She unlocked her mother-in-law’s apartment with her own key and froze at what she heard…
A week ago, Tatyana and Boris had finally managed to move into their own apartment. They’d married a year earlier and had been living with his mother, but were eager to leave as soon as possible — and at last they’d secured a mortgage on favorable terms.
After doing a bit of renovation in one room, they rushed to move into their new home, though not all their belongings had yet been taken from his mother’s place. They were slowly finishing up the repairs. The apartment was solid, but they wanted to redo some things to suit their own tastes.
Knowing that Valentina Nikolaevna was at work, Tanya unlocked the door to her mother-in-law’s flat without hesitation and walked straight into the room. She began gathering their things when she heard the phone ringing in the living room. For some reason, her heart skipped a beat.
Tanya was sure she was alone in the apartment, but then she heard her mother-in-law’s voice and felt her cheeks flush. Not only had she entered someone else’s home with her key, she hadn’t even greeted her.
Probably Valentina Nikolaevna hadn’t heard her come in either. Tatyana usually moved silently — a childhood habit. She hated remembering it, yet broken images involuntarily rose in her mind, making her uneasy. Tatyana had been raised by her uncle and aunt.
Her mother had died during childbirth, and she knew nothing about her father. While her aunt tried to surround her with care, her uncle was a stern man. Make a mistake, make an unnecessary sound — and punishment followed. Usually it meant standing on her knees in a corner.
Buckwheat would be scattered on the floor for this “torture,” and the girl still remembered the pain vividly. She had done nothing truly bad, yet any misstep, even the smallest, was punished. Wake her uncle accidentally — and she would stand in the corner for hours.
Tanya tried not to leave her room, and when she grew older, she spent more time away from home, claiming she needed to stay late in the library to improve her studies. Once she was admitted to university, Tanya immediately requested a dorm room and ran away.
She couldn’t endure such treatment any longer. Now she only occasionally spoke with her aunt and never visited her, wanting to forget the past and never recall it again. Deciding she should greet her mother-in-law and apologize for not announcing herself right away, Tanya headed toward the living room — but stopped in the hallway.
“Oh, Natasha, everything’s the same, I don’t even know what to do! Boris now regrets ever getting involved with her — he’s gnawing his elbows, but what can he do? When we voice our thoughts, we’re the bad ones, our children don’t want to listen; but when it comes to real problems, they run to us for advice. What can I tell him?”
What had happened to Boris? Lately her husband really had seemed strange: often lost in thought, and when his wife asked questions, he would answer irritably that everything was fine and she shouldn’t be so fussy.
Was it really her fault? Tanya tried to focus on her mother-in-law’s words. Maybe she could understand what was going on with her husband. Could he regret marrying her? Or had he found someone else?
Had he made a mistake and now felt trapped? Her heart began to pound. It wasn’t right to eavesdrop, but how else could she get the information she needed?
“I never wanted her to become my daughter-in-law — or even to be near my son at all. It was clear from the start she wasn’t a homemaker. She never lifted a finger; the apartment was always a mess.
And her cooking — an absolute nightmare. You wouldn’t feed that to pigs. And now she’s throwing her weight around, pretending to be someone she’s not. I don’t even know why my son was so unlucky.
From the moment I saw her, it was obvious. I told him not to even think about getting involved! But now she’s stuck to him like a bathhouse leaf. That’s love for you — blinded him completely. You remember how he looked at her in the beginning! He was ready to quarrel with me just to be with her, and now he doesn’t know how to shake her off.
I told him then: it won’t be easy to get rid of someone like that later. She grew up without a mother’s love, she was never affectionate, but she learned how to lead people by the nose and use them for her own ends. Even now, my poor boy doesn’t know what to do to drive her away.”
A lump rose tightly in her throat. Was her mother-in-law really speaking so badly about her? Was she truly such a poor housekeeper? Had she failed to meet her husband’s needs, and did he now regret marrying her? Why not say it to her face?
Why discuss it behind her back? If something was wrong, wouldn’t it be simpler to fix it? Tatyana wasn’t holding her husband on a leash. She didn’t understand what was happening. If he was tired and had realized family life wasn’t for him, why was he keeping silent?
“Anyway, I don’t know what to do about this. I’m so worn out I don’t have any strength left. As for her fidelity — I won’t even start. She cheats on him, then swears eternal love. Can you imagine, Natasha? How can she even bring herself to say such words?”
Horns?.. Tatyana felt faint. She had never even looked at other men. From the moment she started dating Boris, she had decided to devote herself entirely to him. Why would she need anyone else? She barely had enough time for her own husband—what other men could there be? Tears of hurt stung her eyes.
She didn’t want her mother-in-law to find out she had overheard the conversation. Tatyana decided to slip quietly out of the apartment without letting on, and then figure out what to do later. If living with her was truly that unpleasant for her husband, it would be better to divorce now.
“I’ve already thought of offering her money to leave him alone and disappear from my son’s life. Enough of poisoning him and not letting him take a single step in peace. He’s human too; his nerves aren’t made of steel. If he snaps, I’m afraid to even imagine how it will end. I’ll probably do just that — go and offer her money. We’ll see what she says.”
She and her husband never quarreled; Tatyana never imposed herself or nagged him. What had she done wrong for her mother-in-law to complain about her to a friend was unclear. She would have to talk openly with Boris and ask what exactly displeased him. If he truly wanted a divorce, then so be it.
They had only begun paying off the mortgage, and they had no children. Everything could still be settled peacefully. Yet how could anything be settled when her heart was being torn apart and the bitterness made her want to cry aloud? Tatyana loved her husband. It hurt that the feeling wasn’t mutual — and that his mother…
…Tanya had regarded the woman as a mother. She had trusted her, rejoiced that her mother-in-law had accepted and supported her in everything. She could never have imagined that, in reality, the woman would speak such things behind her back.
Deep down she had hoped she had found a true family where she was loved — but now all those thoughts had scattered like smoke. Could one even speak of family ties in such a situation?
Quietly leaving her mother-in-law’s apartment, completely forgetting about the things she had planned to pick up, Tatyana went home. Yet now she doubted whether she could still call that apartment “home.” If her husband was complaining about her to his mother, then he was already thinking of how to get rid of his wife. Tatyana had better prepare herself for the inevitable.
When Boris came back from work, she hurried to ask how his day had gone, whether everything was all right, but the man merely waved her off, complained of being tired, and said he just wanted to sleep.
“So that’s how it is? You’ve decided to turn away from me?” Tatyana whispered…
It would have been better if her husband had just told her outright instead of playing this silent game. In the morning, Tatyana made breakfast. She decided to talk to her beloved and ask directly what exactly he was unhappy with in their relationship.
“What are you talking about? When did I ever say something didn’t suit me? Everything’s fine. I like everything. Stop inventing nonsense and putting words in my mouth. I’ve never seen anything like this from you before. You’re really surprising me right now,” Boris flared up, jumping up from the table.
That evening the man brought flowers and asked his wife’s forgiveness. He said that if his behavior had made her think something was wrong, he wanted to make amends. Tatyana asked her husband to be honest with her, to solve any problems between them within the family, and not to involve his mother.
“Did my mom manage to tell you something? I don’t recall complaining about you. Strange. I’ll ask her what’s on her mind.”
“Don’t,” Tatyana interrupted. “Just be honest with me. If you get tired of the relationship, say so. Don’t keep things bottled up. Speak openly about any grievances so our marriage doesn’t turn into an ordeal.”
Boris promised he would be honest with his wife, yet Tatyana still felt uneasy. He behaved strangely at times, sometimes speaking to someone on the phone and then looking upset. And that conversation between Valentina Nikolaevna and her friend still wouldn’t leave her mind. She had definitely complained about her daughter-in-law. You couldn’t just take those words out of context — and she hadn’t been complaining for no reason.
Tatyana couldn’t find peace; nothing was worse for her than uncertainty. When you don’t know how a situation will turn tomorrow, even breathing becomes harder. Her husband kept insisting that he loved her and that everything suited him completely, but his tense state didn’t let up. Tatyana kept wondering what it was connected with. If everything was fine with him, could his mother be pressuring him to turn against his wife?
When Valentina Nikolaevna came to visit, Tatyana couldn’t hold back any longer. Looking her mother-in-law in the eye, she asked the question that had been tormenting her for the past few days:
“Did you bring me money so I would leave your son alone?”
“Money? What money? What are you talking about? Why would I give you money to leave my son alone?”
Valentina Nikolaevna looked genuinely surprised, as if she hadn’t spoken all those words over the phone, but Tatyana was tired of staying silent. She knew that the longer she kept everything inside, the worse it would get.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you. I can’t stay silent any longer, because I know that the longer I keep this to myself, the harder it becomes. I heard your phone conversation. I came then to pick up some things, I thought you were at work and never expected to hear what I heard. You were saying how bad it was for your son with a woman like me, that you wanted to offer money to get rid of me. So I decided to clarify — is that why you’ve come?”
Valentina Nikolaevna shook her head and smiled. She took Tatyana’s hands, sitting down beside her on the sofa.
“I wasn’t talking about you at all. How could I? I love you like my own daughter. You know perfectly well how I feel about you. And Boris loves you with all his heart. The conversation was about another woman. Her name is Marina. Your husband told you he was planning to marry before meeting you, but then he found out that his fiancée had other men, and he broke up with her. It so happened that she’s returned to the city now.
She’s probably looking for a new victim and, for the time being, has decided to pester my son again and ruin his life. She threatens that she’ll find a way to meet you and fill your head with all sorts of nastiness. She won’t leave him alone, meeting Boris almost every day near work, though he pays her no attention. She clings to him so he can’t shake her off. Boris is worried. He doesn’t want you to get upset over trifles and doesn’t want this obsessed woman to meet you at all. I wanted to offer her money, but my son forbade it. He said he’d go to the police if she didn’t leave him alone.”
Tatyana exhaled with relief. She had imagined so many things, was even ready to divorce her husband, already wondering how she would live without him — and everything turned out to be nothing like she had imagined.
After clearing everything up with her mother-in-law and apologizing for having jumped to the wrong conclusions and thought ill of Valentina Nikolaevna based on snatches of conversation, Tatyana promised that from now on things would be different. If anything ever seemed unclear, she would speak out rather than keeping it inside.
Tatyana spoke with her husband and told him that she had learned about the return of his ex. She hurried to reassure him, promising that nothing the other woman might say would shock her or make her doubt her husband. Boris still had to go to the police to put an end to the harassment and threats from the one he had long ago left behind and forgotten. Marina left for another city and no longer caused trouble, and the couple’s marriage grew stronger. Having learned her lesson, Tatyana now resolved every issue openly, never letting doubts settle in her heart again.
