Right after graduation, Liza submitted her university application. She was confident she would get in — her Unified State Exam scores were high, even above the average passing score from last year. The summer turned out to be hot. A friend suggested spending a couple of weeks in Gelendzhik at her aunt’s place. The thought […]
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Dmitry’s shouts echoed through the beauty salon “Aphrodite.” The receptionist, pressed fearfully against the counter, held her breath, and the client who was just having a manicure flinched in surprise — the fresh nail polish was ruined. Nina stood nearby, arms crossed, her face stone-cold as she watched the eruption of male anger. “How could […]
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Marina tore herself away from the laptop screen where she was reviewing the estimates for the new project and saw Sergey standing in the doorway. He looked uncertain—his shoulders slumped, his head slightly lowered. Marina knew that look all too well: it foretold trouble. After twelve years of marriage, she had learned to read his […]
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Marina had always understood one simple truth: in the Berezkin family, she would always remain an outsider. Not because Alyosha didn’t love her—he adored his wife, saw in her his support and the meaning of his life. But behind that love stood an invisible yet strong wall, built over the years by Valentina Petrovna—his mother […]
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— Where’s the soup I made yesterday? — Sveta asked indignantly. — I threw it out, — her mother-in-law replied briskly, stirring something in the pan. — It was too watery. I made a new one — richer and thicker. A man needs to be well fed! Sveta and Lesha lived in a small but […]
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— Alena! What kind of circus is this? Why did Kirill come back to me with a suitcase? Did you kick him out? — First of all, there was no suitcase. I gave him garbage bags. Secondly — yes, I did kick him out, — Alena said calmly, trying not to raise her voice. — […]
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After leaving the orphanage, seventeen-year-old Lida inherited something strange — a little house in the wilderness, passed down from her long-deceased grandmother. The half-collapsed building stood apart from everything — on the edge of the forest, as if forgotten by time. No one was waiting for her, nothing tied her to the past — and […]
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“Anna Mikhailovna, your father… he this morning…” Lyudmila Ivanovna’s voice trembled. I gripped the phone so tightly that my knuckles turned white. “What’s wrong with him?” I asked, surprised at how unfamiliar my own voice sounded. “His heart gave out. Mikhail Petrovich passed away in his sleep.” Fifteen years. Fifteen years had passed since I […]
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A morning mist slowly spread over the village, hiding the tops of the birch trees as if someone had gently covered them with an airy veil. Dew sparkled on the grass like scattered diamonds, and the air was cool, moist, and filled with the scents of autumn. A light breeze barely stirred the yellowing leaves, […]
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Arina, bake a cabbage pie for dinner tomorrow,” Lyudmila Vasilievna declared, entering the kitchen and sitting down at the table. “I haven’t had a proper pastry in a long time; you’re always cooking some strange dishes.” Arina turned away from the stove where she was frying cutlets for dinner. Her mother-in-law sat with her usual […]
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