Kristina silently went to the bedroom. Took a large suitcase from the closet and put it on the bed. Dmitry and his mother continued discussing something in the kitchen, but Kristina no longer listened.
First things first: documents. Passport, work book, bank cards. Then clothes — only the essentials. The rest didn’t matter.
“What are you doing?” Dmitry appeared in the bedroom doorway.
“Packing,” Kristina answered shortly, not stopping folding her things.
“Where are you going?”
“To my mom’s.”
“For long?”
Kristina paused, holding her favorite blouse in her hands. For long? Maybe forever.
“We’ll see,” Kristina said.
“Kristina, don’t throw a tantrum!” Dmitry tried to reason. “We’re adults!”
“Exactly,” Kristina snapped the suitcase shut. “Adults.”
The mother-in-law stood in the hallway as Kristina left with her suitcase. Satisfaction was written all over the woman’s face — the goal was achieved, the daughter-in-law was leaving.
“How far are you going?” the mother-in-law asked mockingly.
“Far enough,” Kristina replied, putting on her jacket.
Dmitry was silent, standing by the wall. Kristina expected her husband to say something, to try to stop her. But Dmitry just looked at the floor.
A month later, Kristina and her mother sat on the terrace of a small hotel by the sea. A warm evening breeze played with their hair, laughter of vacationers could be heard somewhere far away.
“Daughter, how good it is that we decided on this trip,” her mother said, sipping tea with lemon.
“Yes, mom,” Kristina agreed.
During the entire two-week vacation, Dmitry sent only three messages. The first — demanding she return and “stop acting like a child.” The second — accusations of selfishness. The third — threats to take half of the bonus through court.
Kristina didn’t reply to any.
Returning to the city, Kristina immediately went to a lawyer. The divorce was easier than she thought. They had almost no joint property — a rented apartment, old furniture. That was the entirety of their marriage.
“He’s trying to claim half of your bonus,” the lawyer said, reviewing documents. “But the money was spent, so he won’t get anything.”
Dmitry called, came by, threatened court. But legally, all documents were flawless.
Now Kristina lived in a small one-room apartment. Without a husband, but with the freedom of choice. Without someone else’s debts and her mother-in-law’s endless demands. In the morning, she could wake up and not think about what her money would be spent on today. Everything was perfect.
