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 Get your rags out of here—this is junk! We need to clear the room for Lenka!” the mother-in-law demanded, and the husband nodded. But they weren’t expecting the answer they were about to get. Anna was working on lace cuffs. A thin needle obediently dove through the weave of threads, leaving behind a barely visible … Read more

 Maxim suddenly sat up on the bed—this horrifying dream had tormented him for an entire decade, and each time he woke up drenched in cold sweat. The voices from his night visions continued to echo in his ears: — You only evoke hatred in me! I curse the moment of our meeting! Stay away from … Read more

  Alla stood in the middle of the living room, clutching a damp rag in her hands. A wine stain was spreading across the floor—the trace of a glass that had been “accidentally” knocked over. Vyacheslav sat on the couch, buried in his tablet, pretending not to notice what was happening. “You’re sleeping in the … Read more

Yana heard the familiar notification sound on her phone and glanced at the screen. A transfer from her parents had arrived at exactly nine in the morning, as usual. Thirty thousand rubles—the familiar amount her mother and father sent every month. “Your parents sent money? Great, then we’ll buy my sister a phone,” her husband … Read more

  The gravel under my car’s wheels rustled irritably as I turned onto the familiar country lane. I was smiling. Igor thinks I’m meeting friends in the city, but I’m racing to him instead. A surprise. He’d said there was a crunch at the dacha—he had to finish some urgent project that required total concentration. … Read more

  “Mom, I’m hungry!” Olya tugged at Anna’s T-shirt hem while Anna sorted through empty grocery bags in the kitchen. Anna swallowed a sigh. In the fridge there was a carton of milk and three yogurts. For three children. “We’ll think of something, sunshine,” she said, automatically stroking her daughter’s hair. “We’ll make sandwiches, okay?” … Read more

Olga received a one-room apartment from her grandmother three years ago. It was small—thirty-two square meters—but in a good neighborhood, with windows facing the courtyard. Her grandmother left it to her granddaughter as the most valuable thing she had. Olga remembered the old woman saying, “This is yours, my dear. So you’ll always have your … Read more

— Olya, you have to understand—we’re not strangers. Stasik wouldn’t approve if he found out you’re treating us like this, Anna Petrovna’s voice—oily and syrup-slow—filled the whole kitchen. She sat at the table Olya had polished to a shine just an hour earlier and acted as if she’d been the one to choose the furniture … Read more

  Sometimes, behind quiet family dinners, devious plans take shape. But even the most carefully calculated schemes have one unforeseen variable—your intuition. An Unpleasant Conversation Through the Wall The smell of roasted duck still hung in the air, a reminder of the recent feast. Zhenya slipped off her shoes and walked barefoot over the cool … Read more

 Larisa Pavlovna stood in front of the hallway mirror, adjusting the collar of her snow-white blouse. Behind her, her husband’s familiar voice rang out: “Have you turned those shows on again? Lara, how long can this go on? Twenty years of the same thing—kitchen, TV, kitchen, TV.” She didn’t turn around. On the screen, a … Read more