Yulia stepped into the apartment and, the moment she crossed the threshold, felt the weight of exhaustion settle onto her shoulders like a heavy cloak she couldn’t shake off. In her hands she clutched a bag of groceries — ordinary, everyday items, just like this evening, which seemed as though it should have passed in […]
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“— Olechka, you can’t do that—she’s your own mother, after all…” “— Mother?! That word doesn’t suit her at all! Please remember this: I don’t have a mother. I don’t. She died in childbirth.” “— Olya…” gasped Sofya Borisovna. “What terrible things you’re saying!” But Olya was already striding into the hall to go home. […]
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— “Well, we ought to help her!” the husband urged. — “We ought to. Only I honestly don’t feel like it,” Inna said. Her husband Semyon looked reproachfully at his wife but said nothing. He knew his mother and his wife didn’t much like each other; to be frank, they barely tolerated one another, maintaining […]
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“Well then, mommy, ready to meet daddy?” the nurse smiled, handing me a tightly swaddled bundle. “Look—everyone’s already gathered under the windows with flowers.” I nodded, pressing my son to me. His tiny face was serious, almost frowning. My boy. Our boy—Oleg’s and mine. I went to the window, searching for my husband’s familiar car, […]
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— Are you out of your mind? In this heat? The very thought of you in a swimsuit makes me feel sick. I’m not going anywhere with you. If you want, go by yourself. Maxim and Angelina had been together for almost six years. They got married back in university—out of love, naivety, and youth. […]
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— Olya, don’t make me laugh. The apartment is registered to me, — Valentina Ivanovna’s voice turned icy. — You know that perfectly well. So only I will decide when to sell it. — Mom, but we have a small son. Maxim isn’t even three yet, he doesn’t go to kindergarten. I’m not working. We’re […]
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— Katya, has Sasha told you yet? — the mother-in-law rattled off. — Look! There’ll be forty people. So we’ll start cooking at night. I’ll come early, at six in the evening the day before. — What? At night? — the daughter-in-law smirked. — No, I didn’t sign up for that. — Oh, hold on. […]
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Maria drove slowly along the familiar streets of her hometown. Ten years in the capital had erased many memories. She reached her mother’s apartment by GPS. The front door opened before Maria had time to ring. Her mother stood on the threshold—older, tired. “So you finally came,” Galina Petrovna said dryly. “Come in.” Maria stepped […]
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“Who is this?” Sergey Alexandrovich asked, voice cold as steel, the moment Anna stepped over the threshold with a newborn bundled against her chest. There was no gladness, no wonder—only a flint of irritation. “Do you honestly expect me to accept this?” He had come home from yet another weeks-long business trip: contracts, meetings, flights—his […]
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May draped the park in mellow gold. On the grass sat Lyova and Misha—matching school trousers, blue shirts, knees grass-stained—while a shaggy Alabai sprawled beside them at full puppy stretch. Rex’s nose was wet, his eyes uncannily gentle. “Watch this,” Lyova said, grinning as he held out his hand. “Rex, paw!” The pup sprang up, […]
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