“It’s good that you inherited the apartment in the city center. I’ll live in it, since I gave mine to my daughter,” the mother-in-law announced.
“It’s good that you inherited the apartment in the city center. I’ll live in it, since I gave mine to my daughter,” the mother-in-law repeated, stirring her tea with the air of someone discussing the weather.
Maria froze with a cup in her hand. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
“Anna Petrovna, but this is my grandmother’s apartment. Sergey and I were planning…”
“Planning what?” the mother-in-law cut her off. “To sell it? To rent it out? At least this inheritance will be of some use. You’re already living quite comfortably in your three-room place. And I, by the way, gave my apartment to Lena. My daughter. Your sister-in-law, if you’ve forgotten.”
Maria’s husband, Sergey, entered the room. His confused expression made it clear he had heard everything.
“Mom, we haven’t decided anything yet about Grandma’s apartment,” he said.
Anna Petrovna pursed her lips.
“What is there to decide? A lonely elderly woman has nowhere to live. Your sister and her kids are in my apartment now. It’s all perfectly logical.”
“That’s not true,” Maria put her cup on the table. “You do have a place to live. You chose to give your apartment to Elena.”
“Exactly!” the mother-in-law exclaimed triumphantly. “I sacrificed my own comfort for my grandchildren. And now you must take care of me.”
That evening, Maria sat in the kitchen, staring at the wall. Sergey shifted uneasily beside her.
“Masha, maybe she really could stay for a bit? She has nowhere to go.”
“Sergey,” Maria said slowly, “let’s go over what happened. Your mother, entirely of her own initiative, gave her three-room apartment to your sister. And now she’s declaring that she will live in the apartment my grandmother left to me. Not asking, not discussing — simply stating it as a fact.”
“Well… Mom was always… decisive.”
“Decisive?” Maria let out a bitter chuckle. “There’s another word for that. And I’d really like to know why Lena can’t take her in. She has a three-room apartment now.”
“Lena has kids…”
“And we won’t, is that it?” Maria jumped up from her chair. “We were planning to renovate Grandma’s place and move there. To start our life. Our family. Or did you forget?”
Sergey rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“I didn’t forget. I just… don’t know what to do. Maybe temporarily? For six months?”
“And then what? You’ll throw her out?” Maria shook her head. “Sergey, if your mother moves into that apartment, she’ll never leave. You know that.”
The next morning, Anna Petrovna called early.
“Sergey, my dear, I found a sofa for that little apartment. Will you help with the delivery?”
Maria snatched the phone from her husband’s hands.
“Anna Petrovna, we have not agreed to you living in my apartment.”
“What do you mean, not agreed?” the mother-in-law’s voice rang with steel. “Sergey, take the phone from her. This is disrespectful to your elders!”
Maria turned on speakerphone.
“This isn’t about respect. This is my property. Sergey and I plan to live there ourselves.”
“How ungrateful you are! I devoted my whole life to my son, and you—”
“Mom,” Sergey interrupted, “Masha is right. We really do want to move there.”
“Oh really?” the mother-in-law’s voice turned icy. “So you’re throwing your own mother out onto the street? After everything I’ve done for you? After I gave Lena my apartment?”
“No one said anything about the street,” Sergey said tiredly. “But giving the apartment to Lena was your decision, not ours. Why should we pay for it?”
Silence hung on the line.
“I’ll talk to your father,” Anna Petrovna finally said. “He’ll be shocked by your ingratitude.”
Sergey’s father, Viktor Andreyevich, rarely got involved in family matters. He had been living separately from Anna Petrovna for ten years, in a small one-room place on the edge of the city.
“Son, you surprise me,” he said when Sergey visited. “Did you really think your mother gave Lena the apartment just like that? She always thinks five steps ahead.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. When she decided to give the apartment to Lena, she had already planned to move in with you. Or into the apartment meant to go to your wife.”
“How do you know?”
“She told me. Said you’re young, you’d need help with the kids. And she would be nearby.”
“But we didn’t ask for that kind of help.”
“Son,” Viktor Andreyevich chuckled, “your mother never waits for someone to ask. She decides on her own who needs what.”
Maria sat with her friend Olga at a café.
“I don’t understand why I’m supposed to hand over the apartment my grandmother left me to my mother-in-law. Why is this even up for discussion?”
“Because she’s playing her own game,” Olga shrugged. “This is pure manipulation. First she creates a problem — gives away her apartment. Then she comes to you with that problem, as if you’re obligated to fix it. And in the end, she gets what she wants: control over your life.”
“Sergey is wavering,” Maria said quietly. “He knows it’s wrong, but he can’t stand up to her. He says maybe we should let her stay there at least temporarily.”
“And how do you plan to get her out afterward?” Olga shook her head. “No, Mash, either you stand your ground now, or you say goodbye to that apartment forever.”
That evening Sergey returned home looking defeated.
“Lena called. She says Mom has been crying for two days. Says we’re betraying her, throwing her out on the street.”
“But that’s not true!” Maria exclaimed. “She has money, she can rent a place. Or Lena can take her in. After all, she got a three-room apartment for free!”
“Lena says she has no space. Three kids, you know.”
“And we’ll have space, is that it?” Maria crossed her arms. “Sergey, I feel like you’ve already made your decision.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I’m thinking… maybe just temporarily… for half a year…”
“And I’m thinking we need to have a serious talk about our future,” Maria said quietly. “Because I am not giving my grandmother’s apartment to your mother. Not for six months, not for a month. That is our future home. Our chance to actually start an independent life.”
“You don’t understand how much pressure I’m under…”
“I do. But the real question is: who matters more to you — me or your mother? Whose side will you take in this conflict?”
Anna Petrovna did not wait for permission. A week later, she simply arrived at the grandmother’s apartment with a suitcase. Sergey and Maria happened to be there — they were discussing the upcoming renovation.
“Well, here I am!” the mother-in-law announced cheerfully when Maria opened the door. “Help me with my things.”
Maria blocked the entrance.
“Anna Petrovna, we did not agree that you would move in here.”
“How inhospitable you are,” the mother-in-law muttered, trying to squeeze inside. “Sergey! Help your mother!”
Sergey stood behind Maria. He looked exhausted, but determined.
“Mom, we’ve already talked about this. You can’t live here.”
“What?” Anna Petrovna looked from her son to her daughter-in-law. “What are you saying?”
“You chose to give your apartment to Lena,” Sergey said firmly. “That was your decision. And now you need to decide where to live. But not here. Maria and I will live here.”
“You’re choosing her over your own mother?” Anna Petrovna’s lips trembled.
“I’m choosing our family, Mom. Maria and me. And our future children.”
“You’ll regret this,” the mother-in-law hissed as she turned away. “Both of you will.”
Two months passed. Maria and Sergey finished the renovation in the grandmother’s apartment and were preparing to move in. Anna Petrovna had temporarily moved in with Lena — and created a living nightmare for Sergey’s sister and her family.
“Lena called,” Sergey said, walking into the room. “She says she can’t take it anymore. Mom bosses everyone around, criticizes how the kids are raised, forces everything to be done her way.”
“And?” Maria raised an eyebrow. “What did you tell her?”
“That life is complicated,” Sergey smirked. “And that decisions have consequences.”
Maria hugged her husband.
“I know how hard this is for you. But you did the right thing. We couldn’t let her manipulate us.”
“I think my father was right,” Sergey sighed. “Mom planned all of this ahead of time. She just didn’t expect I’d be able to say ‘no.’”
“What will happen next? She won’t leave us alone.”
“No, she won’t,” Sergey agreed. “But now I understand: if we give in on this, she’ll never stop. She’ll always decide how we should live.”
The doorbell rang. Sergey’s father, Viktor Andreyevich, stood on the doorstep.
“Hello, kids! May I come in?”
“Of course, Dad,” Sergey said happily. “You’re just in time — we’ve almost finished the renovation.”
“It turned out beautifully,” Viktor Andreyevich nodded approvingly as he looked around the apartment. “Listen, I have news. I offered your mother to move in with me.”
“What?” Sergey stared at his father. “But you two…”
“Haven’t lived together for ten years, yes,” Viktor chuckled. “But you know, sometimes people need time to understand things. Your mother always wanted to control everyone. And now that no one lets her, she’s confused. Maybe it’s time to try things differently.”
“And she agreed?” Maria asked skeptically.
“She’s thinking about it,” Viktor smiled. “But Lena has been calling her every day, complaining she can’t live like this anymore. So Anna doesn’t have many options.”
A week after Maria and Sergey moved into their new apartment, the doorbell rang again. The mother-in-law stood on the threshold.
“May I come in?” she asked unusually quietly.
Maria exchanged a glance with Sergey and nodded.
“Come in.”
Anna Petrovna carefully sat down on the edge of the sofa.
“I… I came to apologize,” she said, staring at the floor. “I behaved… wrongly.”
Sergey raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“It was Viktor who convinced me,” the mother-in-law continued. “He said that I would end up alone if I didn’t learn to respect other people’s boundaries. Even my own children’s.”
She lifted her gaze to Maria.
“I had no right to lay claim to your inheritance. And… I’m sorry.”
Maria remained silent, not knowing what to say. Anna Petrovna had never apologized to anyone before.
“I moved in with your father,” she told Sergey. “For now, temporarily. We’ll see how it goes.”
“That’s… unexpected,” Sergey said. “But I’m glad, Mom.”
“I understand I haven’t earned your trust,” Anna Petrovna sighed. “But I’d like to try to make things right. If you’ll let me.”
Maria finally found her voice:
“Of course, Anna Petrovna. We’ll be glad if things work out between you and Viktor Andreyevich. And… you’re always welcome to visit us. Just as a guest.”
The mother-in-law nodded, forcing a smile for the first time.
“Thank you, Maria.”
When she left, Sergey hugged his wife.
“Do you think she’s really changed?”
“I don’t know,” Maria admitted. “But at least she’s trying. And you know what? That’s already progress.”
“Who would have thought my father would be our savior,” Sergey laughed. “He was always so quiet, so unnoticed.”
“Sometimes the quietest people are the wisest,” Maria said. “The important thing is, we made it through. Together.”
Sergey pulled her closer.
“Together. As it should be.”
