“Your Mother Is Arriving Tomorrow, So I’m Going to Stay with My Friend for a Week!” the Daughter-in-Law Blurted Out, Throwing Her Clothes into a Bag
“Your mother is arriving tomorrow, so I’m going to stay with my friend for a week!” Marina blurted out as she threw sweaters and jeans into her travel bag. Her hands were trembling with barely restrained fury.
Anton froze in the bedroom doorway, watching his wife pack frantically. Confusion flashed in his eyes before quickly giving way to irritation.
“Marina, have you lost your mind? Mom took time off work specifically to help us renovate the nursery. We agreed on this!”
Marina spun around. The muscles in her usually calm face tightened, and her brown eyes burned with the anger she had suppressed for far too long.
“Agreed? You agreed with your precious mother! As usual, no one even bothered to ask me. You simply presented it as a done deal. You know what? I’ve had enough! For three years, I’ve put up with her criticism, insults, and attempts to control every step I take!”
She hurled her makeup bag into the suitcase so hard that it bounced off the bottom. Anton stepped farther into the room, his expression darkening.
“Don’t you dare speak about my mother like that! She only wants to help. You always treat everything she does as a personal attack!”
“Help?” Marina laughed, but there was no amusement in it. “Your mother doesn’t come here to help. She comes here to give orders! Remember the last time? She replaced the wallpaper in our bedroom while we were at work because she thought the color made me look pale! Then she caused a scandal because I wasn’t grateful enough!”
The memory washed over her.
She had returned home that day to discover their bedroom covered in pink wallpaper decorated with golden patterns. Her mother-in-law, Galina Petrovna, had been sitting proudly on their sofa, drinking tea from Marina’s favorite cup and waiting to be thanked.
Instead, she had been met with Marina’s shock and outrage.
“She was trying to do something nice for us!” Anton raised his voice. “Mom spent her own money and her own time!”
“For us? Or for herself?” Marina snapped the suitcase shut. “Did she ever ask whether we liked that wallpaper? No! She simply decided that she knew better than we did how we should live. And as always, you defended her!”
Other incidents raced through Marina’s mind.
There was the time her mother-in-law threw away every spice in the kitchen cabinet, claiming they were “bad for the stomach.”
Then she rearranged all the furniture in the living room because, according to her, it was “better for the energy flow.”
She had even given Marina’s balcony plants to the neighbors. Marina had spent three years growing them, but Galina Petrovna explained that soil inside an apartment caused nothing but dirt and insects.
“You’re exaggerating! Mom is only worried about us!”
“Worried?” Marina lifted the bag. “Do you remember when she told your friends that I couldn’t cook and that was why you were so thin? Or when she told your sister that I must be infertile because I hadn’t given birth after three years of marriage?”
Anton winced.
Even he found those memories unpleasant, but admitting that his wife was right would feel like betraying his mother.
“She didn’t mean it that way. She just expressed herself badly.”
“Expressed herself badly?” Marina’s voice rose into a shout. “She humiliates me every time she sees me, and you pretend that nothing is happening! I’m tired of always being the one blamed for everything. I’m tired of hearing that I’m a bad homemaker, a bad wife, and a bad daughter-in-law!”
She headed toward the door, but Anton blocked her path.
“You’re not going anywhere! This is our home, and you have no right to run away every time my mother visits!”
“No right?” Marina stopped and looked directly into his eyes. “But your mother has the right to go through my belongings? To read my private notes? To comment on my weight every time she sees me?”
She remembered finding Galina Petrovna in their bedroom, rummaging through the drawer where Marina kept her underwear.
Her mother-in-law had calmly explained that she had merely wanted to help with the cleaning. She had also thrown away all Marina’s lace lingerie because, according to her, “respectable women don’t wear things like that.”
“Mom is just… from a different generation,” Anton said, clearly losing confidence but still stubbornly defending her.
“A different generation? Is that an excuse for rudeness? Is that why she calls me ‘that woman’ in front of the neighbors? ‘Anton, tell that woman not to dye her hair. She looks like a prostitute.’ Remember that? She said it in front of the entire building!”
Marina felt her throat tighten as tears threatened to rise, but she refused to cry.
Enough was enough.
For three years, she had swallowed every insult, hoping that things would eventually improve. She had hoped Anton would finally defend her. She had hoped his mother would eventually accept her.
“You twist everything! Mom is simply outspoken!”
“Outspoken?” Marina pushed past him and walked into the hallway. “Was she being outspoken when she told your boss at the company party that you deserved a promotion because you had to support a ‘parasite of a wife’? Or when she told the doctor at the clinic that I probably had psychological problems because I didn’t want to have children?”
Anton went pale.
He had tried very hard to erase those incidents from his memory.
“She’s worried about having grandchildren.”
“She’s worried about control!” Marina put on her jacket. “And do you know what the worst part is? You always take her side. Always! ‘Mom didn’t mean it that way.’ ‘Mom is just worried.’ ‘Mom wants what’s best for us.’ Have you ever once thought about me?”
“I think about our family!”
“What family, Anton?” Marina stopped beside the front door. “The family where I have no voice? Where your mother decides what color our walls should be, what we should eat, how we should dress, and when we should have children? That isn’t a family. It’s an extension of her apartment!”
“Don’t you dare say that! My mother is a saint! She devoted her entire life to me!”
“Exactly! And now she acts as though she bought you and owns every part of you. I was simply included in the purchase as a defective accessory!”
Marina remembered a conversation she had accidentally overheard six months earlier.
Her mother-in-law had been speaking to a friend on the phone.
“My Anton is wonderful, but he was unlucky with his wife. She isn’t particularly beautiful, and she’s a terrible homemaker. I would have found someone better for him, but he’s stubborn. He says he loves her. Don’t worry. I’ll knock that love out of him soon enough.”
“Do you know what your ‘saintly’ mother says about me behind my back?” Marina turned toward her husband. “She says I drugged you, that you married me out of pity, and that I’m deliberately refusing to have children so I won’t have to pay child support after we divorce!”
“That’s a lie! Where did you hear that?”
“From your Aunt Nadia! She got drunk at your birthday party and told me everything. She told me how your mother visits every relative and talks about how terrible I am. She even tries to find you a new wife among her friends’ daughters!”
Anton opened his mouth to object, but the words caught in his throat.
He remembered his mother’s strange comments about “sweet Lena from the neighboring building” and “clever Tanya, Aunt Valya’s daughter.”
“Even if that’s true, Mom is only worried about my happiness.”
“Your happiness?” Marina threw the door open. “Did you ever ask whether I was happy? Did you ever ask what it feels like to live under constant pressure? What it feels like to come home and wonder what your mother has changed this time? Or what horrible thing she has told the neighbors about me?”
“Marina, wait.” Anton stepped toward her, but she raised her hand.
“No. Enough. I’m going to Svetlana’s house. Enjoy your time with your mother. Let her cook for you, clean for you, and sleep beside you too, since she apparently knows better than I do what you need!”
“That’s disgusting! How can you say something like that?”
“How can you allow her to wipe her feet on me?” Marina was already standing in the stairwell. “Do you know what she said to me the last time she visited? She said you deserved a better woman and that I should be grateful a man like you agreed to marry me!”
“She couldn’t have said that!”
“She could, and she did! There were witnesses. Your sister was there! And do you know what Lena did? She laughed! Then you told me that I had misunderstood!”
A wave of bitterness rose inside Marina.
For years, she had tried to build a relationship with her mother-in-law.
She cooked Galina Petrovna’s favorite meals, but the woman always found something wrong with them.
She bought her gifts, but they were always described as tasteless or unnecessary.
She invited her to visit, but Galina Petrovna spent the entire evening explaining how wives “in her day” respected their husbands and their husbands’ mothers.
“I’ll speak to her,” Anton said. “I’ll ask her to be gentler.”
“Gentler?” Marina laughed hysterically. “Anton, yesterday she called my beauty salon and canceled my appointment because, according to her, a married woman shouldn’t paint herself like a peacock! She calls my mother and tells her what a terrible wife I am. She turns all your relatives against me!”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Am I? Then why did your cousin tell me at the wedding that she was surprised I hadn’t already run away with a lover? Where do you think she got that idea?”
Anton remained silent.
Deep inside, he knew Marina was right. But admitting it would mean betraying the mother who had supposedly sacrificed her entire life for him.
“You know what, Anton?” Marina leaned wearily against the wall. “I love you. I truly do. But I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t come home afraid that I’ll find your mother going through our belongings again. I can’t keep hearing that I’m not good enough for her son. And I can’t keep watching you choose her over me again and again.”
“I’m not choosing anyone! You’re both important to me!”
“No, Anton. You are choosing. You choose every time you remain silent while she insults me. You choose every time you ask me to endure it. You choose every time you explain that I misunderstood another one of her cruel remarks.”
She descended several steps and turned back.
“Do you remember our wedding? Your mother spent the entire evening looking miserable and telling everyone that the ceremony was too modest, that the bride wasn’t from the right social circle, and that her precious Anton had rushed into marriage. Then, on our wedding night, she brought us warm milk with honey and sat down to lecture us about the importance of continuing the family line!”
Anton blushed.
He had tried hard to forget that incident.
“She was worried.”
“She doesn’t understand boundaries, and you encourage her!” Marina continued down the stairs. “Do you know what I dream about? Just once—one single time—I want you to tell her, ‘Mom, don’t speak to my wife that way.’ But you’ll never say it, will you?”
“Marina, let’s discuss this calmly.”
“It’s too late for talking, Anton. I waited for three years, hoping you would grow up. Hoping you would stop being a mama’s boy. Hoping you would become a husband instead of remaining only a son. But you made your choice, and you didn’t choose me.”
“Is this an ultimatum? Her or you?”
Marina smiled sadly.
“No, Anton. It isn’t an ultimatum. It’s simply a fact. You made your choice a long time ago. I’m just tired of fighting for second place. Your mother won. You can tell her that.”
“Marina! Marina, come back!”
But she had already disappeared around the corner of the staircase.
Anton heard the front door of the building slam. A moment later, the engine of her car started.
He stood in the apartment doorway, staring at the empty stairwell as panic slowly rose inside him.
The phone in his pocket vibrated.
It was his mother.
“Sweetheart, I’m already on my way! I bought new curtains for your bedroom because the ones you have are completely faded. I also bought groceries. I’ll cook you a proper dinner instead of those frozen meals your wife feeds you.”
Anton stared at the message and, for the first time in his life, felt irritated by his mother’s “care.”
New curtains.
Without asking.
As always.
He returned to the apartment and walked into the bedroom.
Several things Marina had either forgotten or deliberately left behind were scattered across the bed.
Her favorite robe.
A photograph from their vacation.
Her ring.
Her wedding ring lay on the bedside table, and the sight of it took Anton’s breath away.
She had left the ring.
She hadn’t simply gone to stay with her friend for a few days.
She had left him.
His phone vibrated again.
“And tell Marina not to dye her hair that vulgar color anymore. I bought her some chestnut-brown hair dye. It will suit her much better.”
Anton sat on the bed and buried his face in his hands.
Only now was he beginning to understand.
For all those years, he had chosen comfort.
It had been easier to agree with his mother than to defend his wife.
It had been easier to ask Marina to tolerate the situation than to put his mother in her place.
It had been easier to pretend that everything was fine than to admit there was a serious problem.
Another message appeared.
“And another thing, sweetheart. I think it’s time for you to start thinking about children. I’ll speak to Marina and explain that at her age, she needs to give birth soon. My neighbor Valya is already looking after her second grandchild, while I’m still waiting.”
Anton remembered Marina’s face every time his mother brought up children.
He remembered the pain in her eyes.
He and Marina had been unsuccessfully trying to have a baby for two years. They had undergone medical tests, and every one of his mother’s remarks had cut into Marina like a knife.
He dialed his wife’s number.
The phone rang for a long time, but she didn’t answer.
“Marina, we need to talk. Forgive me. Please come home.”
He sent the message and waited.
The phone remained silent.
A knock at the door made him flinch.
His mother had arrived.
“Anton! Sweetheart! Why aren’t you opening the door?” Galina Petrovna burst into the apartment carrying several bags. “Where’s Marina? Has she gone running around with her friends again? I’ll explain to her that a married woman belongs at home! And what is this mess? I cleaned here only last week!”
Anton looked at his mother and, for the first time, saw her through someone else’s eyes.
He saw an authoritarian woman who entered his home as though it belonged to her.
A woman who decided how he and his wife should live without ever asking permission.
A woman who tormented his wife while he remained silent.
“Mom, Marina left.”
“Left? Where did she go? She knew I was coming!” Galina Petrovna snorted indignantly. “Shameless woman! She knew her mother-in-law was coming and deliberately ran away. Never mind. When she returns, I’ll tell her exactly what I think!”
“She isn’t coming back, Mom.”
“What nonsense! Of course she’ll come back. Where else would she go?” Galina Petrovna walked into the kitchen, examining everything with disapproval. “Goodness, what are these horrible curtains? And why isn’t the kettle where it belongs? I showed you where it should stand the last time I was here!”
“Mom.” Anton followed her. “Marina has left me. Permanently. Because of you.”
Galina Petrovna turned around, genuine astonishment on her face.
“Because of me? What are you talking about? I treated her like my own daughter! Everything I did was for the two of you!”
“No, Mom. You humiliate her constantly. Every time you see her.”
“Me? Humiliate her?” Galina Petrovna threw up her hands. “I only tell her the truth! If she can’t cook, should I remain silent? If she dresses badly, should I say nothing? I’m trying to help her!”
“You’re trying to change her. You want to remake her in your own image. But she’s a different person, Mom.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is!” Galina Petrovna’s face turned red. “Now you’re defending her? Where was her loyalty when she abandoned you? I told you from the beginning that she wasn’t right for you! She comes from nowhere! Her mother is a shop assistant, and her father is a mechanic. You have a university degree!”
“What do her parents have to do with anything?”
“Everything! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! She has no class, no manners, and no proper upbringing. How many times have I tried to teach her how to manage a home, how to please her husband, and how to behave toward her mother-in-law? She turns up her nose at everything!”
Anton felt anger rising inside him.
For the first time in his life, he was truly furious with his mother.
“She is my wife! I love her! And you drove her away!”
“Drove her away?” Galina Petrovna clutched her chest. “How can you say such a thing? I devoted my entire life to you! I raised you alone! I stayed awake through countless nights! And now you’re raising your voice at your own mother because of that arrogant woman!”
“She isn’t arrogant! She’s the woman I fell in love with. And you did everything you could to destroy our marriage!”
“Me? Destroy it? I was trying to save it! Save it from her laziness, incompetence, and indifference!”
“What indifference? She loves me!”
“Loves you? If she loved you, she wouldn’t have run away at the first sign of trouble! I didn’t love your father, but I stayed with him. I raised you! That woman only loves taking pictures of herself and spending time with her friends!”
Anton closed his eyes.
Now he finally understood what Marina had been telling him.
His mother would never accept her.
She would never see Marina as a real person.
She would always see her only as her son’s unsuccessful choice.
“Mom, I need you to leave.”
“What?” Galina Petrovna could not believe her ears. “You’re throwing your own mother out?”
“I’m asking you to give me time to think and understand what I’ve done.”
“Understand what? She abandoned you! She turned her back on the family! I came here to support you!”
“No, Mom. You came here to celebrate. You’re happy she left.”
“Of course I’m happy! Now I can find you a proper wife. What about Lena from the neighboring building?”
“Mom!” Anton raised his voice. “Leave. Right now.”
Galina Petrovna stared at her son as though he had betrayed her. Tears of hurt and confusion filled her eyes.
“I did everything for you, and now you’re treating me this way because of that woman. She turned you against me!”
“No, Mom. You did this yourself. All of it.”
The following hour was filled with tears, accusations, and shouting.
One moment, Galina Petrovna cried.
The next, she screamed.
She tried to hug Anton, then threatened never to visit him again.
Anton stood firm, knowing that if he surrendered now, he would lose Marina forever.
At last, his mother stormed out, slamming the door behind her and promising that he would regret what he had done.
Anton called his wife again.
Once more, the phone rang for a long time.
This time, she answered.
“What do you want?”
“Marina, forgive me. I was a blind idiot. Please come back.”
“Why? So everything can happen again? So your mother can walk in and start giving orders?”
“I sent her home.”
There was silence.
“Really?”
“Really. And I told her that I would never again tolerate anyone disrespecting my wife.”
“Anton…” Marina’s voice trembled. “You’ll regret it later. She’s your mother.”
“Yes, she is my mother. But you are my wife. You are my family. And I understood that far too late.”
“She won’t forgive you. She’ll pressure you and manipulate you.”
“I know. But I don’t want to lose you because of her ambitions.”
Silence again.
“I need time, Anton. I need to think. You chose her for too long. I don’t know whether I’ll ever be able to trust you again.”
“I understand. I’ll wait for as long as necessary.”
“All right. I’ll call you. Maybe.”
She ended the call.
Anton sat alone in the empty apartment, staring at his wife’s wedding ring.
He didn’t know whether she would return.
But he knew one thing for certain: he would never again allow anyone—not even his own mother—to destroy his family.
His phone vibrated once more.
It was another message from his mother.
“You’ll regret this, sweetheart. She doesn’t deserve you. When you come to your senses, call me. I don’t hold grudges.”
Anton deleted the message before he finished reading it.
Marina was right.
His mother would never change.
But he could change.
And he would—if Marina gave him a second chance.
It was growing dark outside.
Anton stood, walked into the kitchen, and switched on the kettle.
His gaze fell on the “horrible” curtains his mother had criticized.
Marina had spent an entire day choosing them, comparing them with the wallpaper and the furniture. She had been so happy when she finally found the perfect ones.
Anton took out his phone and opened their wedding photograph.
Marina was laughing with her head thrown back.
Anton was looking at her with adoration.
In the background stood his mother, her face sour and disapproving.
How could he have been so blind?
A new message arrived.
His heart jumped.
Was it Marina?
“I forgot to tell you. Barsik’s food is in the upper cabinet. Please feed him.”
Anton smiled through his tears.
She still remembered their cat.
Perhaps not everything was lost.
“I’ll feed him. Marina, I’m truly sorry. For everything.”
“I know. But being sorry isn’t enough, Anton. I need to see actions.”
“I understand. I’ll prove it to you.”
“We’ll see.”
No more messages came.
Anton went to feed the cat, who rubbed himself against his legs and meowed.
Barsik missed his owner too.
“She’ll come back,” Anton told the cat. “She has to come back. I’ll fix everything.”
The cat looked at him skeptically before lowering his head into the bowl.
Anton returned to the bedroom and picked up his wife’s wedding ring.
It was the small gold ring he had placed on her finger five years earlier, promising to love and protect her.
Protect her.
From everything and everyone.
Even from his own mother.
He had failed to keep that promise.
But it was not too late to start.