Lena was tallying the month’s expenses when the doorbell rang, followed by a familiar voice. Her heart skipped a beat—Marina again. On a Monday morning. As if she could sense when Lena’s husband was home and when he was at work.
“Andrey, where are you?” Marina called from the hallway, barely saying hello. “I need to talk to you.”
Andrey came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee, smiled at his sister.
“Hi, Marina. How are you? How’s Artyom?”
“Everything’s fine,” Marina tugged off her coat and tossed it carelessly onto a chair. “Listen, I need to talk to you. Seriously.”
Through clenched teeth, Lena said hello and bent back over the papers. In the three months since Marina had returned to the city, these “serious talks” had become routine. First she’d needed twenty thousand for the deposit on a rental. Then another ten for initial expenses. Andrey had pulled out his wallet without a second thought, while Lena kept silent, grinding her teeth.
“Andrey,” Marina sat down across from her brother and folded her hands on the table. “I need your help. Again.”
“What happened?” he frowned. “Problems at work?”
“No, work is fine. Thanks for getting me into your company.” Marina glanced toward Lena. “It’s something else. Artyom needs a break. He’s having a really hard time with the divorce and the move. The psychologist says he absolutely needs a change of scenery.”
Lena raised an eyebrow. A psychologist. Of course. Marina always had expert opinions for everything.
“And what does the psychologist suggest?” Andrey asked carefully.
“The sea. At least two weeks. Turkey or Greece.” Marina pulled out her phone and showed a travel site on the screen. “I’ve already done the math. Two hundred thousand for the two of us. That includes flights, hotel, meals.”
Lena felt her face flush. Two hundred thousand. Last year they’d spent one hundred fifty on their own vacation, and even then they pinched pennies.
“Marina,” Andrey set down his cup and rubbed his forehead, “that’s serious money. Things are tight at the firm right now. Loans, taxes…”
“Andrey,” Marina’s voice hardened, “I’m not asking for a gift. I’ll pay you back. When I get on my feet, I’ll return everything—with interest.”
“When will you get on your feet?” Lena couldn’t hold back. “You’re thirty-five. You have an education, two hands and two feet. How long are you going to live off other people?”
Marina slowly turned to her.
“Excuse me, what do you have to do with this? I’m talking to my brother.”
“What I have to do with it is that this is our family money. Mine and Andrey’s.”
“Lena, please,” her husband tried to intervene.
“No, Andrey,” Lena stood and gathered the papers. “Let your sister explain why her child is more important than our future. We wanted to renovate the bedroom this year. We’ve been saving. And now what—blow it all on Artyom’s resort trip?”
Marina went pale.
“How dare you? We’re talking about a child! A traumatized child!”
“A spoiled teenager his mother taught to make demands,” Lena shot back.
“Enough!” Andrey stepped between them. “Lena, you’re crossing a line. Marina, calm down.”
But his sister wasn’t listening anymore. Her eyes shone with tears—of rage, not grief.
“I see,” she nodded slowly, “I see who’s in charge here. Fine.” Marina straightened, looking her brother in the eye. “Then I’ll put it differently. Either you pay for your nephew to go to the seaside, or we move in with you.”
Silence fell. Andrey opened his mouth, but no words came.
“What?” Lena whispered.
“You heard me right,” Marina grabbed her jacket. “My lease is up soon. Either you help us take a trip and then we’ll look for new housing calmly, or we move in with you. By law I have the right. Andrey is my brother, and this apartment was bought in marriage, which means it belongs to our family.”
“Marina, what are you saying?” Andrey stammered.
“Either you pay for your nephew’s trip to the sea, or we move in with you,” the brazen sister delivered her ultimatum. “Decide.”
Lena sank into a chair. Her vision darkened. Live with Marina and Artyom in the same apartment? In their cozy two-room place where every corner had been arranged with love? Listening every day to those complaints, whims, demands?
“Alright,” Andrey said quietly. “Alright, I’ll give you the money for the trip.”
Marina beamed.
“Andryusha, thank you! I knew you’d understand. Artyom will be so happy!”
“Only…” he licked his lips, “I don’t have the cash on hand. I’ll pay by card, okay?”
“Of course!” Marina pulled out her phone. “Let’s do it right now before the last-minute packages are gone.”
Andrey silently took a credit card from his wallet. Lena watched him and didn’t recognize him. Where was her husband? The one she’d planned the renovation with, dreamed about children with, saved for their own home with? This stranger was frantically entering the card number, obediently catering to his sister’s whims.
“Great!” Marina snapped her phone shut. “Payment went through. We fly out on Saturday.” She pecked her brother on the cheek. “You’re the best! Artyom will be thrilled.”
After she left, the spouses sat in silence. Andrey stared at the floor, Lena at the wall.
“Two hundred thousand,” she finally said. “Two hundred thousand rubles.”
“Lena…”
“Don’t say anything.” Lena stood and walked to the window. “You realize she’ll keep demanding more? And more? And if you don’t give it—she’ll move in with us? With a teenager who blasts music and mouths off?”
“She’s my sister.”
“And what am I?” Lena turned around. “Some outsider? A random woman who just happens to live in your apartment?”
“Of course not…”
“Then why does my opinion count for nothing? Why didn’t you discuss it with me?”
Andrey raised his head.
“What was I supposed to do? You heard her—they’ll move in with us!”
“So what?” Lena stepped closer. “Let them move in for a week. A month. She’ll realize it’s inconvenient, and she’ll start looking for a better job, cheaper housing. As it is, she knows she can squeeze any money out of you whenever she wants.”
“You don’t understand. Artyom is my nephew. He’s hurting because of his parents’ divorce…”
“And we’re not hurting?” Lena’s voice cracked. “We don’t get tired? We don’t want a vacation? We don’t dream about kids, about our own house?”
Andrey said nothing.
The next day Lena called the bank.
“Hello,” she said into the phone, “I want to cancel a credit card transaction. A large amount was charged yesterday without my consent.”
“One moment,” the operator replied. “Checking… Yes, there’s a two hundred thousand ruble transaction still being processed. Do you confirm cancellation?”
“I confirm.”
That evening Andrey came home looking like a thundercloud.
“Marina called,” he said without even saying hello. “The money for the trip didn’t go through.”
“Imagine that.”
“Lena, what have you done? They already bought the tickets!”
“Then they can return them. Or pay for the trip themselves.”
“They don’t have money!”
“Then they shouldn’t go,” Lena didn’t look up from the dinner she was cooking. “Plenty of people in this world can’t afford resorts. They manage.”
“Lena…”
“Andrey,” she turned, “I’m your wife. We are a family. Either that means something or it doesn’t. There is no third option.”
The phone rang. Marina. Andrey reluctantly picked up.
“Hello?”
Lena caught only fragments, but it was clear: his sister was furious. Her voice was hysterical, words pouring out in a torrent.
“Marina, calm down…” Andrey muttered. “Yes, I understand… No, it wasn’t on purpose…”
The call lasted half an hour. Lena listened to her husband’s excuses, his attempts to explain, to compromise, to find a middle ground. And with every minute she realized: she was married to a man who didn’t know how to say “no.” Who would hand over his last penny just to avoid being scolded.
“She’s not speaking to me anymore,” Andrey announced, setting the phone down.
“Good.”
“Lena! She’s my sister!”
“So what?” Lena placed a plate in front of him. “What’s changed? She still works at your firm. She still lives on money you gave her. The only difference is she won’t be demanding a resort.”
“You don’t understand… Her situation is complicated…”
“Everyone’s situation is complicated,” Lena said wearily. “Your parents had a complicated situation raising you. My parents had a complicated situation. We have a complicated situation—we’re saving for the future, planning children, dreaming of a bigger apartment. But somehow everyone else copes, and your sister has the right to demand?”
For three days they spoke in snatches. Andrey grew gloomier by the day—his sister ignored his calls and was pointedly formal at work. Lena saw how he suffered, but she didn’t give in.
On Thursday she couldn’t take it anymore.
“You know what?” she said, walking into the room with packed suitcases. “Go to your sister. Have a heart-to-heart. Make peace.”
“Lena, what are you doing?”
“Packing. I’m going on vacation.” She zipped the suitcase. “To Turkey. For two weeks. With the money that was supposed to fund Artyom’s vacation.”
“You’re serious?”
“Dead serious.” Lena pulled out a printed ticket. “Flight tomorrow at seven a.m.”
Andrey stared at her, bewildered.
“And me?”
“You decide,” Lena said. “Who you want to live with. Me or your sister. But know this: if you choose your sister, I won’t be here anymore.”
“Lena, don’t make ultimatums…”
“It’s not an ultimatum,” she replied calmly. “It’s just a fact. I’m tired of being the third wheel in my own family.”
In the morning, getting ready to head to the airport, Lena looked around the apartment. Their apartment. The one they’d furnished together, where they’d planned to live long and happily. Andrey was asleep, clutching a pillow—they’d talked all night and reached no agreement.
A note lay on the dresser: “If you want to save our family—think about who comes first in it. If your sister matters more than your wife—good luck. Lena.”
On the plane she finally relaxed. Two weeks without family showdowns, without Marina’s demands, without Andrey’s wavering between two women. Two weeks to decide whether it was worth coming back.
Her phone buzzed. A message from her husband: “Lena, forgive me. I understand now. I’m waiting for you at home. I love you.”
She switched off the phone and looked out the window. Ahead lay the sea—boundless, free, indifferent to human passions. Maybe things would change when she returned. Maybe not. For now, one thing mattered: she had learned to say “no.” And that was already a victory.
