— “I gave your diamonds to my mother! They suit her better!” — my husband secretly gifted my inheritance to his mother.
Veronika opened the antique mahogany jewelry box. She ran her fingers over the velvet lining. The diamonds sparkled in the morning light. Her heart tightened with memories.
Her grandmother had passed this set on to her a month before she died. A ring with a large central stone. Elegant earrings. And a pendant on a fine chain.
Maksim’s voice carried from the hallway.
— “Nika, are you ready? They’ve already called me three times!”
— “Almost ready,” Veronika replied, closing the box.
Maksim appeared in the bedroom doorway. Three years of marriage had taught Veronika to read his mood from the slightest signs. Today, Maksim was tense.
— “Looking at your grandmother’s jewelry again?” he asked, nodding at the box. “Maybe you’ll wear them at least once?”
— “But it’s your colleague’s birthday,” Veronika objected. “Why would I wear diamonds there?”
Maksim shrugged and left the room. Veronika looked once more at the jewels and carefully placed the box back into the dresser.
Two weeks later, her mother-in-law, Lyudmila Petrovna, came over for dinner. Veronika was in the kitchen when she heard the familiar voice from the living room.
— “Maksimushka, show me Nika’s diamonds again,” his mother asked. “Such beauty just lying there unused!”
Veronika froze, holding a plate. A wave of irritation rose inside her.
— “Mom, it’s her grandmother’s inheritance,” Maksim replied. “She decides when to wear them.”
— “Yes, I understand,” sighed Lyudmila Petrovna. “But Lena Vasilyeva’s daughter is getting married in a month. Can you imagine what an impression I would make in that set?”
Veronika entered the living room, setting the plates on the table with deliberate precision.
— “Lyudmila Petrovna, I’ve already told you,” she began calmly. “These jewels have a special meaning for me.”
— “But just for one evening!” her mother-in-law pleaded, folding her hands in a prayerful gesture. “I’ll wear them carefully, I promise!”
— “I’m sorry, but no,” Veronika said firmly.
The atmosphere at the table grew heavy. Maksim ate in silence, avoiding his wife’s eyes. Lyudmila Petrovna ostentatiously pushed her plate aside.
A month passed. Her mother-in-law began visiting more often, and each time she found a reason to mention the diamonds.
— “Nika, my dear,” she would begin in a syrupy voice. “At the institute’s anniversary the rector will be there. I so want to look dignified!”
— “Lyudmila Petrovna, you already have wonderful jewelry,” Veronika would answer, struggling to remain patient.
— “Yes, but not like those!” her mother-in-law would exclaim. “Maks, tell her!”
And that was when Maksim began to change. Before, he had remained silent, but now he started taking his mother’s side.
— “Nika, what does it cost you?” he would say in the evenings when they were alone. “Mom isn’t asking forever.”
— “Maks, this is my grandmother’s memory!” Veronika couldn’t believe her husband didn’t understand. “She entrusted them to me!”
— “Oh, come on!” Maksim brushed her off. “They’re just stones. Mom gets upset because of your stubbornness.”
Veronika looked at her husband and didn’t recognize him. Where was the attentive man she had married?
One evening, after yet another visit from her mother-in-law, a real quarrel erupted.
— “Your mother is becoming unbearable!” Veronika burst out as soon as the door closed behind Lyudmila Petrovna.
— “No, you’re the unbearable one!” Maksim suddenly exploded. “You’re being greedy over some trinkets!”
Veronika recoiled. Trinkets? He was calling her beloved grandmother’s inheritance trinkets? Something tore inside her chest. She stared at her husband and didn’t recognize him.
— “If to you they’re just trinkets,” Veronika’s voice trembled with hurt, “then we’re speaking different languages.”
— “Mom’s right,” Maksim continued. “You’re selfish. You only think about yourself!”
Tears burned in her throat. Veronika clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay composed. She couldn’t let him see how deeply his words had cut.
She turned and stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door. Tears choked her. Why? Why should she give up what was most precious to her, to someone who saw only shiny stones?
Her mother-in-law’s anniversary was approaching. Sixty years — a milestone. Veronika tormented herself with what to give as a gift.
— “Lyudmila Petrovna, maybe you can suggest what you’d like?” she asked during one visit.
Her mother-in-law gave her a condescending look.
— “I need nothing, dear,” she said with pointed intonation. “I have everything.”
Veronika glanced helplessly at Maksim. He was buried in his phone.
— “Maks, what should we get your mother?” she asked that evening.
— “I don’t know,” he muttered. “Figure it out yourself.”
— “But she’s your mother!”
— “So what?” Maksim set his phone aside irritably. “She said she doesn’t need anything.”
Veronika bought an expensive silk scarf and French perfume. She wrapped them in a beautiful box, though an uneasy feeling lingered.
The morning of the anniversary was hectic. Veronika put on a dark green dress and decided to complement it with emerald earrings — another gift from her grandmother, though less valuable. She opened the jewelry box and froze. The velvet settings gaped empty. The diamonds were gone.
Her heart pounded wildly. She tore through the dresser, checked every shelf. Nothing. She rushed from the bedroom, stormed into the kitchen where Maksim sat calmly drinking coffee.
— “Maks! Where are my diamonds?” her voice broke into a scream.
Maksim lifted his calm gaze and took another sip.
— “I gave your diamonds to my mother,” he said evenly. “They suit her better.”
Veronika froze. The room blurred before her eyes.
— “What did you do?” she whispered.
— “What should have been done long ago,” Maksim set his cup down. “Stop being greedy!”
— “It’s my inheritance!” Veronika shouted. “How dare you?!”
She clutched the edge of the table. Her vision swam with rage and pain. Maksim calmly stood, pushing his chair aside. His indifference hurt worse than words.
— “Stop this hysteria!” he snapped. “Mom deserves them more than you! At least she’ll wear them!”
— “It’s not your decision!” Veronika’s voice cracked. “Nor your mommy’s! You’re both thieves!”
Her insides burned. Her hands trembled with fury. This man — her husband. She had loved him, trusted him. And Maksim had betrayed her so easily, just to satisfy his mother’s greedy desires.
— “Watch your tongue!” Maksim barked. “She’s my mother!”
— “And I’m your wife! Or not anymore?”
Veronika grabbed her bag and stormed out of the apartment. Outside, she hailed a taxi and gave her mother-in-law’s address. The whole way, she tried to calm down, but her hands shook uncontrollably.
The door was opened by the birthday woman herself. She wore a festive burgundy dress, and around her neck and ears glittered Veronika’s grandmother’s diamonds.
— “Nika?” Lyudmila Petrovna was surprised. “You’re early! Guests won’t arrive for another two hours!”
Veronika stared at her jewelry on another’s neck, fury boiling inside.
— “Take them off,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
— “What?” her mother-in-law recoiled. “Have you lost your mind?”
Veronika stepped forward and reached for the clasp of the necklace. Lyudmila Petrovna squealed and tried to push her daughter-in-law away.
— “Don’t you dare touch them!” she screamed. “They’re my son’s gift!”
— “They’re my inheritance!” Veronika unfastened the necklace and pulled it from her mother-in-law’s neck.
— “Thief!” Lyudmila Petrovna shrieked. “I’ll call the police!”
Veronika removed the earrings and took the ring from the table in the hallway. Her hands were surprisingly steady, though inside a storm was raging. Her mother-in-law flailed around the hallway, waving her arms.
— “Go ahead, call them,” Veronika said coldly. “You’ll explain how your son stole his wife’s inheritance from her grandmother.”
— “The audacity!” her mother-in-law flushed with anger. “On my birthday! Maks will never forgive you!”
Veronika stopped in the doorway. She turned and looked at Lyudmila Petrovna — the woman she had called “mother” for three years — now standing before her, greedy, petty, willing to do anything for a handful of sparkling stones.
— “Don’t expect me at the celebration,” Veronika cut her off. “And I never imagined you and your son would stoop so low.”
She left, slamming the door so hard the glass rattled.
At home, Maksim met her with a shout from the hallway.
— “Have you lost your mind?! You ruined my mother’s birthday!”
— “Your mother is a thief!” Veronika walked past him into the bedroom. “And so are you! How could you give her my inheritance? How, Maksim?”
— “How dare you?!” Maksim blocked her path. “She’s my mother! Mom wanted those jewels, so she got them!”
Veronika stopped. Her chest tightened with pain. Three years of marriage, three years of love — and this was how it ended. Maksim stood before her, a stranger, hostile. She couldn’t understand how she had been so wrong about him. How she had failed to see the rot inside him — and his mother.
— “And who am I to you?” Veronika’s voice quivered. “Nothing?”
— “You’re a selfish woman who values stones more than family!”
The words cut sharper than a knife. Veronika bit her lip, holding back tears. No, she would not cry in front of him. Anger gave her strength.
— “You’re the mama’s boy willing to rob his wife just to indulge his mother’s whim!” she shot back. “Get out of my apartment!”
Her husband stepped back. He seemed not to have expected this turn.
— “What?!” Maksim was stunned.
Veronika saw his face change. The confidence vanished completely. But it was too late. Far too late for both of them.
— “You heard me! Pack your things and run back to your mommy!” Veronika pushed him aside and walked into the bedroom. “Since she means more to you than your wife!”
— “You can’t kick me out!”
— “Oh yes, I can! This is my apartment, in case you forgot. Or will you gift this to your mother too?”
A month later, the divorce was finalized. Veronika sat in the now-empty apartment when the phone rang. Her mother-in-law’s number.
— “Well, are you satisfied?” Lyudmila Petrovna’s voice was dripping with poison. “The jewels turned out to be more important than your marriage!”
Veronika gave a faint smile.
— “No, it was you who found jewels more important than your son’s happiness,” she replied calmly. “You convinced him to steal what was mine.”
— “How dare you—”
Veronika hung up and exhaled deeply. On the dresser stood the open jewelry box. The diamonds glimmered softly in the evening light. Her grandmother’s inheritance had remained with her. And that was what mattered most. The past was behind her.
