“Why on earth should your mother show up here? Let her apologize to me first!” the wife declared.
“No, do you even hear yourself? What are you talking about? Have you lost it?” Valery reacted sharply. “You want my own mother to apologize to you? And on her knees, no less? Don’t you think you’re asking a bit too much? Watched too many melodramas?”
Her husband’s return from work was usually calm, but today, nervousness was visible in Valery’s eyes from the moment he stepped in. He was tense. Taking off his jacket, he gave Valya a routine peck on the cheek and casually said, as if in passing:
“My mom is planning to come over. Today.”
Valya was already heading to the kitchen to set the table for dinner. Her husband’s words made something inside her jolt and clench.
“Which mom exactly?” she decided to snark without looking up from slicing vegetables.
In their family, there were two mothers: Valya’s own, who adored her daughter and granddaughter, and her mother-in-law, Oksana Olegovna—a woman with a nasty temper and boundless self-importance.
“Well, mine, obviously. Who else? Valya, why are you acting like this?” he asked, pretending to be surprised.
His wife put down the knife, leaned on the countertop, and looked him straight in the eye.
“Oh right, your mother! The very same mother who, six months ago at your father’s anniversary, called me ‘expired goods’ in front of everyone. And comparing me to herself, said that there was no partner in life like her and that you, her darling son, were unlucky—because you ended up with a useless and horrible wife no one wanted. Except you, of course!”
Valery went pale at her words, as if slapped. He must have hoped Valya had forgotten everything, and clearly hadn’t expected such a reaction.
“Oh come on, that was a long time ago. She’d had too much to drink, she wasn’t in control of herself.”
“Not in control? That’s her problem. There’s a saying—‘what a sober person has on their mind, a drunk has on their tongue.’ I remember every nasty remark she made about me. So if she said all that drunk, it means she really thinks so.”
“Why are you acting like a child? Valya, don’t start. She apologized afterward.”
“No, Valery. She did NOT apologize. Oksana Olegovna just muttered something under her breath so your father would stop pressing her. And I’m done rehashing this. Just tell your mother-in-law that she’s not welcome here. Or better yet—say it outright: I don’t need her here.”
Valery stepped closer to hug her, but she pulled away sharply.
“Valya, please, be the bigger person. Let go of the resentment. We’re all one family.”
The woman felt herself boiling inside. One family! As if! She wondered whether his mother thought the same.
“You know what? This is my home, and if your mother comes here, she’ll start picking on me again. I don’t need that. She doesn’t respect me—clearly. Until she apologizes, she’s not setting foot in here,” Valya said, fully aware that her mother-in-law would never do that—meaning she wouldn’t be allowed in at all.
“You’re an intelligent woman. You should understand she has a difficult personality. You have to learn to forgive! And besides, she’s my mother!”
Valya gave him a cold smirk.
“I’m about to tell you something you definitely won’t like. I don’t care that she’s your mother. If she wanted my respect, she should’ve been respectful toward me. And since she wasn’t… until she apologizes, she won’t cross the threshold of my apartment. And preferably, on her knees,” Valya added, clearly mocking her husband.
Valery flushed red. It was obvious he was starting to boil over.
“Are you completely insane?” he burst out. “You want my mother—my own mother—to crawl to you on her knees?”
Her husband began to shout—furious, offended, calling Valentina heartless and cruel. She simply watched his tantrum in silence.
“All right, I’m waiting for you to call your mother,” she said calmly once his anger subsided a little. She pulled out her phone. “I have her number in my contacts. Want me to call your mother-in-law myself and state my conditions?”
Valentina held her finger demonstratively over the call button.
Valery winced. For a moment he imagined his mother’s reaction and, horrified, snatched the phone from his wife.
“Are you serious?! Have you lost your mind?”
“You have two options, my dear husband. Either you agree to my terms, and I let your mother in only after her personal apology. Or you meet her at the train station and go live with her in any hotel in the city.”
Valery visibly deflated.
“I don’t know… I don’t know what to do. She’s my mother. Can’t you take that into account?”
Valentina just shrugged.
“The choice is yours. I’ve told you for a long time—your mother hates me. You should have chosen: me or her. But you keep wanting to reconcile us, to bring us together like quarrelling schoolgirls.”
Her husband silently tossed her mobile phone onto the table, grabbed his jacket, and walked out of the apartment.
Valentina was left alone. She calmly finished making the salad for dinner. Then she placed some meat and potatoes on a beautiful plate and ate. Afterward, she washed the dishes and went to the bathroom to apply a nourishing mask to her face.
Then she settled on the comfortable sofa and turned on the TV, where her favorite series was on. Strangely enough, she felt incredibly at peace at that moment.
Two hours later, the intercom buzzed. Valya looked at the screen. Oksana Olegovna’s face appeared—displeased, as always. Next to her stood Valery, shoulders slumped, staring to the side.
Valentina didn’t react, and the buzzing repeated—this time longer and more insistent. She continued to ignore it. Let them stand there and think.
Valery tried to open the apartment door with his key, but it was locked from the inside. Then he took out his phone and called his wife. Valentina decided not to answer that either.
A tense pause followed, broken only by the angry whispering behind the door. It was Oksana Olegovna who finally shattered the silence.
“Hey, are you out of your mind in there? Open the door immediately, Valentina! Stop this nonsense. I’ve just come off the road and I’m very tired!”
But Valya stubbornly remained silent. She even chuckled to herself, imagining what would happen next.
“Valery, what is going on, for heaven’s sake? Can you explain it to me or not? What kind of insolent behavior is this from your uncouth wife?” Valya heard her mother-in-law’s voice, sharp as metal. “I’ve been telling you for ages she’s not right for you. Found yourself a princess—now deal with it.”
In response came only Valery’s quiet mumbling, clearly trying to justify himself to his mother. He had no idea how to escape this mess.
“Open the door immediately! Don’t behave like some street brat. Look at her, showing me her attitude!” Oksana Olegovna shouted, addressing the door. “Open up, this is my son’s apartment too. Otherwise I’ll call the police right now!”
As Valentina continued to ignore her mother-in-law completely, the stream of curses only intensified. Insults rained down one after another…
The siege of the apartment went on for about ten minutes. The mother-in-law’s voice had grown slightly hoarse, yet she wouldn’t stop. Her absolute confidence in her own righteousness shattered against the firmly locked door. Valya, meanwhile, safely inside her fortress, waited for the right moment to deliver her counterstrike.
Suddenly, from the stair landing above, came the sound of the neighbors’ door opening, and Oksana Olegovna’s tirade abruptly ceased. Valya decided not to waste time—in the sudden silence, the click of her lock echoed through the hallway.
Valentina appeared in the doorway, calm and self-assured, her arms folded businesslike across her chest. But her gaze was fixed not on her mother-in-law, but on her husband.
“Valery,” she said evenly, “you didn’t forget to tell your mother that this apartment no longer belongs to us, did you? That we were forced to sell it to my parents, who kindly agreed to cover all your debts.”
It was terrifying to look at the mother-in-law at that moment. The woman was clearly stunned. As for Valentina’s husband, he showed no reaction to her words at all—he only lowered his head and stayed silent.
Valentina continued, still looking only at him:
“Or did you conveniently choose not to mention how my parents, in order to save your sorry behind in front of some very serious people you owed a huge sum to, gave away their money? And how we had to rewrite the apartment in their name because your debts were enormous. I kept quiet specifically so your darling mother wouldn’t find out what a failure you really are—losing an entire apartment on bets. So why didn’t you tell her that?”
The confidence of the mother-in-law—who just a minute earlier was showering her daughter-in-law with insults—evaporated instantly. She gasped like a fish out of water, shifting her gaze from son to daughter-in-law, trying to find a denial, but all she saw in her beloved boy’s eyes was fear and despair.
“Valery, is this true? The apartment now fully belongs to her parents? How could you? Do you even understand what you’ve done? That’s a huge amount of money! And why did you stay silent for so long?” his mother finally found her voice.
Valentina smirked and realized that a new chapter of her life was beginning.
“And the documents?” the mother-in-law suddenly shrieked. “Do you have the documents proving the apartment belongs to her parents now? You can say whatever you want!”
“They’re all here, don’t doubt it. I believe this is where we part ways. You refused to apologize—and in light of everything, your apology wouldn’t change much anyway. We are parting with your son. And with you, which frankly makes me very happy,” Valentina declared proudly.
She stepped back inside, went to the dresser, grabbed a folder containing her husband’s documents, returned to the doorway, and threw it straight at the face of the man who now was her ex-husband.
“Take it,” she said. “It’s the only thing here that ever belonged to you. Everything else—you screwed it up. And I’m very glad to be rid of your family. Good thing our daughter is with my parents right now and isn’t witnessing this nightmare. And don’t forget—I’ll be filing for child support.”
Then she turned to her mother-in-law:
“As for you—find your son a more suitable wife. Someone just like yourself. That should make you happy.”
With great satisfaction, Valentina slammed the door in the faces of her stunned husband and his mother.
