Day: January 15, 2026

Marina spooned out portions of chopped Olivier salad onto the plates, trying to make them all look the same. Her hands trembled slightly—not from exhaustion, though she’d been in the kitchen all day, but from an uneasy feeling in her gut. It was her father-in-law’s fifty-fifth birthday, and the whole clan had crammed into their […]

Natasha discovered it by accident—she was simply checking the balance of their shared account, the one she and Misha had been building up for apartment repairs and unexpected expenses. Their aging washing machine had been threatening to die for three months now, making noises during the spin cycle like someone trapped inside the drum was […]

Olga was standing by the window with a cup of tea that had already gone cold, studying the May sky, when the front door swung open. She frowned—ten o’clock on a Saturday, and they weren’t expecting anyone. In the entryway she spotted a familiar silhouette in a beige trench coat. “Good morning, Olenka!” Alla Viktorovna […]

Lena was standing at the stove, stirring the soup on autopilot, when the doorbell rang. Way too early for Andrey. Which meant it was her again. “Lenochka, I’m just popping in for a minute!” her mother-in-law called cheerfully from the entryway. A minute usually translated to three hours. Minimum. Lena swallowed, turned off the burner, […]