“I’d leave you the keys, but there’s no point.” Elena slowly raised her head. Andrey was standing in the doorway, holding a gym bag. Not a suitcase. As if he were heading to a workout, not walking out on a family after ten years of a marriage she had considered at least stable. “What do […]
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Lena sat at the kitchen table, twirling a pen between her fingers. A blank sheet of paper lay in front of her, and she still couldn’t bring herself to write the first word of her résumé. For the third month in a row, the job search was going nowhere—either her qualifications didn’t fit, or the […]
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Anna carefully parted the curtain and looked out the window. The familiar white Logan pulled up to the gate, and behind it came two more cars. The girl’s heart clenched in exasperation. Again. “Seryozha,” she called to her husband, who was fixing the kitchen faucet at the time. “Your mother’s here. And she’s not alone.” […]
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Galina Petrovna had always believed she possessed a special gift—she could see right through people. In twenty years as the factory’s chief accountant, she had learned to read faces, catch intonations, and notice what others missed. That talent made her indispensable on the job, but at times it turned into a curse—especially when it came […]
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In the three-room Khrushchyovka on Preobrazhenka, the war began on the very first day, when Anna Mikhailovna saw her brand-new daughter-in-law Katya taking off her shoes in the entryway. Not removing them neatly, as a well-brought-up girl should, but yanking them off and leaving them in the middle of the hall. “Shoes go in the […]
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“She’s My Mom.” The chandeliers threw constellations across the marble, a galaxy stitched together by money. Richard Caldwell—real-estate emperor, widower, and man who solved problems with wire transfers—had turned his ballroom into a catwalk. Twelve models flown in from Paris, Milan, New York stood like jeweled chess pieces, gowns whispering when they breathed. It was, […]
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“The Boy on Fifth Avenue” The sun had only begun to nick the edges of Manhattan’s towers when Alejandro Vargas stepped out of his Fifth Avenue building. Madrid was a lifetime behind him now; here he was Alejandro-the-mogul—deals, press, a glassy S-Class idling at the curb. In an hour he’d be pitching a billion-dollar Miami […]
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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 […]
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Elena stood at the window, watching an overloaded GAZelle van pull into the courtyard. Her heart tightened with anxiety—she knew what that meant. For three days now Andrey had been walking around the apartment with a guilty look, clearly gearing up for a serious conversation. “Len,” he began cautiously the night before, “remember I told […]
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The call came on Saturday morning, while Andrey and I were still in bed, savoring a rare chance to sleep in. My husband reached for the phone reluctantly, and from his voice I immediately understood—it was my mother-in-law. “Yeah, Mom… When? For how long?…” Andrey spoke cautiously, as he always did when talking to his […]
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