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Lyudmila Sergeyevna checked the hotel reservation for the third time that morning. Everything matched: rooms for seven days, breakfast included, a pool, the beach two hundred meters away. Perfect! “Petya, have you packed?” she called to her husband from the kitchen. “Relax, Luda! We’ve got three days before we leave,” came the reply from the […]

Kirill was in a big hurry today. It was already eight in the evening, and he still hadn’t picked out a gift or bought flowers—he hadn’t even changed his clothes. It was his mother’s birthday, Svetlana Eduardovna Krasilnikova. A crowd of guests had gathered for the occasion. The celebration would take place at the millionaire […]

— Kolya, this morning after you left for work, some girl came by and asked for you! — Sasha told her husband over dinner. — What girl? — Nikolai was surprised. — At least pretty? — What kind of person are you? You always have to make everything crude! — his wife snapped. — She […]

How nice that you got a promotion. Mom and my sister are moving in with us for good—now you’ll be supporting everyone, blurted the unemployed husband and drove off to fetch his relatives. And when they arrived, they were stunned by what they saw. The metallic scrape of a pick in the keyhole sounded like […]

“What did you come barging in for, you cow? We didn’t invite you. You’re not part of the family, so get out!” the mother-in-law snapped, having gathered with the relatives for Easter at her daughter-in-law’s dacha. And ten minutes later, everyone was running off, slippers flying. Sunbeams slid across the light wallpaper, glinting off the […]

While tidying the entryway, Milana heard her mother-in-law’s voice and looked out the window. Her husband was sitting on the front steps, talking to his mother over a video call. She went back to sorting the shoes, deciding not to eavesdrop, but Nina Yevgenyevna was speaking loudly enough that it was impossible not to hear […]

In the doctors’ break room hung the cloying, bittersweet smell of burnt coffee and frayed nerves. The air was thick as jelly, saturated with night shifts, anxious monitor beeps, and quiet despair. Nina Petrovna—a woman built like a solid samovar, with a face where sternness had long since taken up permanent residence—slowly stirred the third […]

Lena suspected her husband was unfaithful. Lately he’d been acting too strangely, too distant. Only two years into the marriage, and they already felt like strangers. Her mother-in-law had warned her, said her son was fickle and that Lena should think a hundred times before deciding to marry him. Back then Lena believed she could […]

While tidying up the entryway, Milana heard her mother-in-law’s voice and looked out the window. Her husband was sitting on the front steps, talking to his mother over a video call. Milana went back to sorting the shoes, deciding not to eavesdrop, but Nina Yevgenyevna was speaking loudly enough that it was impossible not to […]

— “Are you trying to give Mom a heart attack on purpose?” Nikolai flared up, tossing the TV remote onto the table like it was a grenade. — “Don’t be dramatic,” Elena replied wearily, not pausing from washing the dishes. “Let her at least stop rummaging through my cupboards first.” — “She wants what’s best […]