— Dimochka, my son, it’s me… — the voice on the phone was weak, cracked, laden with universal grief. Dima, sitting at the kitchen table scrolling through mortgage offers on his laptop, tensed up. He shot a quick, almost guilty glance at his wife. Sveta stood at the stove with her back to him. She […]
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— Yegor, don’t forget, it’s my mom’s birthday tomorrow. He waved her off without taking his eyes off the laptop screen, where some graphs and tables were flashing by. The gesture wasn’t so much rude as automatic—like a man shooing away an annoying fly. — Nastya, I remember everything, don’t start. I said I remember. […]
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“I moved everything. We own nothing now.” Oleg tossed the line out as casually as he’d fling his car keys onto the hall table. He didn’t even glance at me—just stripped off the pricey tie I’d given him for our last anniversary. I stopped with a plate in my hand. Not from shock. From a […]
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The bank’s text pinged in at 7:15 a.m. “Debit transaction in the amount of…” I flicked it away without opening. Dima was always wiring money for dacha supplies. I barely noticed anymore. A second alert arrived a minute later. Then a third—while I was filling the kettle. The phone kept buzzing—shrill, relentless, like a fire […]
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— “Vitya, I’m back! I grabbed your favorite buns for tea—want some?” Lena’s bright, anticipatory voice flew into the apartment ahead of her. She set the grocery bag down in the hallway and, without taking off her shoes, walked into the room. Viktor sat on the couch, staring at the dark TV screen. He didn’t […]
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“— And what is this supposed to be?” Alexey’s voice—steady and cold, like a scalpel—cut through the cozy evening quiet. Larisa, absorbed in her reading, didn’t look up right away. He stood in the living room doorway, arms folded across his chest, his gaze fixed on a small paper bag with a bookstore logo lying […]
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— “Al, I’m coming from Mom’s. She’s decided to start a renovation,” Igor tossed his keys onto the hall table and walked into the kitchen, where Alla, bent over a large sheet of drawing paper, was meticulously sketching with a fine mechanical pencil. The air smelled of freshly brewed coffee and graphite. “She wants everything […]
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Julia straightened the tablecloth and moved a plate two centimeters to the right. For the eighth time in the last ten minutes. The perfect dinner just wasn’t happening. She heard the front door slam. “Pasha, is that you?” she called from the kitchen. “No, it’s the robbers!” her husband smirked, walking into the kitchen. “What’s […]
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Karina lingered by the mirror, straightening the collar of her blazer. The latest project had brought her not only a solid fee, but new clients as well. The design studio was thriving, and her name had already become a recognizable brand in professional circles. Her phone buzzed again—another request to redesign a major company’s office. […]
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Marina shoved the dirty plates into the dishwasher and set it to express wash. The Friday dinner had gone well; Igor was wolfing down her signature mushroom pie. Even Nastya—who always wrinkled her nose at anything cooked by “that upstart,” as she called Marina behind her back—ate two slices. “I’m jumping in the shower,” Igor […]
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