“Sell the house by the sea and give me back everything I spent raising a husband for you!” demanded the mother-in-law.
“And who needs your filthy sea?” Olga Vladimirovna snorted, looking at her smiling daughter-in-law.
How had it even occurred to Darya to invite her mother-in-law to her little seaside house for a vacation? Everyone knows that a holiday on the Black Sea is self-inflicted torture. Was Olga Vladimirovna supposed to settle for that? Of course not! She deserved the ocean — somewhere abroad, where the water is crystal-clear and the service leaves a pleasant impression.
She considered local resorts beneath her and dreamed of a crane in the sky. Even if her finances were singing the blues and there was no way to go abroad as she longed to, she still wanted it so much. No little bird in the hand could ever replace that dream. Better nothing at all than a holiday you don’t even want.
“Forgive me. I thought you’d be pleased. You said yourself you wouldn’t mind living by the sea for a while. Sorry the offer doesn’t appeal to you. Then I’ll give the keys to my sister — she wanted to spend a week there. And once the vacation season starts, we’ll rent it out. Extra money never hurts.”
That was the problem: money never hurts — only it would be flowing into the wrong pockets. Olga Vladimirovna narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
Darya had bought the house suddenly and on very favorable terms: her friend had inherited it but didn’t know what to do with it. Anna decided to sell the place for a song and told her friend, and Darya instantly seized the chance.
Even if you didn’t make anything from renting it, you could always go there and rest by the sea as much as you liked. Recently, Darya and her husband Ruslan had just finished renovating the house. They’d wanted to send the mother-in-law there for a break, but since she’d refused…
Olga Vladimirovna didn’t linger as a guest. She went home and began thinking about how she might get at least some benefit out of this. Her son had drifted too far away and hardly helped at all — yet she had raised him precisely for that! She had counted on living without sorrow or worry if she brought up a real man.
She’d raised him to her own detriment. Now every penny Ruslan earned went straight into the household, to his wife. Who was supposed to think of his mother? If only she’d had financial help, she could have easily saved up for the trip to the ocean she longed for. She smiled, picturing herself strolling along the shore and meeting the very man with whom she could spend the rest of her life.
Lying on the sofa, Olga Vladimirovna kept pondering where her daughter-in-law had suddenly found the money to buy that house. No matter how you looked at it, even the shabbiest shack by the sea wasn’t cheap — it was still a resort! Surely she had saved up everything Ruslan brought home: all his bonuses, his salary.
And they could have shared with her. Had all her years of effort raising him been for nothing? She felt hurt that no one had even thought of her, or asked her opinion before making such an impulsive purchase. It was hard to keep her grievances bottled up.
Olga Vladimirovna could smile even when cats were clawing at her soul, but this was different. She wanted to get everything off her chest. She decided to talk to her son.
When Ruslan dropped by to check the bathroom taps at her request, Olga Vladimirovna treated him to a nice dinner. Over the meal, she mentioned how much she longed to rest somewhere decent.
“You’ve got money coming out of your ears — you could at least help me with a travel voucher,” she said bluntly, looking at her son.
“Come on! What money? We’re barely making ends meet. Dasha even had to borrow a bit to buy that house by the sea. And the renovation cost a fortune. Now we’re just hoping to recoup it all during vacation season — that would already be good.”
Olga Vladimirovna sighed heavily and shook her head.
“It’s always the same! You solve your own problems, and your mother doesn’t matter at all? I lost so many nights of sleep over you. I gave everything I could. I sacrificed not just my personal life, but my health too.
“Now I’d like to improve it, but where am I supposed to get that kind of money? Unlike your dear wife, I couldn’t save — I had to invest so much in you. Do you think it was easy to pay for all your clubs and extra classes?”
She hadn’t planned to quarrel with her son, but the torrent of complaints burst out despite herself. She wanted to get her way at any cost.
“Mom, did I ever ask you for that? I told you all along I wasn’t interested in those clubs, and I studied well without extra lessons. I kept saying you were wasting money and stealing my time, but you wouldn’t listen. And now you blame me?
“You’d have done better to put that money aside instead of throwing it away. It’s a pity nothing can be changed now — and back then, my opinion didn’t matter.”
Ruslan rose from the table, thanked his mother for the delicious dinner, and said goodbye. Olga Vladimirovna sniffled resentfully. It had been a long time since she had felt such disappointment.
At first, she had thought well of Dasha, but now jealousy and hurt were boiling inside her. It was all because of her! If her son hadn’t met that girl so early, he would still be living under his mother’s wing and helping her.
He knew how important that was. And now he gave everything to his wife, devoted all his free time to her alone. What was left for his mother?
Remembering Darya’s smile as she invited her to rest at the seaside house only made Olga Vladimirovna angrier; she felt it was all mockery. Her daughter-in-law, knowing how much she wanted to see the ocean, had been cruel — laughing right in her face.
She’d decided to send her to that dirty sea, where you didn’t even feel like taking a walk along the beach, let alone swimming. In her youth, Olga Vladimirovna had once gone to the sea with her son, and she’d bitterly regretted it: so many people there wasn’t even room for an apple to fall.
As for what it was like abroad, she knew only from pretty pictures and videos online. Maybe she wouldn’t have liked it either, but now it was a matter of principle.
Turning the situation over and over in her mind, she concluded that her daughter-in-law was the only one to blame. Nurturing her anger toward Darya, Olga Vladimirovna decided to visit and speak frankly with her.
Just then, her son had invited his mother for dinner, saying that Dasha was preparing something tasty and really wanted her mother-in-law to try it.
“Trying to soften me up with treats, are they? We’ll see what tune Dasha sings when I tell her everything to her face,” Olga Vladimirovna muttered under her breath as she prepared for the talk.
She decided to arrive early, before her son got home from work. She knew perfectly well that Ruslan would defend his wife and take her side. If she wanted to get anywhere, she had to catch Darya alone.
“I didn’t expect you so soon. I’m not quite finished yet. Please, sit in the living room — maybe I’ll turn on the TV?” Darya greeted her mother-in-law with a smile.
“Thank you, but I can watch TV at home. I’ll watch you cook — and we can talk.”
Darya tried to speak politely. She respected the woman. Despite her willful nature, Darya tried not to take offense at the barbed remarks that slipped into their conversations from time to time.
She wanted to be friends with her husband’s mother. She’d heard enough stories from friends about marriages falling apart because of meddling mothers-in-law, and she’d decided that wouldn’t happen in her family.
Quarreling with a mother-in-law was the worst thing. If a mother felt jealous of her son’s wife, it was better to explain gently that they weren’t rivals at all.
Dasha was in good spirits — they had just signed an agreement with a real estate agency to manage their house, and many dates were already booked. She wanted to celebrate.
In one season they would recoup all their investments, and after that they could add a little extra to the family budget. She even toyed with the idea of buying another little house someday, though for now it was only a dream. First they needed to see how things turned out and make sure their joy wasn’t premature.
“You’re glowing with happiness. I wish I had something like that,” said Olga Vladimirovna. “Since my son got married, he’s completely forgotten about his mother. But I won’t stay silent. I’ve thought long and hard and come to a decision that should suit all of us.
“If my son doesn’t want to help me financially, then… sell your house by the sea and return everything I spent raising a husband for you. That would be fair. I paid for his private school, worked day and night so he could get the best education, poured money into tutors.
“Now you reap the benefits, and he remembers his mother only when I remind him myself. That won’t do. If you don’t intend to help, then pay back what I invested — preferably with interest…”
At that moment Darya was tasting the sauce for the roast. She choked and began to cough — she had never heard anything like this before. Pay back the “investment”?
When a mother pours herself into her child, isn’t she thinking about his future and happiness? She and her sister had always heard from their parents that they wanted nothing more than to see their daughters happy, and that would be the greatest reward for them.
Whenever the girls tried to help their parents financially, they always refused. They rejoiced in their children’s success — but her mother-in-law was different. Olga Vladimirovna couldn’t be glad that her son and daughter-in-law were managing to create a financial cushion and secure the future for their children.
No, she had decided Darya should sell the house. How could she not understand it was a solid investment?
“Why are you silent? Nothing to say? Cat got your tongue?” Olga Vladimirovna pressed. “I understand my demand is unexpected, but I’m being fair. Since my son has decided to turn his back on me and live only for his new family, he should settle his debts.
“I invested in him expecting something in return. Look at my neighbor — her boy just sent her off to a luxury spa, while when I ask for anything, I get only refusals.”
Darya had heard of that neighbor. Ruslan had once said she bought her son an apartment and a car, helped him get established. He didn’t have to pay off a mortgage or scrape by as Ruslan once had.
That man had free cash to spend on his mother, while Ruslan and Darya had only recently finished paying off their own mortgage — and even then, not without help from Darya’s parents, who had sold one of their garages and given the young couple the money so they could escape their debt hole sooner.
“I’m sorry,” Darya whispered, barely recovering from her mother-in-law’s words. “That really did come as a surprise. But I think you’ve brought this to the wrong person.
“I never borrowed money from you, nor asked you to invest in Ruslan’s education. I’m sure he didn’t ask either. That was your own choice. Expectations don’t always line up with reality.”
Olga Vladimirovna couldn’t believe the girl had the nerve to contradict her. Dasha had always seemed meek and intimidated — someone who would do anything rather than be thought ungrateful. But now… had she really decided to stand up to her mother-in-law?
Ruslan came home. Darya began setting the table, pretending nothing unusual had happened, but Olga Vladimirovna wasn’t about to stay silent any longer.
She told her son everything she thought about their new purchase, declaring that if they had money for such nonsense, they could return everything his mother had spent on him. It pained Ruslan to hear such words.
He had clung to the hope that last time his mother had only spoken in anger, but now he understood — she was determined.
“If you think I truly owe you, and you want help this way, then we’ll have to do everything legally.
“You can take it to court, Mom,” Ruslan said in a dry voice, “if you find grounds for a claim. We wanted to give you a gift, but you’ve already ruined the feeling… still.”
Ruslan handed his mother an envelope containing a voucher for the Dominican Republic — the place she had dreamed of visiting.
“It was from the heart,” he said. “But now the moment’s spoiled. I hope you enjoy your trip, but from this point on, don’t come to me or my wife with absurd demands.”
Olga Vladimirovna felt wretched receiving such a gift. She hadn’t expected her son would actually go through with it, and after creating such a scene she was left with an unpleasant aftertaste.
Ruslan and Darya decided to limit contact with his mother to phone calls and the occasional holiday gathering. Now that they knew what the woman really wanted from them — the hidden stone she had been nursing — they understood things could never be the same.
Not all parents are alike: some care for their children for the sake of their happiness, while others invest like financiers, hoping to recoup their spending in the end.
But one mustn’t forget that children aren’t possessions — they have their own opinions. Ruslan had always asked his mother to stop spending on him, to focus on her own life, to let him make his own choices.
He breathed a sigh of relief, freed at last from her overbearing guardianship. He had been ready to support her financially as he could, but now that desire had vanished completely. With her absurd demands, Olga Vladimirovna had dug the pit into which she herself had fallen.
