The door slammed with indifferent loudness, cutting off the sounds from the stairwell. Vadim stepped aside to let her go first. The girl. I knew they would come. He had called in the afternoon, his voice soaked with that brisk businesslike cheerfulness I’d learned to hate, and said that in the evening there would be … Read more
Lena stood on the threshold of her bedroom, staring at the wreck Valentina Petrovna had made of her closet. Half the shelves gaped empty, as if a hurricane had blown through. On the bed lay a neat stack of survivors—gray blouses, dark knee-length skirts, nondescript cardigans. Everything her mother-in-law deemed fit for a married woman. … Read more
Rita turned off the engine and looked at the country house through the windshield. Nothing seemed to have changed—the same blue roof, the same birches around the perimeter of the plot, the same gate her father had once painted green. The only odd thing was that the veranda light was on. Maybe the neighbors? Except…the … Read more
Natalya was standing at the stove, stirring the soup, when she heard a familiar little cough behind her. Valentina Yegorovna walked into the kitchen with her particular gait—slow and stately, like a general inspecting his domain. “You’ve overcooked the potatoes again,” the mother-in-law peered into the pot over her daughter-in-law’s shoulder. “Is that how you … Read more
The fluorescent lights in the hospital corridor emitted a slight buzz as Evelyn Grant, seven months pregnant, awaited her appointment with trepidation. She rested a protecting hand on her distended abdomen, lovingly murmuring to the child inside. At that moment, the sound of high-end heels striking the floor resonated. Evelyn’s heart plummeted when her husband, … Read more
The majority of billionaires relish attention. They relished orations, handshakes, and the radiance of television cameras. Richard Hale was distinct. On the inaugural day of St. Matthew’s Medical Centre, the hospital he had constructed with his own wealth, he was not there on stage with lawmakers. Instead, Richard donned a janitorial suit. His badge identified … Read more
The rag in my hand felt useless against the stubborn oil stain bleeding into the cheap linoleum. It was a metaphor for my life, I supposed—a constant, wearying effort to clean up messes that weren’t mine. A mountain of laundry slumped in a nearby chair, and the chemical scent of detergent from a plastic bucket … Read more
The voice recorder shook in my hands, a small, black rectangle that held the complete and utter devastation of my life. A familiar voice, my husband’s, came through the tiny speaker, smooth and intimate. “Hey, beautiful. Your husband is leaving on a business trip tomorrow.” It was Mike’s voice, the voice I had woken up … Read more
Lyudmila Sergeyevna was carefully arranging porcelain cups on the shelf when she heard the familiar rumble of an engine in the yard. Her heart skipped a beat—the sound took her back to childhood, when her father would arrive in his old Volga. Now her brother Viktor drove one just like it. “Tolya!” she called to … Read more
The text message from the bank arrived at 7:15 a.m. “Debit transaction in the amount of…” I swiped the notification away without opening it. Dima often transferred money for building materials for the dacha. It was routine. The second came a minute later. The third—while I was pouring water into the kettle. The phone started … Read more