The changes in her husband’s behavior started subtly. At first, Katya simply paid no attention to Oleg’s displeasure. Then she compared his behavior a week ago and today and realized something was wrong with him.
She wanted to talk, to find out what had happened that suddenly made him irritated by all sorts of little things, often without any reason at all. But then she decided not to, thinking maybe Oleg just had problems at work and would tell her everything himself if he wanted to—there was no point in bothering him.
But time went on, and her husband became increasingly irritable. Any move Katya made was met with hostility. It didn’t matter whether she did something wrong or, on the contrary, acted exactly as Oleg wanted. Katya endured it.
“Tomorrow is Saturday,” Oleg said one evening, tearing himself away from watching another episode of some series. “Mom asked me to come; she needs help with the garden and fixing the shed.”
Katya’s mother-in-law, Anna Sergeyevna, lived in a village five kilometers from the city. Katya did not refuse to help her. She understood that at her age, it was difficult for the woman to manage even a small garden. So she simply nodded and said:
“All right, we’ll go and help.”
The next day, Katya diligently worked on the garden tasks assigned by her mother-in-law. It was hot, and the woman decided to rest a little in the shade.
“I told you,” Katya heard as she approached the house, her mother-in-law’s voice. “That fool is no match for you, no match! You’re a city boy, educated, graduated with honors from university, working as a manager in a good company. And who is she?”
“I understand,” Oleg agreed.
“If you understood, you wouldn’t have gotten involved with this country bumpkin,” Anna Sergeyevna said. “What has she done to fool you? Just a regular hairdresser. So what? What prospects does she have? Well, her salary is good. The salon owner earns even more.
Why doesn’t Katya open her own salon, but works for someone else’s aunt? Because she’s satisfied with everything. She snagged a decent man, inherited an apartment from her grandfather, bought her first car on credit.”
“Mom, but later she earned good money,” Oleg reminded her. “You were surprised. And it wasn’t just once. She changed the car, and we managed to buy a three-room apartment.”
“Remember, son, she didn’t change the car—you did. The new one is twice as expensive as the old one. You bought the apartment by selling a two-room Khrushchyovka and adding money—so you changed it.”
“Yeah,” Oleg agreed. “Katya had some savings, and I had a little, so we bought the three-room place. Our parents sent money too.”
“Oleg,” the woman pressed her son firmly, “your parents’ money wasn’t ‘a little.’ Everything acquired in marriage is joint property. Understand? Why are you clinging to her?
She’s no match for you. How many times do I have to tell you? You need to divorce her quickly, before you have children. Divorce, or you’ll end up paying alimony.
You’re a good-looking, smart guy—remember how many girls used to chase you? The daughter of the village head, the daughter of the chief engineer of our plant—and you had to get involved with this Katya.”
“Interesting,” Katya thought, standing near the veranda window, crouching so neither her husband nor mother-in-law would see her. “What’s gotten into Oleg? He doesn’t like my job, apparently. But what about the fact that I work hard, have many regular clients, and earn three times more than him?”
Meanwhile, the conversation on the veranda continued:
“Here’s what you do, son: on Monday, go and file for divorce,” demanded the mother.
“File it urgently. Remember Irochka, Tatyana Vasilievna’s daughter? Yes, the one who never took her eyes off you. She’s supposed to return home. I don’t know what happened, Tatyana Vasilievna didn’t say, but now she’s alone—divorced. You need to divorce too, immediately. Irochka will be working as deputy director at the plant.”
“Well, I never thought Oleg at his age would be dancing to his mother’s tune,” Katya thought, hiding by the veranda window. “Turns out my mother-in-law has long been trying to get Oleg to divorce me. Now I understand why he’s been so irritable.”
“And immediately file for property division,” Katya heard the continuation. “Half the apartment and half the car are yours. Did you keep the receipts for the furniture and appliances you bought? You’ll need to provide those too. You yourself said Katya has a good salary. Let her pay.”
Katya didn’t know what to think. She had no plan for what to do next. Judging by her husband’s words, his mother had fully set his mind, so it was quite likely he would file the papers.
“What half of the money is my mother-in-law talking about?” Katya wondered, recalling what she’d heard. “Oleg barely put in a hundred thousand rubles for the car and apartment. The furniture and appliances were bought with my money. My parents added to the apartment purchase.”
After assessing her own expenses, Katya began to think about what to do next. “Tomorrow I’ll go to Sveta. She’ll definitely advise me on what to do in this situation,” she decided. “For now, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear or know anything.”
Katya had met her friend Svetlana back in university days when they rented an apartment together. Katya was studying technology, and Sveta was in law school.
The next morning, Katya went to her friend and told her everything.
“Remember when I stopped you from throwing away the old documents for the apartment and car? Well, now you’ll need them!” Sveta began explaining what Katya should and shouldn’t do.
Katya listened, thinking how lucky she was to have a lawyer friend who could foresee how things might unfold.
“I suspected she was no good right at your wedding when I met your mother-in-law,” Sveta said. “And Oleg? He’s the youngest in the family, a domineering mother—he’s probably used to obeying. And your mother-in-law probably thinks you’re a complete fool. She figured you’d get confused, wouldn’t know what to do, and that way she could rob you.”
“She’s planning to take half,” Katya reminded her.
“Half of what? Have you forgotten?” Sveta was surprised. “Let’s say your apartment is worth six million. Your mother-in-law will try to split that in half. But it includes three million from selling your Khrushchyovka. You got that from your grandfather long before you lived together. I convinced you to give me the documents to prove it.”
“Yes, you convinced me, though I was reluctant.”
“Katya, you’re so trusting. If you had those documents, Oleg’s mother would have asked him to find and ‘accidentally’ hide them. I think she’s clever enough.
I tried to explain carefully so you understand every word. Also, I convinced you to send me all the evidence on your phone about the money your parents gave you for the apartment. So you only have to divide what remains after subtracting the Khrushchyovka sale and parental help. Same with the car. And there’s an interesting detail about it.”
“What?” Katya asked in surprise.
“Remember when we went to get the car, and Oleg transferred you the missing sixty thousand? He even sent a message about his share. Check your phone.”
Indeed, Katya found a message showing that those sixty thousand were Oleg’s only contribution to the car purchase.
A week later, Oleg came home and announced he had filed for divorce. He looked expectantly at his wife, but Katya was watching a TV series and muttered something unclear.
“Are you listening to me? I filed for divorce,” Oleg repeated.
“Got it,” Katya replied without looking away from the TV. “I heard you.”
“Don’t you understand?” her husband protested. “I’m divorcing you. The court hearing is in three weeks. We’ll divide the property then too.”
“I understand. Court in three weeks,” she said calmly. Her reaction unsettled Oleg. He looked at her silently and finally asked:
“Don’t you care at all?”
“You know, I’m busy right now,” Katya replied, turning toward him. “You filed the papers, not me. It’s late. I have an early day tomorrow. Lots of appointments. I’m going to sleep.”
Katya showed him out and closed the door. She turned off the light, settled into bed, and closed her eyes.
After a few minutes, she heard Oleg’s quiet voice. Listening carefully, Katya realized he was talking to his mother.
“There’s no reaction from her. It’s like this divorce doesn’t concern her. I even thought she was happy.”
“What about the property division?”
“No, she didn’t ask.”
The divorce process went quickly and smoothly. But the property division brought many surprises. Neither Oleg nor his mother expected the documents proving the origin of most of the money spent on the car and three-room apartment.
The message showing Oleg’s contribution to the car was only 60 thousand caused his mother to have a real meltdown. She shouted and cursed at Katya, only falling silent after the judge warned her that if she didn’t stop immediately, she would be removed from the courtroom.
Oleg received the money due to him from the property division the same day. Sveta helped Katya out of the difficult situation.
“You’ll pay it off in installments. You earn well. Two years should be enough,” her friend smiled.
A week later, Katya received a call from her ex-husband. At first, she didn’t understand what he wanted, but then she got it: Oleg wanted to come back and undo everything.
“You know what? Don’t call me anymore,” Katya said firmly and hung up. She regretted nothing. The main thing was it ended well. She would find her happiness yet, and everything would be fine.
