Sveta had just stepped out of the shower and wrapped her hair in a towel when the apartment door slammed. Viktor had come home from work earlier than usual, which immediately made her uneasy. Normally, her husband never got home before seven, and now it was only half past five.
“Vit, are you home?” Sveta called from the bathroom.
“Yes,” her husband replied, and from his voice it was clear that he was in a bad mood.
Sveta quickly threw on a robe and went out into the hallway. Viktor was sitting on the sofa, his shoes off, but he had not even changed clothes. His face was gloomy, his shoulders slumped. Something serious had clearly happened.
“What happened?” Sveta asked, sitting down beside him.
“Mom fell,” Viktor said briefly. “She broke her leg. They took her to the hospital this morning.”
Sveta frowned. Galina Semyonovna was a strong woman despite being sixty-two. She had worked as a nurse until retirement, was used to taking care of herself, and rarely went to doctors. If she had ended up in the hospital, then it had to be serious.
“How did she break it? Where?” Sveta asked.
“At home. She fell in the bathroom. A neighbor heard her screaming and called an ambulance. The doctors say it’s a complicated fracture. She needs surgery.”
“My God,” Sveta said, shaking her head in shock. “How is she now? Is she in a lot of pain?”
“She’s still under anesthesia for now. Surgery is tomorrow. And then there’ll be a long rehabilitation period — at least two months.”
Sveta nodded, mentally calculating what this would mean for the family. Galina Semyonovna lived alone in her one-room apartment. She had two children: Viktor and his sister Zhanna. But Zhanna had moved to another city three years earlier, gotten married, and had a baby. So the main responsibility for caring for their mother would fall on Viktor.
“Does Zhanna know?” Sveta asked.
“She knows. She says she’ll come on the weekend to visit, but she can’t do more than that. She has a nursing baby, and her husband is often away on business trips.”
“I see,” Sveta said thoughtfully. “Well, it’s all right. We’ll manage. We can hire a caregiver at first, while the hardest part passes.”
Viktor sharply turned toward his wife.
“What caregiver? This is my mother! How can we trust her to a stranger?”
“Not a stranger,” Sveta objected. “There are special agencies. People with medical training work there. Your mother was a nurse herself. She’ll understand.”
“What are you talking about?” Viktor stood up from the sofa and paced across the room. “What money are we supposed to use for a caregiver? We already have enough expenses.”
Sveta stayed silent, though she wanted to object. The family had enough money. Viktor worked as an engineer at a factory and earned a decent salary. Sveta worked as a marketing specialist at an advertising agency. The apartment they lived in had come to Sveta from her father after his death. It was a two-room apartment in a good district, with no mortgage and no loans. Financially, their family was quite comfortable.
“Vit, we can find a compromise,” Sveta said carefully. “Maybe a caregiver during the day, and in the evenings and on weekends we’ll visit?”
“No,” Viktor cut her off. “Mom is used to family, to people close to her. After an injury like that, she needs support, not some strange woman.”
“All right,” Sveta agreed. “Then I’ll come after work and help. And on weekends we can go together.”
Viktor stopped and looked at his wife.
“Come? Sveta, Mom won’t be able to walk on her own for two months. She needs constant care.”
“What do you mean?” Sveta did not understand.
“Someone has to be with her. Constantly. Feed her, give her medicine, help around the house.”
Sveta slowly nodded, beginning to understand where the conversation was going.
“And who is this someone?”
“Well…” Viktor hesitated. “I work. I can’t take two months off.”
“So I can?” Sveta asked quietly.
“You have a flexible schedule,” Viktor said hurriedly. “You can arrange something at the agency. Work remotely.”
Sveta got up from the sofa and went into the kitchen, where she poured herself some water. Her thoughts were tangled. Tomorrow she had the most important interview of her life — for the position of head of marketing at a large company. It was the chance Sveta had dreamed of for several years. A promotion, new prospects, interesting projects.
“Vit,” Sveta said, returning to the room, “I have an interview tomorrow. A very important one.”
“What interview?” Viktor asked in surprise.
“I told you,” Sveta said, looking at her husband in disbelief. “For the department head position at Premium Marketing. We talked about it a week ago.”
“Oh, right,” Viktor waved his hand. “Reschedule it. Mom is more important.”
Sveta froze with the glass in her hands. Reschedule? The interview for her dream position, scheduled for ten o’clock tomorrow morning?
“Vit, it can’t be rescheduled,” Sveta explained. “There are a hundred candidates. If I don’t come tomorrow, they’ll give the position to someone else.”
“So what?” Viktor shrugged. “You’ll find another job.”
“Another job?” Sveta put the glass down on the table. “Vit, this is my career growth. I’ve been working toward this for several years.”
“And Mom isn’t important?” Viktor’s voice grew harder. “Family should come first.”
“Family is important,” Sveta agreed. “But there are other options. A caregiver, for example.”
“Forget about the caregiver!” Viktor roared. “I already told you — it’s a waste of money!”
“It’s not such a huge expense,” Sveta objected. “And I’ll be able to keep working and developing professionally.”
“Developing!” Viktor snorted. “What, are you more important than my mother?”
“I’m not saying I’m more important,” Sveta felt irritation beginning to boil inside her. “I’m saying we can find a compromise.”
“No compromises!” Viktor cut her off. “Mom needs help, and we should be the ones to help her, not strangers.”
“By ‘we,’ you mean me, right?” Sveta clarified.
“Who else? I work. I provide for the family.”
“I work too,” Sveta reminded him. “And I also provide for the family.”
“Not to the same extent,” Viktor dismissed her.
Sveta pressed her lips together. Yes, Viktor earned more, but not so much more that her work could be considered insignificant. Besides, the apartment belonged to Sveta, which saved their family budget a great deal.
“Vit, let’s think logically,” Sveta tried again. “Your mother broke her leg, not her arms. She can do a lot herself. She just needs help with food, cleaning, and medicine. A caregiver can handle that.”
“No!” Viktor declared categorically. “Mom will be upset with a stranger. She needs family around.”
“All right,” Sveta nodded. “Then we take turns. You take leave for the first week, I’ll take the second.”
“I can’t take leave!” Viktor was outraged. “We have an important project. They won’t manage without me.”
“And I have an important interview tomorrow,” Sveta countered. “They won’t manage without me either.”
“An interview isn’t even a job yet!” Viktor shouted. “It’s only an opportunity!”
“An opportunity I’ll miss if I don’t go tomorrow!”
“Then miss it!” Viktor yelled. “Family is more important than a career!”
Sveta felt the blood rush to her face. Months of preparation for this interview, sleepless nights over the project she had to present, studying the company, rehearsing the presentation — all of it was supposed to go to waste because her mother-in-law had broken her leg?
“Vit,” Sveta said as calmly as she could, “I understand that you’re worried about your mother. But you can’t demand that I give up my career.”
“Why can’t I?” Viktor seemed genuinely surprised. “You’re a wife. You should support the family.”
“Support — yes,” Sveta agreed. “But not sacrifice myself.”
“Sacrifice?” Viktor laughed. “You can’t take care of your husband’s mother?”
“I can,” Sveta answered. “But not at the cost of my own future.”
“What future?” Viktor waved his hand. “You work and work. Mom is alone and sick.”
“Viktor, your mother has a broken leg, not a fatal diagnosis,” Sveta said sharply. “In two months she’ll be on her feet and living as before. But my career could be broken forever.”
“Nonsense!” Viktor dismissed her. “You’ll find another job, other opportunities.”
“In marketing? At thirty?” Sveta shook her head. “You don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“I do understand!” Viktor snapped. “I understand that a wife should put family above her career!”
“And a husband should support his wife, not give her ultimatums,” Sveta shot back.
“What ultimatums?” Viktor was indignant. “I’m asking you to help my sick mother!”
“You’re demanding that I give up my interview!”
“So what? It’s just an interview! There will be others!”
“There won’t!” Sveta shouted. “Opportunities like this come once every few years!”
“Then it wasn’t meant to be,” Viktor shrugged.
Sveta stared at her husband, unable to believe what she had just heard. Not meant to be? Years of work, study, self-improvement — and all of it was simply “not meant to be”?
“Vit,” Sveta said slowly, “when you married me, you promised to support my career.”
“I did support it,” Viktor nodded. “And I do. But family is more important.”
“Family is you and me,” Sveta reminded him. “Not only your mother.”
“Mom is family too!” Viktor protested. “And she needs help!”
“Then help her yourself!” Sveta finally lost her patience. “Take leave and stay with your mother!”
“I can’t! I have work!”
“So do I!”
“Your work isn’t that important!”
Sveta froze. Not that important? The work to which she had devoted the last five years, which brought the family decent income, which was her calling — not important?
“What do you mean, not important?” Sveta asked quietly.
“Well, not as important as mine,” Viktor explained. “I’m the main breadwinner in the family.”
“The main breadwinner?” Sveta slowly nodded. “In my apartment?”
“What does the apartment have to do with this?” Viktor asked, surprised.
“It has everything to do with it. Without my apartment, you’d have to rent a place,” Sveta explained. “And then your salary wouldn’t be enough for all the expenses.”
“So what?” Viktor shrugged. “The apartment exists. We live in it.”
“My apartment,” Sveta clarified.
“Ours!” Viktor objected. “After marriage, everything becomes shared!”
“No,” Sveta shook her head. “The apartment came to me from my father. It’s my property.”
“Formally,” Viktor waved her off. “In reality, it’s shared.”
“In reality, it’s mine,” Sveta said firmly. “And I decide what happens in it.”
“What does that mean?” Viktor did not understand.
“It means that if you consider my work unimportant and my interests secondary, then you don’t have to live in my apartment.”
Viktor was stunned.
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m explaining reality,” Sveta answered calmly. “You want me to sacrifice my career for your mother. And I don’t want to.”
“Sveta, how can you!” Viktor was indignant. “Mom is sick and alone!”
“Sick, but not helpless,” Sveta objected. “And not alone. She has a son who can take leave or hire a caregiver.”
“I already explained — I can’t take leave!”
“And I explained — I can’t miss my interview,” Sveta replied.
“Well, fine!” Viktor exploded. “So Mom is a stranger to you!”
“Not a stranger,” Sveta objected. “But my career is more important to me.”
“Career!” Viktor snorted contemptuously. “Big deal, head of a department! You’ll earn a few pennies more!”
“It’s not only about money,” Sveta explained. “It’s about self-realization, professional growth.”
“Self-realization!” Viktor mocked her. “Have you ever heard of family duty?”
“Family duty means mutual support,” Sveta said. “Not forcing someone into sacrifice.”
“What forcing?” Viktor protested. “I’m asking you to help my sick mother!”
“You’re demanding that I give up an important interview,” Sveta clarified.
“So what? You’ll find another job!”
“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t,” Sveta said. “But tomorrow’s chance will definitely be lost.”
“Then let it be lost!” Viktor barked. “The main thing is helping family!”
“Your family,” Sveta corrected him. “My family is me. And I’m responsible for myself.”
“Your family is us!” Viktor shouted. “Husband and wife!”
“Husband and wife support each other,” Sveta agreed. “They don’t give each other ultimatums.”
“What ultimatums?” Viktor protested.
“Forget about the promotion. Now your job is to sit with my mother,” Sveta quoted his words back to him.
Viktor flushed, apparently realizing how it had sounded.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” he muttered.
“That is exactly what you meant,” Sveta objected. “And that is exactly what you think.”
“Sveta, let’s not go to extremes,” Viktor tried. “Mom just needs help.”
“She does,” Sveta agreed. “And she’ll get it. But not at the cost of my career.”
“At whose cost, then?”
“At the cost of your vacation time or a hired caregiver,” Sveta repeated. “There are many options.”
“I can’t take leave, and a caregiver is extra money.”
“Then that’s your problem,” Sveta said. “Solve it yourself.”
“What do you mean, mine?” Viktor protested. “We’re a family!”
“A family where everyone is responsible for their own relatives,” Sveta clarified.
“Sveta, have you become completely heartless?” Viktor asked accusingly.
“Not heartless,” Sveta answered. “Reasonable. And unwilling to sacrifice my future for someone else’s convenience.”
“Someone else?” Viktor flared up. “That’s my mother!”
“Exactly,” Sveta nodded. “Yours. Not mine.”
Sveta frowned and looked directly into her husband’s eyes, trying to process what she had heard. Gradually, she began to realize that this was not really about helping his sick mother at all. It was about keeping his wife at home and controlling her life. Convenient, wasn’t it? While Sveta sat with her mother-in-law, there would be no career ambitions, no interviews, no professional growth. Viktor would be the only breadwinner, and therefore the head of the family.
“Listen,” Sveta said without raising her voice, “why should my plans collapse because of your decisions?”
“What decisions?” Viktor did not understand.
“The decision that I should sit with your mother,” Sveta explained. “The decision that my interview doesn’t matter. The decision that my career is secondary.”
“I told you — family is more important!” Viktor shouted.
“You did,” Sveta nodded. “And I understood. Your family is more important than my interests.”
“Not my family — ours!”
“No,” Sveta shook her head. “If it were ours, you would have asked my opinion instead of presenting me with a fact.”
“I’m not presenting anything! I’m asking!”
“You’re demanding,” Sveta corrected him. “And threatening that otherwise your mother will be left without help.”
“What else am I supposed to do?” Viktor spread his hands. “Mom can’t manage on her own!”
“She can,” Sveta objected. “She has a broken leg, not paralysis. And there are options for help besides me.”
“What options? A caregiver costs money! Taking leave will hurt my job!”
“And my interview won’t be hurt?” Sveta clarified. “My career won’t be hurt?”
“You’ll find another job!”
“Then you find another job too, since it’s so easy,” Sveta suggested. “Or another mother.”
“Sveta!” Viktor was outraged. “How can you say that?”
“The same way you talk about my work,” Sveta answered.
“These are different things!”
“They are,” Sveta agreed. “My work comes from my labor. Your mother came to you by birth.”
“Sveta, stop!” Viktor shouted. “You are obligated to help!”
“Obligated?” Sveta repeated. “By what?”
“You’re a wife! You should support your husband!”
“Support — yes,” Sveta agreed. “But not obey. And not sacrifice myself.”
“Sacrifice!” Viktor snorted. “Big deal, sitting with a sick old woman!”
“Big deal,” Sveta nodded. “Missing the chance of a lifetime.”
“What kind of chance is this?” Viktor exploded. “To earn a thousand more?”
“To lead a department,” Sveta said. “To develop professionally. To implement projects.”
“Projects!” Viktor snorted contemptuously. “More important than a sick mother!”
“For me, yes,” Sveta answered honestly.
Viktor was stunned by such bluntness.
“You… you’re serious?”
“Absolutely,” Sveta confirmed. “Your mother is your responsibility. My career is my responsibility.”
“But we’re husband and wife!” Viktor shouted. “We should help each other!”
“Help — yes,” Sveta agreed. “Not offer ourselves as sacrifices.”
“No one is asking for sacrifices!” Viktor protested. “Just help!”
“Giving up the most important interview of my life is not a sacrifice?” Sveta clarified.
“You’ll find other interviews!”
“Possibly,” Sveta nodded. “And you’ll find other ways to help your mother.”
“Sveta, you don’t understand me!” Viktor grabbed his head. “I don’t have other ways!”
“You do,” Sveta objected. “It’s just more convenient for you to dump the problem on me.”
“What do you mean, dump it? We’re family!”
“A family where the wife is supposed to sacrifice her career for her husband’s mother,” Sveta clarified. “And the husband doesn’t have to sacrifice anything.”
“I work! I bring in money!”
“I work too,” Sveta reminded him. “And I bring in money too.”
“But I earn more!”
“In my apartment,” Sveta added.
“What does the apartment have to do with it?” Viktor flew into a rage.
“It gives me the right to make decisions,” Sveta explained.
“What decisions?”
“About who lives here, for example,” Sveta said, getting up from the table.
“What are you doing?” Viktor asked warily when he saw his wife heading toward the bedroom.
“What I should have done earlier,” Sveta answered, opening the wardrobe.
She took out Viktor’s large suitcase, placed it on the bed, and began carefully folding her husband’s things. Shirts, trousers, socks, underwear — she packed everything methodically, without rushing.
“Sveta, what are you doing?” Viktor burst into the bedroom.
“Helping you pack,” Sveta calmly answered, folding his suit into the suitcase.
“Pack for where?”
“To your mother’s,” Sveta explained. “Since she needs help so badly, live with her. Take care of her around the clock.”
“Sveta, stop!” Viktor tried to take his wife’s hands, but she pulled away.
“Don’t touch me,” Sveta said. “Pack your things.”
“I’m not going anywhere!” Viktor declared. “This is my home too!”
“No,” Sveta shook her head, closing the suitcase. “This is my home. And I decide who lives in it.”
She picked up the suitcase and carried it into the hallway. She placed it by the door and put Viktor’s jacket and shoes beside it.
“Sveta, you’ve lost your mind!” Viktor shouted. “Where am I supposed to go?”
“To your mother’s,” Sveta repeated. “She’s sick and lonely, isn’t she? So you’ll be together.”
“What about our marriage?”
“What marriage?” Sveta asked in surprise. “The one where the wife is obligated to sacrifice her career for her husband’s relatives?”
“Sveta, I didn’t want…”
“You did,” Sveta interrupted. “That is exactly what you wanted. For me to sit at home and not stick my head out.”
“That’s not true!”
“It is,” Sveta objected, extending her hand. “Keys.”
“What keys?”
“To my apartment.”
“I won’t give them!” Viktor declared. “This is our home!”
“My home,” Sveta corrected him. “And the keys are mine. Give them to me.”
“You have no right to throw me out!”
“I do,” Sveta said calmly. “The owner has the right to decide who lives in her apartment.”
“We’re husband and wife!”
“We were,” Sveta corrected him. “Until the moment you decided that I was obligated to sacrifice myself for your relatives.”
“Sveta, let’s talk calmly!” Viktor pleaded.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Sveta answered. “Give me the keys.”
“And if I refuse?”
“I’ll call a locksmith and change the locks,” Sveta promised. “Then I’ll call the local police officer. I’ll explain that my soon-to-be ex-husband doesn’t want to move out of my apartment.”
“Ex?” Viktor repeated, stunned.
“Soon-to-be ex,” Sveta clarified. “Tomorrow I’ll file for divorce.”
“Because of Mom?”
“Because of your attitude toward me,” Sveta explained. “Keys.”
Viktor slowly reached into his pocket and took out the key ring. Sveta took it without looking him in the eyes.
“Take your things,” she said, nodding toward the suitcase.
“Sveta, think about it!” Viktor tried one last time. “We loved each other!”
“I loved a man who promised to support my career,” Sveta answered. “Not one who demands sacrifices from me for his own convenience.”
“It’s not for convenience! Mom is sick!”
“Your mother is sick, and you are lazy,” Sveta said. “You don’t want to take leave. You don’t want to spend money on a caregiver. It’s easier to force your wife.”
“Sveta…”
“That’s enough,” Sveta interrupted. “From now on, you live however you think is right, but not at my expense and not in my home.”
Viktor took the suitcase and stood by the door for a while, apparently hoping his wife would change her mind. But Sveta silently looked at him, waiting for him to leave.
“You’ll regret this!” Viktor snapped, grabbing his jacket.
“I won’t,” Sveta answered calmly.
“You’ll be left alone!”
“And that’s perfectly fine,” Sveta agreed.
Viktor slammed the door so hard that the glass shook. Sveta turned the lock, put on the chain, and took a deep breath. The apartment became quiet. No one was shouting about family duty. No one was demanding sacrifices.
The woman went into the bedroom, where the suit for tomorrow’s interview was still laid out on the bed. Strict, professional, appropriate for an important meeting. Sveta ran her hand over the fabric and smiled. Tomorrow at ten in the morning was the interview that could change her entire life.
In the kitchen, she made herself tea, sat down at the table, and opened her notebook with the presentation plan. Before tomorrow, she still needed to check the numbers one more time, rehearse her speech, and prepare for tricky questions. There was a lot of work, but now no one would distract her with speeches about family duty.
The phone rang around ten in the evening. An unknown number. Sveta thought for a moment and decided to answer.
“Hello?”
“Sveta? This is Galina Semyonovna, Vitya’s mother.”
“I’m listening,” Sveta answered restrainedly.
“My dear, Vitya told me that you two had… a falling-out. Maybe we could meet and talk?”
“Galina Semyonovna,” Sveta said, “you’re in the hospital after surgery. You need to recover, not deal with your son’s family problems.”
“But I’m worried!” her mother-in-law sobbed. “Vitya says you threw him out!”
“I didn’t throw him out,” Sveta corrected her. “I suggested that he live separately and think about his priorities.”
“What priorities? Family should come first!”
“For everyone, their own family comes first,” Sveta said. “For your son, you come first. For me, I come first.”
“Sveta, how can that be? I’m sick, helpless…”
“You broke your leg,” Sveta reminded her. “It’s not fatal. In two months you’ll be on your feet and living as before.”
“And who will take care of me?”
“Your son,” Sveta answered. “Or a hired caregiver.”
“A caregiver is extra money!”
“But my career will remain intact,” Sveta said.
“Career!” Galina Semyonovna snorted. “Big deal, work! Family is more important!”
“For me, my work is more important,” Sveta answered honestly.
“Selfish woman!” her mother-in-law exclaimed.
“Maybe,” Sveta agreed. “But at least I’m not a victim.”
“Sveta, come to your senses! Vitya is a good boy. He loves you!”
“He loves me as long as I’m convenient,” Sveta objected. “And as soon as my interests don’t match his plans, he immediately demands sacrifices.”
“So what, missing one interview!”
“Galina Semyonovna,” Sveta said patiently, “this is an interview for my dream position. I’ve been preparing for it for several months.”
“You’ll find another job!”
“And you find another son,” Sveta suggested.
“Sveta!” her mother-in-law gasped.
“Goodbye, Galina Semyonovna,” Sveta said and hung up.
]
No one called again. Sveta finished her tea, reviewed the presentation one more time, and went to bed. Tomorrow was an important day, and she wanted to get enough sleep.
In the morning, Sveta woke up at half past six, took a shower, carefully did her makeup, and put on the suit she had prepared the night before. In the mirror, she saw a confident businesswoman ready for a serious conversation about her career.
The interview went excellently. Her presentation was received with interest, the questions were relevant, and the atmosphere was professional and friendly. Two hours later, Sveta left the office with the firm certainty that she would get the position.
The call came that same evening. They offered her the position of head of marketing with a three-month probation period. The conditions were excellent, and the prospects for career growth were outstanding.
“I accept,” Sveta said into the phone. “When do I start?”
“Monday, if that works for you.”
“That works,” Sveta confirmed.
After hanging up, the woman sat down in an armchair and smiled. Just like that, the dilemma that had seemed impossible yesterday had been resolved. She hadn’t had to persuade anyone. She hadn’t had to justify herself to anyone. She had simply made a choice and gotten the result.
The phone rang again. This time, it was Viktor.
“Sveta, how are you?” her husband’s voice sounded dull.
“Excellent,” Sveta answered. “I got the job.”
“What job?”
“The one whose interview I was supposed to miss,” Sveta reminded him.
“Oh… I see,” Viktor said after a pause. “Sveta, maybe we can talk? Meet?”
“Why?” Sveta asked in surprise.
“Well… maybe something can be fixed?”
“Viktor,” Sveta said, “yesterday you demanded that I give up the most important interview of my life for your mother. Today I passed that interview and got my dream job. What is there to fix?”
“Well… I didn’t know it was so important to you…”
“You knew,” Sveta objected. “I told you about it for a week. You just didn’t consider it important.”
“Sveta, I understand my mistake…”
“Good,” Sveta agreed. “Then don’t repeat it in your next marriage.”
“Next?” Viktor was confused.
“I told you I would file for divorce,” Sveta reminded him. “Tomorrow I’ll go do it.”
“Sveta, don’t! Let’s discuss everything!”
“Viktor,” Sveta said patiently, “I’m thirty years old. I finally got my dream job. I have my own apartment, my own plans, my own ambitions. Why do I need a husband who considers all of that secondary?”
“I don’t…”
“You do,” Sveta interrupted. “And you won’t change. Next time, you’ll find another reason to demand sacrifices from me.”
“I won’t! I swear!”
“Viktor,” Sveta said, “your mother will recover in two months. I will work in my new position for years. What do you think matters more to me?”
Viktor was silent.
“You see,” Sveta said. “And for me, there is no doubt. Good luck to you. And health to your mother.”
After ending the call, Sveta went into the kitchen and opened a bottle of champagne she had long been saving for a special occasion. The special occasion had arrived. A new job, new prospects, a new life. And no one would demand that she sacrifice herself for someone else’s convenience.
Outside the window, the summer sun was shining, children were playing in the yard, and life went on. And Sveta was happy to be part of that life — on her own terms.