In the backyard of the city hospital, in the shadow of gray concrete walls and under the sound of rare drops falling from the roof after rain, a boy often appeared — thin, as if woven from wind and loneliness. He was about ten years old, no more, but in his eyes already lay the […]
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An early call from her former mother-in-law caught Yulianna off guard. She didn’t answer, and she had no desire to call back. What could Zoe Nikitichna possibly want from her? Maybe she was suddenly remembering some made-up debts—another trick to squeeze extra money from her ex-daughter-in-law. But Yulianna owed no one anything—neither her ex-husband nor […]
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Dmitry Vladimirovich Kravtsov was staring at the numbers in the report and couldn’t believe it. The third restaurant in two years had reached its break-even turnover already in the second month of operation. In Petersburg, that was almost impossible. “Dim, your mom is calling you,” Anna handed him the phone without taking her eyes off […]
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Marina stood in the middle of the empty room, inhaling the smell of old wallpaper and dust. Her mother’s apartment felt both familiar and strange — the same worn parquet floors, the same high ceilings with moldings, but without her mother’s things, without her voice coming from the kitchen; the space seemed to have lost […]
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Larisa Petrovna stood by the kitchen window, holding a cooled cup of tea in her hands. Outside the glass, familiar courtyards flashed by, gray nine-story buildings covered with the first October snow. For twenty-seven years, she had looked out this window. For twenty-seven years, she had cooked borscht in this kitchen, baked pies, and greeted […]
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The door slammed with such a crash that my mother’s favorite porcelain elephant figurine fell off the hall’s mirror shelf. I didn’t even turn around — just gritted my teeth and grabbed the bag my mother clung to as if it were the last thread tying me to this house. “You’re not going anywhere!” Her […]
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The phone burst into a ringtone at five in the morning. Ira jerked awake, nearly falling off the bed, and automatically reached for the bedside table. Through the pre-dawn haze in her head, one thought broke through: “Don’t wake Misha.” Her husband was asleep, turned toward the wall, his steady breathing undisturbed—neither war nor flood […]
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— When will you give us grandchildren? — my mother-in-law asked with a sneering mockery, as if casually, but clearly intending to hurt me. — How long can we wait? I told Andryusha—you’re not the right match for him! He took a dud, and now he’s suffering, poor thing… Every word she said cut into […]
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Denis woke up just as the first rays of the sun began to filter through the gaps between the curtains, and quiet but distinct footsteps were heard on the stairs. In their huge three-story house, every sound seemed to echo off the walls, reminding everyone that even the smallest rustle here would not go unnoticed. […]
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“Vadimka, I have amazing news for you!” Svetlana exclaimed, standing in front of the mirror carefully applying mascara to her eyelashes. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation, and her lips stretched into a satisfied smile. She glanced at her reflection as if confirming to herself that she looked like a queen about to announce an important […]
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