“I’m pregnant,” I said, and a smile spread across my face on its own. Kirill, standing by the window, froze. He didn’t even turn around, but I saw his shoulders tense in the reflection. I expected hugs, joyful shouting—anything but this strange, frozen posture. “I am too,” came Lena’s quiet voice. My sister stepped out […]
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“Napkins. Fix them.” My mother-in-law’s voice, Tamara Igorevna, sliced through my nerves like a dull knife against glass. I froze, staring at the perfectly stacked linen napkins. “What’s wrong with them?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “The corner. It’s lifted by a millimeter. Guests will think we live in a pigsty.” I […]
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The gravel crunched uneasily beneath my car’s tires as I turned onto the familiar dirt road. I was smiling. Igor thought I was meeting friends in the city — but I was rushing to him instead. Surprise. He said there was an emergency at the dacha — a critical project that required total focus. Our […]
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Tamara Pavlovna entered my bedroom without knocking, carrying a glass of water and a small white pill in her hand. Her face radiated an overwhelming concern that made my jaw tighten. “Anechka, sweetie, it’s time for your medicine. Blood pressure is no joke,” she said softly, with that ingratiating tenderness she reserved for special occasions—like […]
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“You’ll love it, sweetheart. This is the best Transformer in the store,” a voice came from behind the shelf. Yekaterina was putting children’s socks into her shopping basket when she heard a familiar voice in the next aisle. Her husband’s voice. She froze, listening. Through the shelves of toys, Yekaterina saw Igor. He was holding […]
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Anna sat on the edge of the couch as if it were a taut wire. Beneath her was the expensive upholstery she had bought for herself—upholstery that Yelena Mikhailovna had been calling “marketplace tackiness” for three months now. Vasily, on the other hand, lounged comfortably in an armchair, one leg crossed over the other, cracking […]
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Lena returned home with a light, almost childlike smile. In her hands, she carried a large paper bag from an expensive store. Inside, carefully wrapped in thin tissue paper, was the dress—the elegant, silky one she had dreamed of buying for the past six months. It had hung in the shop window, alluring yet out […]
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“Misha, come here!” I stood frozen at the gate, my breath catching in my throat. My husband trudged up the path, slightly hunched under the weight of a sloshing bucket filled with fish. The sharp July morning chill clung to my skin, but it wasn’t the cold that made me tremble—it was the sight on […]
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“What is a child without roots?” “No one. A shadow in search of shape,” I answered. Mikhail stirred his coffee slowly, seated across from me in the designer kitchen I once thought would fill the emptiness. “You felt like a ghost all your life?” he asked gently. I met his eyes—my only true friend. The […]
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Raisa Mikhailovna said it as calmly as if she were commenting on the weather. She sat on the balcony of her city apartment, sipping tea from her favorite rose-patterned mug, and didn’t even glance at her son. Artyom froze, holding his cup. He had come to visit his mother in the city, as he always […]
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