The husband’s and mother-in-law’s plan collapsed after one phone call from the notary

Irina rearranged the cups with seedlings on the windowsill. Somewhere deep in the apartment she could hear the muffled voices of her husband and mother-in-law.

They were discussing something without her again. Lately, these secret conversations had become the norm.

“Ir, is lunch ready?” Sergey appeared in the kitchen doorway with his phone in hand.

“In ten minutes,” Irina stirred the soup. “What were you and your mother talking about?”

Her husband flinched. His eyes darted nervously.

“Oh, nothing, just nonsense.”

“What kind of nonsense?”

“Listen, I don’t remember every little thing,” Sergey waved his hand irritably. “Go tell Mom that lunch will be ready soon.”

Irina wiped her hands on her apron and went to her mother-in-law’s room. Valentina Petrovna was sitting at the table, hastily stuffing some papers into a folder.

“Valentina Petrovna, lunch will be ready in ten minutes.”

“Alright,” the mother-in-law didn’t even look up. “What did you oversalt again?”

“No, everything’s fine this time,” Irina pretended not to notice the folder. “Were you and Sergey discussing something important?”

Valentina sharply raised her head.

“And what business is it of yours? Can’t a son have private matters with his mother?”

“Of course he can,” Irina shrugged. “It’s just that a month ago you talked about exchanging the apartment, and now there’s silence.”

“We’ll sort it out without you,” the mother-in-law cut her off. “Go, my blood pressure is high.”

Lunch was eaten in tense silence. Sergey buried himself in his phone, Valentina ate without a word, lips pressed tight.

“Serёzha, what’s going on with the apartment exchange?” Irina decided to approach it from another angle.

Her husband choked.

“What about it?”

“Well, we were planning to split up the housing. You said it yourself — a one-room apartment for us, and a one-room for your mother.”

“Don’t meddle where you don’t belong,” Valentina interfered. “We’ll decide ourselves.”

“And how is this not my business?” Irina felt herself boiling. “Who am I here at all?”

“Ir, why are you starting again?” Sergey winced. “It’s just not the right time.”

In the evening, while Irina was washing dishes, neighbor Nina rang the doorbell.

“Ir, can you spare some salt?”

“Come in,” Irina grabbed a pack of salt. “Tea?”

“Sure,” Nina plopped onto a stool. “How are you three living together?”

“It’s okay,” Irina put the kettle on. “But something weird is happening with this apartment.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we wanted to split it, but now my husband and mother-in-law are scheming something and keeping me in the dark.”

Nina looked away.

“You don’t know anything?” Irina looked intently at her neighbor.

“Look, I don’t want to gossip, but…” Nina lowered her voice. “I was at the notary yesterday, filing some documents. And your mother-in-law was there too. She was talking about inheritance, saying she wants to leave everything to her son.”

Irina felt something inside her drop.

“What inheritance? The apartment, you mean?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Nina stirred her tea. “But they were whispering. Maybe I misunderstood.”

After the neighbor left, Irina stood by the window for a long time. Thirty years of marriage, and her husband was planning something behind her back. Together with his mommy, as always.

The next day Irina noticed that Sergey hid his phone whenever she entered the room. And her mother-in-law announced she was going “on business” — for the third time that week.

“To the notary again?” Irina couldn’t help herself.

Valentina froze in the doorway.

“How do you…?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Irina turned to the window. “Say hello from me.”

That night Irina couldn’t fall asleep. Sergey was snoring beside her, while she stared at the ceiling, thinking she had become invisible in her own family.

“Why do I not know anything?” Irina couldn’t hold it in and asked at breakfast. “Who am I to you — a stranger?”

Sergey froze with his cup halfway to his mouth.

“What are you talking about?”

“About your little secrets with your mother! About the notary! About the papers you’re hiding!”

“Ir, why are you getting worked up so early?” her husband put down the cup. “What secrets?”

“Don’t take me for a fool, Sergey,” Irina slapped her palm on the table. “Thirty years together, and you and your mother are plotting something.”

Valentina walked into the kitchen right in the middle of the scandal.

“What’s with the shouting?”

“Oh, Irka has gone off the rails,” Sergey spread his hands. “She’s imagining some papers.”

“And what about the notary?” Irina turned to her mother-in-law. “Nina saw you there!”

Valentina’s face turned pale.

“That gossip…” she pursed her lips. “Don’t believe every rumor.”

“So you were there!” Irina felt tears rising to her throat. “What are you planning? Do you want to leave me without an apartment?…”

“Calm down, you hysteric,” Valentina dropped into a chair. “Serёzha, explain it to her.”

“Ir, these are just documents for Mom’s apartment,” her husband avoided her eyes. “We’re not doing anything like that.”

“Then why are you hiding it?”

“Because you always dramatize everything!” Sergey suddenly stood up. “Just like now! I’m going to work—figure it out yourselves.”

He slammed the door. Irina and Valentina sat in heavy silence.

“I’ll find out anyway,” Irina said quietly.

Her mother-in-law smirked.

“If you were smarter, you wouldn’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

That evening Irina called her friend Tanya.

“Tanya, I don’t know what to do,” her voice was trembling. “They’re plotting something. And Sergey lies to my face.”

“Ask him directly—do you two want a divorce or what?”

“I’m scared,” Irina admitted. “What if he really does?”

“Then it’s better to know the truth than torture yourself.”

But Irina never dared to ask. Every evening she waited for Sergey to start the conversation himself, to explain. But he would come home late, eat in silence, and disappear in front of the TV.

Within a week Irina noticed she was losing weight—she couldn’t get food down from the stress. She slept poorly and jumped at every phone call.

On Friday Valentina announced she was going to a friend’s country house for the weekend.

“Serёzha, can we talk?” Irina tried to catch her husband in the kitchen.

“About what?” He was irritated and impatient.

“About us. About the apartment. About what’s going on.”

“Ir, how many times do we have to go over this? Nothing is happening!” he brushed past her and went into the room.

On Saturday, when Sergey left “on errands,” the landline rang. Irina picked up.

“Hello?”

“Good afternoon. This is Marina Viktorovna, the notary. May I speak with Irina Sergeyevna?”

Irina’s heart jumped.

“This is she.”

“Wonderful. I need you to come to my office on Monday to sign some documents.”

“What documents?” Irina gripped the receiver until her knuckles turned white.

“Regarding the division of property. Your husband and his mother have already been here, but we can’t complete the transaction without your signature.”

Irina slowly sank into a chair.

“What transaction?”

“They didn’t explain it to you?” The notary’s voice held surprise. “Well, we’ll discuss it in person. I expect you on Monday at ten. The address is…”

Irina wrote down the address with a shaking hand. When she put down the phone, the apartment became deafeningly silent.
So it was true after all. She and Valentina were plotting something. And they didn’t even intend to tell her until the very last moment.

She sat in the armchair until evening. Didn’t turn on the TV, didn’t cook dinner. Just stared at the wall and thought.

When the front door clicked, Irina didn’t even turn her head.

“Why are you sitting in the dark?” Sergey flicked on the light. “And there’s no dinner?”

“The notary called me,” Irina said quietly.

Sergey froze in the doorway.

“What notary?”

“Marina Viktorovna. She expects me on Monday to sign the property division documents.”

His face twisted.

“Ir, I can explain…”

“What can you explain?” She finally looked at him. “That you and your mother decided everything behind my back?”

“It’s not like that! We wanted what’s best!”

“Best for whom, Sergey? For me? Or for you two?”

Sergey collapsed into the chair opposite her and rubbed his face with his hands.

“You don’t understand. Mom thinks…”

“I don’t give a damn what your mom thinks!” Irina shot up. “We’ve been married thirty years! Thirty! And you’re still under her heel!”

“Don’t shout!”

“I will shout!” Tears stung her eyes. “Do you know how I’ve felt this whole month? Like a traitor in my own home! Like a stranger here!”

Sergey sighed heavily.

“Mom said you’d make a scene if you found out.”

“Found out about what, Sergey? About what?”

“We decided not to exchange the apartment for two smaller ones,” he said quietly, staring at the floor. “But to sell this one and buy a house outside the city. For Mom and me.”

“And me?” Irina almost choked. “What about me—out on the street?”

“Why would you say that? You’d get compensation…”

“Compensation?!” She couldn’t believe her ears. “So you and your mother go live in a house, and I go wherever I want with some money?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Sergey finally looked at her. “We hardly live as a married couple anymore. You said yourself you wanted to live separately.”

“I wanted to live separately from your mother! Not from you!”

Right then Sergey’s phone rang. He pulled it out, saw the number, and rejected the call.

“Mom’s calling,” he muttered. “She wants to know how you reacted.”

“You planned everything,” Irina shook her head. “Even my reaction.”

“Ir, don’t make a tragedy out of this…”

“What else am I supposed to do?! Celebrate being kicked out of my own life?”

The phone rang again. Sergey sighed and answered:

“Yes, Mom. Yes, she knows. No, it’s not a good time.”

Irina grabbed the phone from his hand.

“Valya, I know everything!” she shouted into the receiver. “Your plan fell apart! On Monday I’ll be at the notary’s office, and I’ll find out my rights!”

“Calm down, you fool!” came the sharp voice of her mother-in-law. “Put Sergey back on the phone!”

“No! I’m done taking orders! I’m not your servant!”

She threw the phone onto the couch and turned to her husband.

“I’m going to stay with Tanya for the weekend. And on Monday I’m going to the notary.”

“Ir, where are you going at this hour?” Sergey tried to stop her. “Let’s talk calmly.”

“Thirty years we had time to talk!” She grabbed her bag and began throwing things into it. “And you know what, Sergey? I’m even glad it all turned out this way. Now I see who you really are.”

She stormed out of the apartment, ignoring whatever her husband was shouting after her. It was cold outside, but Irina didn’t feel it. One thought kept spinning in her head: How could he?

Tanya opened the door and gasped:

“Ira! What happened?”

“They wanted to leave me without a home,” Irina burst into tears on the doorstep. “Serёzha and his mother. A house for themselves, and me — crumbs.”

“Those bastards!” Tanya pulled her inside. “Come in, I’ll make tea.”

Irina spent the whole weekend at Tanya’s. Sergey’s calls wouldn’t stop, but she didn’t answer. On Sunday evening came a message:
“Mom is back. Let’s talk. Come home.”

“Don’t you dare,” Tanya snorted. “First go to the notary. Figure out everything.”

“That’s exactly what I’ll do,” Irina nodded.

On Monday, exactly at ten, she entered the notary’s office. Marina Viktorovna, an energetic middle-aged woman, shook her hand firmly.

“Come in, sit down. Your husband and mother-in-law will be here any minute.”

“They know I’m coming?” Irina was surprised.

“Of course. I told them directly — without you, no signatures.”

Five minutes later the door opened. Sergey and Valentina walked in. The mother-in-law grimaced as though she had bitten into a lemon. Sergey kept his eyes down.

“Great, everyone is here,” the notary spread out the papers. “So, we have the sale of the apartment located at—”

“Stop, stop,” Irina interrupted. “I don’t understand anything. No one has explained a single thing to me.”

Marina Viktorovna looked at the couple in disbelief.

“You didn’t discuss this at home?”

“No,” Irina said firmly. “They didn’t tell me anything until you called.”

“All right,” the notary adjusted her glasses. “In short, your husband and his mother want to sell the apartment and buy a house outside the city. But the apartment is jointly owned by you and your husband, so they can’t do anything without you.”

“And what do I get?” Irina clutched her bag.

“According to their documents, you get a monetary compensation — one quarter of the apartment’s value.”

“A quarter?!” Irina nearly jumped. “I’m legally entitled to half!”

“Absolutely correct,” the notary nodded. “That’s precisely why I called you in. These papers are nonsense.”

Valentina turned green.

“What is this rubbish! Sergey said they already agreed!”

“Agreed on what?” Irina cried out. “I only found out from the notary on Saturday that you two were scheming!”

The notary gave Sergey a stern look.

“You misled me. Documents like these, without the wife’s consent, are worthless.”

“I told you, Mom,” Sergey mumbled. “We should’ve talked to Ira like adults from the beginning.”

“So what now?” Valentina smacked the table. “Everything ruined?”

“Not necessarily,” the notary said calmly. “You can sign a new agreement. A fair one.”

“No,” Irina suddenly said sharply. “No agreements.”

Everyone stared at her.

“You know, I spent thirty years living like a doormat. Doing whatever I was told. Enduring. And here’s my reward — you wanted to shove me out with a quarter of the money.”

She stood up.

“Marina, I want to file for divorce. And divide the property. By law, through court.”

“Ira, what are you doing?” Sergey finally looked up. “We can work this out…”

“No, Sergey. We can’t. I don’t trust you anymore — not even a cent’s worth.”

“You ungrateful fool!” Valentina screeched. “We fed you, housed you, and you—”

“Shut up,” Irina cut her off. “You were always between us. And you, Sergey, always chose her over me.”

“Irina is right,” the notary unexpectedly supported her. “You acted dishonestly. I can give you the contact of a good lawyer,” she added, turning to Irina.

Three months later, the court divided the property. Irina received her rightful half and bought a small but cozy apartment in a neighboring district.

On the day of the housewarming, Tanya showed up with a cake and champagne.

“Well? How does it feel?” she asked, pouring the bubbly into glasses.

Irina looked around. Small, but hers. No one nagging. No one whispering behind her back.

“God, Tanya, it’s like being born again,” she smiled. “For the first time in thirty years, I’m living for myself.”

“And Sergey?”

“He and his mommy still bought their house. Smaller than they wanted, but they bought it. Let them live.”

“Do you feel sorry?”

Irina shook her head.

“I only regret not leaving sooner. I wasted so many years on them.”

She raised her glass.

“To a new life. No looking back. No fear. My own life.”