So that my husband’s relatives wouldn’t eat us out of house and home, I decided not to make a scene. I handed Viktor a list, and he went off to the markets, quietly swearing to himself.

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Olya will cook something, like always…” Viktor’s voice rang out as he answered his relatives, staring at the empty fridge. I didn’t start cooking—I decided to make a record of the food that had been eaten. I opened the fridge and froze for a moment, peering into the emptiness. On the middle shelf stood a … Read more

No, I’m not going to cook for you. If you want, I can pour you some water,” I calmly told my husband’s relatives, who had shown up without warning.

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“Valera, you’ve got visitors!” Irina called out when she heard the doorbell ring on Saturday morning. She had just sat down to check her eighth-graders’ tests, spreading the exercise books out on the kitchen table. Sunday was tomorrow, and on Monday she had to submit the academic performance report. Off to the side lay a … Read more

My 89-Year-Old Stepfather Lived with Us for 20 Years Without Spending a Single Penny. And After His Death, the Lawyer Said: “He Left You Everything — Even What You Didn’t Know About.”

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When I got married at thirty, I didn’t have a penny to my name. No, I wasn’t poor—I just had no savings, no inheritance, no financial cushion. My wife, Anna, came from the same kind of family, where every kopek was accounted for. Her only close relative was her father, a quiet, taciturn man in … Read more

I’m the one paying the mortgage, and for some reason your mother has decided she has a share in this apartment,” I glared angrily at my husband.

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Do you have any idea how I feel when I come home and see that everything’s been moved around?” Polina stood in the middle of the living room, looking at her husband. Her voice was tight with tension. “I’m the one paying the mortgage, and yet your mother has somehow decided that she owns part … Read more

My father-in-law screamed, “You damned freeloader!” and hit me with a frying pan. In the morning, the bank reported an 80-million transfer to my account.

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The phone rang in the middle of dinner. The whole family was at the table—Katya with her husband Denis, his parents, and his younger sister Angela. Family games “Don’t answer,” the father-in-law grunted. “It’s rude to be on the phone at the table.” But it rang again. Katya gave the relatives an apologetic look and … Read more

“We’ll sell your shop and buy an apartment for my sister.” Her husband had no idea what storm he’d called down with that one sentence.

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 Anna dried her hands on a towel and stepped back to admire the bouquet of white roses she’d just finished for a loyal client. Outside, a thin October drizzle polished the street to a gray shine; inside, the air was crisp and alive—the complicated perfume of greens and petals she always called “the scent of … Read more

“You won’t achieve anything in court!” my ex-husband cackled. But when the wife’s attorney walked into the hall, silence fell—and he started to cry…

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You won’t get anything in court!” my ex-husband cackled. But when my attorney walked into the hall, silence fell—and he started to cry. His laughter echoed down the empty courthouse corridor—cloying, humiliating. He stood surrounded by his “entourage”: an expensive lawyer with a crocodile-skin briefcase and his mother, who looked at me with forced sympathy … Read more

— “It’s MINE!” Nastya slammed her palm on the table. “My apartment. My parents registered it under my name. You moved into it as my husband. That’s it!”

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  Nastya was tired. Not so much from work, or the renovation, or daily routine, but from this invisible intrusion that had gone on far too long. In her own apartment she felt like a guest—and all because of one person. Or rather, two: Ivan and his mother. Wedding jewelry When her parents left her … Read more