Karina slowly turned in front of the mirror, studying her reflection. The new suit fit flawlessly — the strict cut emphasized her figure, and the deep emerald color freshened her face. She had saved for this purchase for three months, putting aside money from every paycheck. Her job as chief technologist at a confectionery factory brought in a decent income, and Karina could finally afford quality things.
“Wasting money again?” Viktor’s voice sounded from the bedroom doorway.
Karina turned toward her husband, who was standing against the doorframe, looking at her with disapproval.
“It’s my money, Vitya. I earned it,” she replied calmly, adjusting the collar of her jacket.
“Our money,” Viktor corrected her. “We’re a family, remember? And family is supposed to help one another.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Karina frowned, already sensing where the conversation was going.
“Mom called. She saw you yesterday at the mall when you bought that suit. She says you could have helped her instead — her refrigerator is acting up, her washing machine is on its last legs…”
“Your mother gets a pension and tutors on the side. She has money for household appliances,” Karina tried to keep her voice even, though irritation was already boiling inside her.
“She does NOT have money!” Viktor raised his voice. “She’s a lonely woman, she raised me by herself, and now she needs our support!”
“Viktor, I’m not against helping, but your mother doesn’t want help — she wants to be fully supported. Last week she needed money for medicine — I gave it to her. The week before that, for groceries. I gave her money for that too. But buying her appliances when I spent three months saving for a work suit…”
“A work suit? Who needs you there in your suit? Technologists wear lab coats!”
Karina felt her cheeks begin to burn with hurt. She took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure.
“I go to negotiations with suppliers. I meet with partners. I need to look presentable.”
“Presentable,” Viktor mimicked. “Mom is right. You’ve become so… arrogant. You’ve forgotten where you came from.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that if it weren’t for me, you’d still be rotting away in that communal apartment with your parents. I pulled you out, gave you a normal life, and you…”
“STOP!” Karina sharply raised her hand. “Let’s refresh your memory. This apartment was bought by my parents. MINE! They sold their dacha and put all the money into this place so their daughter would have a home. And what did your precious mommy contribute? Remind me!”
Viktor turned red, but stubbornly clenched his jaw.
“She gave me upbringing, education…”
“To you, not to me. And that doesn’t answer my question.”
“Go to hell!” Viktor spat and walked out, slamming the door.
A week passed after that quarrel. Viktor pointedly refused to speak to his wife, and Karina pretended not to notice his silence. She came home from work, cooked dinner, did the housework — everything as usual, only without unnecessary words.
On Friday evening, Karina was looking through car listings on her tablet. After her promotion and salary increase, she could finally afford a car. Not a new one, of course, but a perfectly decent foreign car with low mileage.
“What’s that?” Viktor looked over her shoulder.
“I’m choosing a car.”
“A car?” He whistled. “Since when do you have money for a car?”
“Since I started working and saving. I’ve saved up for the down payment, and I’ll take the rest on installments from the dealership.”
Viktor silently stared at the tablet screen, where Karina was scrolling through photos of a silver Mazda.
“One hundred and fifty thousand for the down payment,” he read aloud. “You have that kind of money?”
“I do.”
“And you want to spend it on a car?”
“What’s wrong with that? I’m tired of spending two hours getting to work in packed public transport. With a car, it’ll take forty minutes at most.”
Viktor sat down across from his wife and clasped his hands together.
“Karin, let’s talk seriously. Mom really has problems. She needs eye surgery. Her cataracts are progressing. The surgery costs exactly one hundred and forty thousand.”
Karina looked up from the tablet.
“Your mother has insurance. She can have the operation done for free.”
“The waiting list is two years long! She could go blind by then!”
“Don’t exaggerate. Cataracts don’t progress that quickly.”
“How do you know? Are you a doctor?” Viktor was getting worked up. “My mother needs help, and all you think about are your own little wants!”
“My little wants?” Karina put the tablet aside. “I WORK twelve hours a day! I have the right to spend the money I earn however I see fit!”
“Selfish woman! You only think about yourself!”
“And you? What have you given my parents during our entire marriage? They invested three million into our apartment, and you never even bought my mother flowers for her birthday!”
“Your parents don’t need anything!”
“And does your mother need anything? She has a three-room apartment in the city center that she could rent out. But she prefers to live extravagantly and beg us for money!”
“DON’T YOU DARE talk about my mother like that!” Viktor shouted.
“And DON’T YOU DARE tell me what to spend MY money on!” Karina shouted back.
Viktor jumped up, knocking over his chair.
“You know what? Live however you want! But when my mother goes blind, it’ll be on your conscience!”
He went into the bedroom, slamming the door loudly. Karina remained sitting in the kitchen, staring out into the darkening window. She felt awful. She didn’t want to fight, but she wasn’t going to give in again either. How much longer could this go on?
Her mother-in-law’s birthday was approaching inevitably. Elena Petrovna was celebrating her sixty-fifth birthday in grand style — a restaurant had been booked, and numerous relatives and friends had been invited. Karina and Viktor had barely spoken for the past two weeks, exchanging only necessary phrases.
“What are we giving Mom?” Viktor asked on the eve of the celebration.
“I’ll buy a certificate for a spa salon,” Karina answered without looking up from cooking. “She likes those kinds of treatments.”
“A certificate?” Viktor grimaced. “Maybe something more substantial? A television, for example?”
“I don’t have money for a television. I’m buying the car next week, remember?”
“So you’ve decided after all?” Poorly hidden anger sounded in his voice.
“Yes, I’ve decided. I arranged it with the seller. We’re signing the contract on Tuesday.”
Viktor said nothing, but Karina saw his jaw tighten.
On the day of the celebration, Karina put on her new emerald suit and minimal jewelry. She looked restrained and stylish. Elena Petrovna met them at the entrance to the restaurant.
“Oh, Karinochka is in a new outfit!” sarcasm was poorly concealed in her mother-in-law’s voice. “That little suit must not have been cheap?”
“Good evening, Elena Petrovna. Happy birthday!” Karina handed her the gift envelope.
Her mother-in-law took the envelope without even thanking her and immediately turned to her son.
“Vitenka, come in, sit next to me!”
About thirty people gathered at the table. Relatives from Viktor’s side, Elena Petrovna’s friends, several neighbors. Karina was seated at the very end of the table, far from the birthday woman.
The celebration went on as expected — toasts were made, congratulations were given. Elena Petrovna graciously accepted gifts and compliments. But when the hot dishes were served, she suddenly sighed loudly.
“Oh, forgive me that the food is so modest. Of course, I wanted to set a richer table, but what can I do? I’m a pensioner. I have to save money.”
“Oh, Elena Petrovna, everything is wonderful!” the guests protested.
“No, no, I can see it myself. At Nina Sergeevna’s anniversary there were oysters, salmon, and French-style meat. And here I have…” She sighed again. “Chicken and salads. I’m ashamed before you!”
“Mom, don’t…” Viktor began.
“Don’t what? Tell the truth?” Elena Petrovna raised her voice so everyone could hear. “I lived my whole life for my son, gave him everything. And now in old age I have to count every kopeck. I can’t even afford eye surgery — I’m slowly going blind. And my daughter-in-law…” she looked meaningfully toward the end of the table where Karina was sitting, “my daughter-in-law buys new suits and chooses cars. With a down payment of one hundred and fifty thousand, by the way!”
An awkward silence hung over the table. All eyes turned to Karina.
“How shameful!” one of Elena Petrovna’s friends said loudly. “Her mother-in-law is going blind, and she…”
“Yes, I heard she recently bought a suit for thirty thousand,” another chimed in.
“Young people have completely lost their conscience these days,” one of the relatives agreed.
Karina felt a wave of anger rise inside her. She looked at her mother-in-law’s smug face, at Viktor sitting with his eyes lowered, and understood — enough. ENOUGH!
Karina slowly rose from her seat. Everyone stared at her.
“You know what, dear guests,” she began, and there was steel in her voice. “Since Elena Petrovna has decided to air dirty laundry in public, let’s tell the whole truth.”
“Karina…” Viktor began warningly.
“SILENCE!” Karina barked so sharply that her husband flinched. “You will be silent and listen! I’ve had enough of your lies!”
She walked along the table and stopped opposite her mother-in-law.
“Elena Petrovna is going blind, you say? The surgery costs one hundred and forty thousand? Wonderful! Then why not sell one of the THREE apartments she owns? Yes, yes, don’t be surprised, dear guests! Our ‘poor pensioner’ has three apartments — the one she lives in, and two more one-room apartments inherited from relatives!”
“That’s not true!” Elena Petrovna shrieked.
“It IS true! And all the documents are in Rosreestr; anyone can check! But Elena Petrovna prefers to play poor and beg money from her daughter-in-law, who, by the way, WORKS twelve hours a day!”
“How dare you!” her mother-in-law jumped up from her seat.
“Oh, I dare just like this!” Karina planted her hands on the table. “Do you want to know how much I gave this ‘needy’ woman over the past year? Two hundred thousand rubles! TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND! For medicine, groceries, repairs, clothes! And what did I get in return? Humiliation and reproaches!”
“Vitya! Control your wife!” Elena Petrovna screamed.
“And Vitya won’t say anything,” Karina continued. “Because Vitya is a spineless rag! A man who lets his mommy boss his wife around! Vitya, who in five years of marriage hasn’t given my parents a SINGLE KOPECK, even though he lives in an apartment BOUGHT BY THEM!”
“It’s our apartment!” Viktor tried to object.
“NO! It’s an apartment registered in my name! And bought with MY parents’ money! Three million rubles, if anyone is interested! And your precious mommy didn’t invest a single ruble!”
The guests were stunned into silence. Some began exchanging glances.
“But that’s not all!” Karina could no longer stop herself. “Elena Petrovna receives a pension of twenty-five thousand, plus benefits as a labor veteran. Plus tutoring — at least another thirty thousand. Plus she rents out one apartment for thirty-five thousand! Ninety thousand a month, dear guests! And this is the ‘poor pensioner’!”
“Throw her out, Vitya! THROW HER OUT!” her mother-in-law screeched.
“To hell with both of you!” Karina shouted. “I’ll leave myself! But first I’ll say one last thing — starting tomorrow, you can forget about my money! You won’t get a SINGLE KOPECK from me anymore! I’m buying the car because I earned it! I will spend MY money the way I want! And if you don’t like it — GO TO HELL!”
She grabbed her purse and headed toward the exit.
“Stop!” Viktor jumped up and ran after her. “Karina, stop! You can’t just leave like this!”
“Oh yes, I can!” She turned around. “And you know what? Right now, you choose — me or your mommy! Because I am NOT GOING TO TOLERATE this anymore!”
“You’re giving me an ultimatum?”
“Yes! Exactly! An ULTIMATUM! Either we live separately and your mother stops interfering in our relationship, or you can pack your things and GET OUT to your mommy for good!”
“Karina, you’re going to say things now…”
“I’ve already said everything! You have until morning!”
She left the restaurant, leaving her stunned husband standing in the doorway.
Karina returned home by taxi. The anger gradually faded, replaced by a strange feeling of liberation. She had finally said everything that had built up over the years. After changing into home clothes, she made herself tea and sat by the window.
Her phone kept ringing — Viktor called every five minutes. Karina rejected the calls. Then messages started coming in:
“Karina, let’s talk.”
“You were wrong.”
“Mom is hysterical.”
“Come back, apologize.”
“We’re family.”
She deleted the messages without reading them to the end.
Around midnight, the front door slammed. Viktor entered the room — rumpled, with reddened eyes.
“Are you satisfied?” he asked from the doorway. “You caused a scandal in front of the entire restaurant! Mom cried all evening! The guests left!”
“Excellent!” Karina didn’t even turn toward him. “Maybe now your mommy will understand that lying and manipulating people is not the best strategy!”
“She wasn’t lying! She really has health problems!”
“Viktor,” Karina finally looked at her husband. “Your mother has enough money for ten surgeries. But she prefers to hoard it and beg from others. That’s her choice. But I’m no longer taking part in it.”
“So you’re choosing money over family?”
“I’m choosing MYSELF! My dignity, my right to control what I earn! And what are you choosing?”
Viktor was silent, staring at the floor.
“I can’t abandon my mother…”
“No one is asking you to abandon her. Just live with her, not with me.”
“Karina, come to your senses! We’ve been together for five years!”
“For five years I tolerated humiliation from your mother and your silence! ENOUGH!”
“If I leave, I won’t come back!”
“GOOD!”
Viktor stood there a little longer, then went into the bedroom. Karina heard him gathering his things, muttering something under his breath. An hour later, he came out with a large bag.
“You’ll regret this,” he said in farewell.
“Just go already!” Karina waved him off.
The door slammed. Karina was alone. Strangely, instead of sadness, she felt relief. At last, she could live her own life, without looking back at a greedy mother-in-law and a weak-willed husband.
Three months passed. Karina bought her Mazda and happily got behind the wheel every morning. Work was going wonderfully — she was promoted to deputy director of production. Her divorce from Viktor went quickly — there was no property to divide, since the apartment was registered in Karina’s name.
One evening, the doorbell rang. Viktor stood on the threshold — gaunt, in wrinkled clothes.
“May I come in?” he asked quietly.
“Why?” Karina blocked the entrance.
“To talk… Mom… she’s in the hospital.”
“And?”
“A stroke. The doctors say it was because of stress. Now she’s partially paralyzed and needs constant care.”
“I’m sorry, but those are not my problems.”
“Karina, I… I was wrong. Mom really did lie about the apartments. I found out when I started preparing documents for the hospital. She has almost two million in her accounts!”
“And now what?”
“Maybe we could start over? I realized my mistakes…”
“NO!” Karina laughed. “You didn’t come because you understood anything. You came because you need a free caregiver for your mother! GET OUT!”
“Karina, please!”
“Go to hell! And let your mommy enjoy her millions alone now! With that money, she can hire ten caregivers!”
She slammed the door in his face.
Through the window, Karina saw Viktor slowly trudge toward an old Zhiguli — apparently, that was all he could afford. And she got into her silver Mazda and drove to her parents’ place for dinner. They had always supported her and had never demanded money, although now she regularly helped them — by her own choice.
Elena Petrovna remained partially paralyzed. Her apartments had to be sold to pay for caregivers and treatment. Viktor took a second job, trying to make ends meet. And Karina lived her own life — free and happy. She understood the most important thing: no one had the right to tell her how to spend the money she earned. NOT HER HUSBAND, NOT HER MOTHER-IN-LAW, NO ONE!
Sometimes she ran into mutual acquaintances who said that Viktor complained about life and cursed his ex-wife. But Karina didn’t care. She had bought herself not only a car, but also a small dacha outside the city, where she went with her parents on weekends. At last, her life belonged to her.
And Elena Petrovna, confined to a wheelchair, could now only watch her savings melt away on medical services. Greed and manipulation had turned against her. She wanted someone else’s money, but lost her health and her own savings.
Viktor still lives with his mother, torn between jobs. He never remarried — what woman would agree to endure what Karina endured? And Karina recently met an interesting man named Pavel, the owner of a small bakery. They have similar professions and shared interests. Most importantly, Pavel does not have a greedy mother demanding money.
Life put everything in its place. Those who tried to parasitize someone else’s labor got what they deserved. And the woman who wasn’t afraid to fight back and defend her right to her own life found freedom and happiness.