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Anna stood by the stove, stirring julienne in individual clay pots and silently running through the evening’s plan. She’d need to take the pots out in ten minutes; the salads were already done; the meat in the oven would finish right as the guests arrived. Same as always. The perfect family dinner for her husband’s […]

Another supply contract for medical equipment blurred before her eyes. The numbers and clauses had long merged into a monotonous mush. Yelena rubbed the bridge of her nose and leaned back in her chair. A call from her husband came just in time. “Lena, hi. Listen, I’m going to be late today. The meeting’s dragging […]

Clinking crystal glasses rang through the spacious living room, where friends and relatives had gathered for the traditional summer celebration. Anna, as always, bustled around the table, arranging appetizers and checking whether everyone had enough napkins. Her slender fingers, adorned with a simple wedding band, fluttered over the table like birds. “Anya, sit down already!” […]

Marina had always been proud of her career. A good position, a high salary, the respect of her colleagues—she had earned all of it through hard work. At forty-two, she confidently headed the marketing department at a large company. People considered her a successful woman. At least, that’s what they said to her face. Her […]

Elena climbed to the fourth floor without an elevator, as always, and already on the landing she heard voices coming from the kitchen. Her mother and Katya were discussing something, speaking quietly but with that particular tone that meant: “an important conversation.” Elena stopped at the door and listened. No, they weren’t talking about her. […]

The first weeks in the new apartment felt like a breath of fresh air after a long suffocation. I stood at the kitchen window, looked out into the courtyard, and couldn’t believe it—no one would be peering over my shoulder, counting how much salt I put in the borscht or commenting that “in my day, […]

Anna knew the day would be hard from the morning on, when Sergei started fussing around the apartment, rearranging chairs and checking whether there were enough plates. His relatives always arrived in a crowd—his sister Larisa with her husband Volodya, Aunt Klava, his cousin Igor with his wife. And every time, Anna felt not like […]

Anna Petrovna started sorting the groats again, diligently picking out the black specks as if her whole life depended on the perfect cleanliness of the buckwheat. I knew this ritual by heart—this was how my mother-in-law calmed her nerves before yet another “educational” talk with me. “Lena, it’s been five years,” she began without lifting […]

Oh my God, I nearly died laughing in that meeting,” Marina barked, kicking her heels into the corner and collapsing onto the sofa without even shrugging off her jacket. “Can you imagine? Accusing you of embezzlement in front of the whole department. You, of all people—an accountant vetted by Grand Consult, signed, sealed, audited!” She […]

Semyon stood at the window as if his boots had grown roots. His heart stalled; breath snagged in his throat. Beyond the glass, evening had thinned the sky to a bruised blue, and inside the house a lamp glowed—not the crisp white of a bulb, but a gentle, uncanny radiance, like the light from a […]