The persistent, almost irritating knocking at the door cut through Nika’s sleep, ruthlessly pulling her out of the warm embrace of a pleasant morning nap. She lazily turned her head toward the clock and let out a disappointed sigh. It was only ten in the morning! On a day off, all she wanted was to stay in bed a little longer, sink deeper into the comfort of the blankets, and forget the rest of the world existed.
For a moment, she was tempted to pretend she hadn’t heard anything. But the knocking didn’t stop. Whoever was on the other side of the door was far too determined, and that stubbornness quickly began to annoy her.
Muttering a curse under her breath, Nika forced herself to get up. She climbed out of bed, stretched her whole body with pleasure, lifting her arms toward the ceiling, and couldn’t help smiling blissfully. Then she adjusted the hem of her favorite pajama top and, as she walked, smoothed down the unruly wavy strands that had escaped from her braid. For some reason, Nika could never sleep with her hair loose.
When she looked through the peephole, she saw a stranger shifting nervously from one foot to the other. Nika’s heart sank with irritation. Apparently, someone had the wrong address. It was frustrating to be woken up over nothing, but since her sleep had already been ruined, she had no choice but to open the door.
“You’ve probably got the wrong address,” Nika said, glancing at the suitcase whose handle the girl was gripping so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. “I don’t know you, and I wasn’t expecting any guests.”
“Not at all! I haven’t made a mistake,” the girl replied confidently. “I came to the right address. You’re Nika, aren’t you?”
It was as if an invisible switch flipped in Nika’s head. Her sleepiness vanished instantly. She studied the stranger’s face, trying to remember where and when they might have met, but her memory gave her nothing. They definitely did not know each other. They had never crossed paths before.
So how did this girl know her name?
Nika shook her head slightly and tried to smile politely.
“That’s right. But how do you know me?”
“I’m your husband’s new wife, and from now on I’ll be living in this apartment!” the stranger announced loudly and firmly. “My name is Polina. Please don’t keep me standing in the doorway. I’m pregnant, and I’d rather not catch a cold.”
With those words, Polina rudely pushed past Nika with her shoulder and squeezed her way inside.
“My husband’s new wife?” The thought sounded absurd, like a line from some cheap melodrama.
Nika’s mind immediately drifted back to the day Alexey had looked her in the eyes and said, “I can’t stay with you anymore. I don’t want to lie to you. I’ve met someone else, and I want to be with her.”
Nika had not caused a scene. She had not screamed, begged, or humiliated herself. She had simply accepted it as a fact.
Their marriage had lasted only a year and a half. The first year had felt like a fairy tale. Alexey had courted her so beautifully that her friends envied her. But family life soon revealed its darker side. It turned out that neither of them had truly been ready for it. Over time, they seemed to grow tired of each other, and the closeness between them gradually turned into distance.
Not much time had passed since Alexey left. They had not even managed to finalize the divorce yet. Nika had been busy, and he apparently hadn’t been in a hurry either. And now his so-called “new wife” had barged into her home. The phrase sounded sickeningly sweet.
Had this woman really woken her up just to make such an announcement?
No. Nika had no intention of letting this go so easily.
“So, the new wife, then,” she drawled, looking Polina up and down as if evaluating some cheap trinket at a flea market.
Privately, she noted that Alexey’s taste had clearly gone downhill. But Nika was not the type to stoop to insults about someone’s appearance. There were plenty of other ways to make it clear that visits like this were unacceptable.
“How interesting. And what does the new wife want from the old one?” she asked with light irony. “Did you come to learn how to take care of dear Lyosha? I hate to disappoint you, but I won’t be much help there. He used to take care of me himself, so I have no advice to give.”
“Stop pretending!” Polina snapped. “You won’t give Lyosha a divorce, and because of that he can’t legally marry me! Doesn’t that disgust you? Clinging to a man who has already left you!”
“I won’t give him a divorce?” Nika’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Who exactly am I to keep him by force? He’s a grown man, don’t you think?”
Inside, anger was beginning to boil. Nika could understand many things, but she had no intention of tolerating this circus.
“That’s exactly right!” Polina insisted. “He said you refuse to divorce him because you’re trying to delay everything and avoid dividing the property. He respects you and wouldn’t dare come here himself, but I don’t respect you. You have no pride at all if you’re trying to hold on to a man who doesn’t need you anymore.”
Nika swallowed hard.
She knew that former partners sometimes threw dirt at the people things hadn’t worked out with, but she had not expected Alexey to sink to this level. When they separated, he had seemed like a reasonable person — calm, sensible, rational. And now it turned out that behind her back, he had been spreading rumors that she was keeping him chained to her?
“Maybe you’d also like to say I handcuffed him to the radiator?” Nika asked coldly, feeling her patience thinning like an old thread.
A little more, and she might not only be rude — she might actually throw this insolent girl down the stairs. She needed to end this quickly before things went too far.
“Are you afraid of splitting the apartment?” Polina continued. “Fine! Then we’ll live here together! That way, you’ll go to court faster, get divorced, and divide everything legally! I’m not like you, Nika. I’m going to fight for my happiness!”
She lifted her chin as if issuing a challenge.
“Oh, wow… this is worse than I thought,” Nika said, shaking her head. “Polina, I have nothing to be afraid of. Who told you my husband would get even a spot by the front door in my apartment?”
“Your apartment?” Polina asked in surprise. “Actually… Lyosha earns very good money. He told me he bought this apartment.”
A sharp, unexpected wave of hurt swept through Nika.
Not because of this annoying visitor. Not because of the ridiculous argument that should never have happened in the first place. It hurt because, after all this time, she was only now discovering her husband’s true face.
Had Alexey always been this good at pretending? She had never noticed anything like this in him before. He had never seemed like a storyteller or a liar. But maybe he had changed. Or maybe he behaved differently with his “new wife.”
What had this woman given him that made him invent stories about his high income and buying the apartment? Was she some rich bride? No, that didn’t seem likely. Her clothes looked cheap, and she had clearly come here to make demands for a reason.
A profitable connection? The daughter of his boss? That didn’t seem right either.
But why even guess? That was his problem.
“So he bought it, did he? May I ask when? Because I certainly never sold it… and I’m not planning to,” Nika continued, barely holding back a laugh. “Polina, before showing up here with ridiculous accusations, you could have at least asked dear Lyosha for proof.”
“What proof? I trust my man. Lyosha would never lie to me.”
Nika had also once believed that Lyosha would never smear her name. She had thought they would separate like reasonable adults. But apparently, that outcome had not suited him.
Did he want to play games?
He could feed this foolish girl as many lies as he wanted, but he should never have dragged Nika into it.
Now she was disappointed. Deeply disappointed.
“All right. It’s time to end this performance. Polina, take your suitcase and go back wherever you came from. Where you and Alexey live is none of my concern. This apartment is mine. It was mine before I married Lyosha, and after the divorce, it will still be mine. He and I have no shared property. There is nothing for us to divide. And a woman who has no manners will certainly not be living with me. Pregnant or not, I don’t care. Leave. If you don’t, I won’t call the police — but I may very well throw you out myself.”
Polina opened her mouth to protest, then immediately closed it again.
She really had no proof except Alexey’s words. And Nika spoke as if she were completely certain of everything she said.
Could the apartment really belong to her?
“Show me the documents. Then I’ll believe you.”
Nika only smirked.
Show her the documents? Did this girl want anything else? Her audacity had already crossed every possible line. It was time to put an end to this.
“Alexey can show you the documents, Polina — if he has any. And while he’s at it, he can show you that impressive salary of his too. No need to throw around big words without proof. Now leave my apartment. If you care about your condition, then just… go.”
A dangerous spark flashed in Nika’s eyes.
Probably realizing that leaving was indeed the best option, Polina jerked nervously, rushed back into the hallway, and dragged her suitcase after her.
Why had she even come? To embarrass herself and run away empty-handed? No. She had clearly expected to push Nika into a quick property division — property that did not belong to Alexey at all.
Nika had not expected such a performance so early in the morning. Still, Polina’s visit pushed her to do something she should have done long ago.
She made herself coffee, took the mug with her, sat down at her desk, opened her laptop, and began filing for divorce. She should have done it right away instead of waiting for her husband to get around to it himself.
After that, Nika called Alexey. She told him she had filed for divorce and warned him that she would not tolerate his new woman showing up at her door again.
“I don’t know why you told her all those fairy tales,” Nika said, “but next time I won’t be so kind. I’ll throw her out in a way she’ll remember for the rest of her life.”
She didn’t care how her former husband would explain himself to his new partner, if he truly valued her. Nika only knew one thing: she did not want anyone else showing up and disturbing the peace she valued so much.
Alexey said nothing in his defense, but Nika had not expected an explanation from him anyway.
What difference did it make why he had lied?
Trying not to ruin her mood, Nika walked over to her wardrobe and decided that since she had woken up earlier than planned, she might as well go for a walk and perhaps treat herself to something new.
Polina’s visit had left her with mixed feelings.
On one hand, Nika felt sorry for the woman. She understood that she herself had once trusted her husband just as blindly. On the other hand, everyone learned from their own mistakes. Whether Polina stayed with Alexey after his lie or not was no longer Nika’s concern.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled.
A person had to value themselves first, so they would not fall for foolish tricks used by others — and would not end up humiliating themselves. Polina had acted stupidly, blindly trusting a man and coming to demand something from the former wife of her chosen one.
Maybe Nika should have taught her a harsher lesson?
Then again, she had never signed up to be anyone’s teacher. Her priority was to take care of her own life and enjoy every day. And in the future, she would be much more careful about whom she allowed close to her — so she would never again fall into the trap of a liar.
Laughing softly at the absurdity of the whole situation, Nika briefly imagined the scolding that awaited her useless ex from Polina.
It would have been interesting to see.
But no — she had already had enough of a show for one morning.
Picking up her phone, Nika called her friend and arranged to meet her. She wanted to share what had happened.
After all, her friend should know that things like this didn’t happen only in movies.
