“My sister needs lifelong care. Tomorrow I’m bringing her and my nephews to live with us!” the husband declared.
Vera stood by the window, looking out at the evening city drowning in lights. The three-room apartment in a new neighborhood with parks and playgrounds was her pride and joy. Five years earlier, she and Sergey had taken out a mortgage, and ever since, Vera had been working like a dog to cover the bulk of the payments. She headed the sales department at a large company, often stayed late, and brought home more money than her husband.
Sergey worked as a technician for the municipal services. Modest and quiet, he always avoided conflict, preferring to keep silent or agree. Vera loved him for his kindness and gentleness, but sometimes those qualities drove her up the wall. Sergey paid the utility bills, while all the other financial burden rested on his wife’s shoulders.
Sergey had an older sister, Lyudmila, who lived in a neighboring city with her two sons—Kirill and Egor. The boys’ father had run off three years earlier, leaving his ex-wife without a penny in child support. Since then, Lyudmila hadn’t worked, living on benefits and help from relatives. More precisely, on help from her only brother, who couldn’t bring himself to refuse her.
Lyudmila called Sergey almost every week. She complained about having no money, about how hard it was to raise two boys alone, about utility bills, about the empty fridge. Every time, Sergey worried about his sister and secretly transferred her money from his card. Vera knew about it, but tried not to start scandals.
After several visits from Lyudmila, Vera grew more than wary of her sister-in-law. Sergey’s sister had come twice and behaved as if the apartment were hers. She gave orders, criticized the décor, and left mountains of dirty dishes behind. And the nephews turned the place into a zoo branch—drawing on the light wallpaper in the hallway with markers, breaking a leg off the coffee table, spilling juice on the new carpet. They didn’t even react to their aunt’s remarks.
More than once, Vera asked Sergey to limit contact with his sister. She explained that Lyudmila treated them like a resource—sucking money out of them without an ounce of gratitude. Each time Sergey promised he would put his sister in her place, but he kept helping anyway. Vera was furious at his weakness, but she understood: arguments wouldn’t change anything.
One evening Sergey came home pale, as if he’d been doused with ice water. His hands trembled slightly as he took off his jacket. Vera immediately tensed.
“What happened?” she asked, looking up from her laptop.
“Lyudmila’s in the hospital,” Sergey breathed. “She’s had a serious flare-up. The doctors say she needs constant care and rest.”
Vera frowned. Sergey didn’t specify what exactly had flared up. And in general, Lyudmila had never complained about her health—only about being broke and exhausted from the kids.
“She can’t manage household chores on her own,” Sergey went on, avoiding his wife’s eyes. “She can’t handle the kids either. She needs help from family.”
Vera felt tension spread through her body. She already sensed where he was going, and she hated that feeling.
“Sergey, what are you trying to say?”
He took a deep breath, gathering his courage, and blurted it out in one rush:
“My sister needs lifelong care. Tomorrow I’m bringing her and my nephews to live with us!”
Vera froze. For a few seconds she simply stared at him, unable to believe what she’d heard. Then she slowly closed her laptop.
“You’re joking?” Her voice came out quieter than she meant it to.
“No. Lyudmila has nowhere to go, and I can’t leave my sister in trouble!”
“Sergey, we have a three-room apartment, but it’s not made of rubber!” Vera stood up, arms crossed over her chest. “I work from morning till night, I pay most of the mortgage. I can’t also take care of your sister and raise someone else’s children!”
“Someone else’s?!” Sergey flared. “They’re my nephews! How can you say that?!”
“Very easily. Because I’m not obligated to be responsible for them. Lyudmila has an ex-husband—let him help!”
“He vanished! You know that!”
“Then let her take him to court and demand child support through enforcement officers! Let her get a job!” Vera raised her voice. “Why does your sister have to become my problem?”
“Because she’s my only sister!” Sergey shouted—rare for him. “My own blood! That matters more than your comfort and your personal space!”
Vera clenched her fists. She saw stubbornness and unshakable resolve in her husband’s eyes. He wasn’t going to listen to her opinion. He had already decided everything.
“So you’re not even going to discuss it with me? You’re just telling me after the fact?”
“Lyudmila is coming tomorrow,” Sergey said firmly. “I’ve already arranged everything.”
The next day Vera came home from work and found complete chaos in the apartment. Suitcases, bags, and boxes were piled up in the entryway. Lyudmila, who looked perfectly lively and healthy, was directing things in the guest room, telling Sergey where to put another bag.
“Oh, Verочка, hi!” her sister-in-law cried cheerfully when she saw the apartment’s owner. “Don’t mind the mess—we’ll sort it all out in a minute!”
Vera swept her gaze over Sergey’s sister. No signs of a serious illness. Rosy cheeks, a brisk step, energetic movements.
“Lyudmila, what exactly is hurting you?” Vera asked coolly.
“Oh, my girl, don’t ask!” Lyudmila pressed a palm to her forehead, acting as if in pain. “The doctors say I need rest and special care. Otherwise I could end up completely bedridden.”
“Got it,” Vera said, walking into the room where Kirill and Egor had already scattered their things all over the floor.
The first days turned into a nightmare. Lyudmila showed no signs of illness—she walked around the apartment without trouble, made herself tea, talked on the phone for hours while lying on the couch. But she demanded special food, asked Vera not to make noise in the mornings because she “needed sleep,” and occupied the bathroom for hours, treating herself to spa procedures.
Kirill and Egor behaved as if they’d landed in an amusement park. They tore around the apartment, ignored their aunt’s remarks, turned the TV up full blast, dragged food out of the fridge, and tossed wrappers wherever they pleased. Egor broke Vera’s favorite mug, and Kirill accidentally snapped the flower stand in the living room.
Vera tried to talk to Lyudmila about helping around the house and at least keeping minimal control over the children.
“Lyudmila, could you at least wash your own dishes? Or tell the kids not to turn this place upside down?”
Her sister-in-law was lying on the couch, scrolling through her social media feed.
“Verochka, you can see I’m sick. I’m not allowed to strain myself. And the kids… what can I do? They’re active, energetic. I can’t control them in my condition!”
“In what condition?! You lie around all day with your phone!”
“The doctors said rest, and only rest,” Lyudmila replied without even looking up from the screen.
Vera cooked breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for five. Cleaned up after her nephews, washed piles of other people’s laundry, did the dishes after her sister-in-law. And on top of that she worked from morning till evening—hitting her sales targets and talking to clients. Sergey came home late and tried not to notice the disorder taking over the apartment…
A week later, Vera’s patience finally snapped. She walked into the bedroom and found Lyudmila at her wardrobe. Her sister-in-law was trying on an expensive blue dress Vera had bought for herself last New Year’s.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Vera snatched the dress out of Lyudmila’s hands.
“Oh, come on! I just wanted to see how it looks on me!” Lyudmila replied with injured indignation. “You’re not stingy, are you?”
Vera unfolded the dress and saw a greasy stain on the hem. Lyudmila had already managed to soil it.
“You ruined my dress! And you’re going through my things without asking?!”
“Well, in a family everything should be shared,” Lyudmila shrugged. “Don’t be so cheap. You’ve got plenty anyway.”
Vera forced her sister-in-law out of the bedroom and locked the door. Her hands were shaking with rage. She grabbed her phone and dialed Sergey.
“Tomorrow. Do you hear me? Tomorrow your sister and her kids are moving out of here!” she blurted the moment her husband answered.
“Vera, what are you talking about? Lyudmila has nowhere to go!”
“I don’t care! She’s healthy, she has no intention of working, she’s turned our apartment into a pigsty! I’m not obligated to put up with this!”
“She’s sick! You’re cruel and selfish! You don’t want to help family!”
Your family, not mine!” Vera screamed. “I pay more for this apartment than you do, and I won’t let you run my home without my consent!”
“So that’s how it is,” Sergey’s voice turned firm and cold. “Lyudmila isn’t going anywhere. That’s my decision. If you don’t like it, you can leave yourself.”
Vera sank onto the bed. She hadn’t expected that response. Her husband was choosing his sister—choosing a lazy stranger and two spoiled boys over his own wife.
“Fine,” Vera said quietly. “If that’s the case, I really will leave.”
She hung up and began packing. Two suitcases—just the essentials. Makeup, documents, her laptop, clothes. By the time Sergey came home, Vera was already standing in the entryway with her bags.
“Are you serious?” he asked, staring at his wife in confusion.
“Completely. You made your choice. Blood ties turned out to be stronger than marriage vows. Fine—live with your sister. But understand this: I’m not paying the mortgage anymore. That’s your problem now.”
“What?! But I can’t manage those payments on my own!”
“Not my concern,” Vera said, picking up her bags and heading for the door. “Ask Lyudmila to get a job. Or let your nephews earn some money. I don’t care.”
She went to her parents’. The next day she filed for divorce through an attorney. They had very little jointly acquired property apart from the mortgaged apartment, so the case promised to be quick. Vera asked her lawyer to draw up the documents so she could give up her share of the apartment in exchange for being released from the debt obligations.
Sergey called her every day, begging her to come back. He said Lyudmila would recover soon and move out. That he hadn’t thought Vera was this serious. That he loved her and didn’t want a divorce.
“Sergey, you chose your sister. Now live with her,” Vera would reply, and end the call.
A month later it became clear Sergey couldn’t keep up with the mortgage. Lyudmila, of course, didn’t get a job, continuing to play the invalid. The nephews trashed the apartment even more. The bank began sending notices about overdue payments.
Vera landed a new, even better-paid position at another company. She rented a one-bedroom apartment in a quiet neighborhood and enjoyed the peace. No strangers, no scandals, no Lyudmila with her constant demands.
Sergey called one last time three months later. His voice was desperate.
“Vera, I was wrong. Forgive me. Lyudmila… she’s completely out of control. She’s demanding I transfer the apartment into her name. She says the kids should have their own place. I don’t know what to do!”
“Then live with it,” Vera replied calmly. “You chose who mattered more to you. I warned you.”
She hung up and blocked her ex-husband’s number. Her new life was only beginning, and there was no place in it for weak-willed Sergey, brazen Lyudmila, or her destructive nephews. Vera smirked as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Let Sergey deal with his “family bonds” now. She was free.
