“Fine. If your mother moves in with us, then mine will live with us too,” I calmly told my husband in response to his suggestion.
“Mom is going to move in with us soon,” Maxim said as if in passing, without taking his eyes off his phone. “She has already sold her apartment.”
Nadya froze, an unfinished book in her hands. For a moment, she thought she had misheard him.
“Sorry, what did you say? Your mother sold her apartment and is moving in with us? And you decided to tell me this… just like that?”
“What’s the big deal?” Maxim finally looked up at his wife. “It’s hard for her to be alone after Lyuda went to live with her daughter in Germany. We can’t leave her by herself.”
Nadya slowly placed the book on the coffee table. In twelve years of marriage, she had learned to hold back her emotions, especially when the conversation concerned her mother-in-law. But this time, it was beyond her strength.
“Tell me, did it not even occur to you to discuss this with me? To ask my opinion? Or am I just furniture here, something that doesn’t need to be considered?”
“Nadya, why are you starting again? She’s my mother!” irritation crept into Maxim’s voice. “Where else is she supposed to go?”
Nadya took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
“If you bring your mother here to live with us, then I’ll bring mine,” she calmly replied.
Maxim laughed.
“Oh, come on! Alexandra Alexandrovna would never agree to move out of her house in the suburbs. She rules there like a queen!”
“Don’t be so sure,” Nadya said, surprised by her own calmness. “My mother would do anything for me. Especially if I explain the situation.”
A week later, their three-room apartment in a residential district of the city was filled with boxes belonging to Marina Ignatovna. Her mother-in-law had brought half of her belongings, including an antique sideboard that now took up half the living room.
“This sideboard belonged to my grandmother,” she explained, arranging porcelain figurines on the shelves. “It holds the history of our family!”
“But we agreed that you would leave large items behind,” Nadya said cautiously.
“What do you mean, ‘leave them behind’? Where? With whom?” Marina Ignatovna lifted her chin indignantly. “I’ve preserved these things all my life! I couldn’t just throw them away!”
The first few days passed relatively peacefully. Nadya tried to be polite, and Marina Ignatovna tried to be helpful. But it soon became clear that their ideas of living together were completely different.
“Nadenka,” her mother-in-law said in a sickly sweet voice, “I rewashed your blouses. You sort whites and colors incorrectly. And you iron from the wrong side.”
“Thank you, Marina Ignatovna, but I asked you not to touch my things,” Nadya said, feeling irritation begin to boil inside her.
“What nonsense! I only wanted to help. Maxim always liked his shirts ironed in a certain way. I taught his wife how to do it properly, but she never learned.”
Nadya blinked.
“His… wife?”
“Oh, I mean you, of course!” Marina Ignatovna waved her hand carelessly. “It’s just that I’ve explained it so many times, and you still do everything your own way.”
That evening, Nadya tried to talk to her husband.
“Maxim, your mother rewashed all my things and re-ironed them her way. I asked her not to touch my clothes.”
Maxim shrugged, without looking away from his laptop.
“She just wants to be useful. What, does that bother you?”
“That’s not the point. The point is respect for my requests and my personal space.”
“Don’t exaggerate,” Maxim brushed her off. “Mom is trying her best, and you’re nitpicking.”
Two weeks later, Nadya realized things could not continue like this. Marina Ignatovna had completely taken control of the apartment. She rearranged all the dishes in the cupboards because “it’s more convenient this way,” threw out Nadya’s favorite flower because “it only makes dirt,” and began looking through her documents because “I accidentally opened the drawer.”
The final straw came when her mother-in-law began criticizing her in Maxim’s presence.
“Son, you need more protein in your diet. Nadya cooks too many carbohydrates. No wonder you’ve gained weight lately.”
Nadya silently got up from the table and went into the bedroom. Half an hour later, Maxim came in.
“Why did you run away? Mom is offended.”
“Your mother is offended?” Nadya looked at him in disbelief. “And the fact that she constantly criticizes me, my habits, my cooking, my things — that’s normal?”
“She’s just worried about me,” Maxim shrugged. “You’re overreacting.”
That night, Nadya couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. In the morning, she called her mother.
Alexandra Alexandrovna arrived three days later with a small suitcase.
“Mommy!” Nadya threw her arms around her neck when she opened the door.
“Hello, my daughter,” Alexandra Alexandrovna hugged her and glanced around the hallway. “I see a lot has changed here since my last visit.”
Marina Ignatovna appeared in the doorway. Her face showed extreme surprise.
“Alexandra? What are you doing here?”
“Hello, Marina,” Alexandra Alexandrovna nodded calmly. “Nadya invited me to stay with you for a while. I haven’t seen my grandchildren in two months. I missed them.”
“What grandchildren?” Marina Ignatovna asked, confused. “They don’t have children.”
“Ah, yes,” Alexandra Alexandrovna smiled. “I meant my grandchildren from my younger son. I was just thinking about them on the way here.”
Marina Ignatovna looked at her daughter-in-law distrustfully.
“You didn’t warn us we would have guests.”
“Did you warn me that you had sold your apartment and were moving in with us permanently?” Nadya replied.
That evening, Maxim started a real scandal with Nadya.
“How could you invite your mother without discussing it with me?”
Nadya looked at him in surprise.
“The same way you invited yours. The only difference is that my mother came to visit, not to live with us permanently.”
“That’s completely different!” Maxim raised his voice. “My mother was left alone. She has nowhere to go.”
“So my mother doesn’t have the right to visit her daughter?” Nadya crossed her arms. “I warned you: if you bring your mother, I’ll bring mine. I kept my word.”
With Alexandra Alexandrovna’s arrival, a strange atmosphere settled over the apartment. The two elderly women silently competed for influence in the home. But while Marina Ignatovna acted forcefully and aggressively, Nadya’s mother chose another tactic.
When her mother-in-law criticized the lunch Nadya had prepared, Alexandra Alexandrovna calmly remarked:
“You have interesting culinary preferences, Marina. In our family, we have always appreciated the efforts of the person who cooks. And if we don’t like a dish, we simply offer help instead of criticism.”
When Marina Ignatovna began ordering where things should be placed in the apartment, Alexandra Alexandrovna gently noted:
“In someone else’s home, guests usually ask permission before changing anything.”
Their confrontation became especially vivid one evening when Marina Ignatovna decided to carry out a “general cleaning” in the kitchen.
“My goodness, how many useless things Nadenka keeps,” she muttered, throwing old spice jars into the trash. “These belong in the garbage!”
“Marina,” Alexandra Alexandrovna intervened, entering the kitchen. “Are you sure you’re throwing away trash and not useful things? My daughter told me she collects these jars for her homemade preserves.”
“These jars?” Marina Ignatovna snorted. “They’re old and ugly! Maxim can buy new ones.”
“Why spend money when you can use what you already have?” Alexandra Alexandrovna calmly objected, taking the jars out of the trash. “My daughter is very thrifty and practical. That deserves respect, not criticism.”
Marina Ignatovna pressed her lips together but said nothing.
At the same time, a new colleague appeared in Nadya’s life — Viktor. He was a professional in his field, and they quickly found common ground. Viktor often offered to drive Nadya home after work, especially when they stayed late.
“Nadya, would you like a ride? It’s already late, and we’re going the same way,” he offered once again as they were finishing an urgent report.
“Thank you, Vitya. That would be wonderful,” Nadya replied gratefully.
She saw nothing special in it — just support between colleagues. But Marina Ignatovna, who accidentally saw Nadya getting out of Viktor’s car, drew her own conclusions.
“Maxim, do you know that your wife comes home with some man?” she asked her son when they were alone.
“What are you talking about, Mom?” Maxim asked in surprise.
“I’m talking about the fact that Nadezhda is having an affair on the side! I saw with my own eyes how she got out of another man’s car and laughed! He even opened the door for her!”
Maxim frowned.
“Mom, don’t talk nonsense. Nadya isn’t like that.”
“Oh, all you men are so naive!” Marina Ignatovna threw up her hands. “I’ve lived a long life. I’ve seen all sorts of things. Lately she’s been dressing differently, wearing more makeup, coming home later. All the signs are there!”
The seed of doubt had been planted. Maxim began noticing changes in his wife’s behavior — she really had started paying more attention to her appearance, staying late at work more often, and in the evenings she often texted someone on her phone.
At the same time, interesting changes occurred in Alexandra Alexandrovna’s life. She met a neighbor from the stairwell — Pavel Nikolaevich, an intelligent widower of about sixty-five. He often offered to keep her company during walks in the nearby park.
“Alexandra Alexandrovna, would you like to take a walk to the park? The weather is wonderful today,” he suggested one day when he met her in the entrance hall.
“With pleasure, Pavel Nikolaevich,” she smiled.
These walks became more and more regular, and Marina Ignatovna did not fail to notice.
“Just look at her,” she whispered to her son. “At her age, carrying on romances! How shameless!”
“Mom, stop it,” Maxim brushed her off. “They’re just walking.”
“Oh, my naive boy!” Marina Ignatovna scoffed. “That’s how it all begins.”
The tension in the apartment grew with each passing day. Marina Ignatovna believed Alexandra Alexandrovna should have left long ago, while Alexandra had no intention of doing so, explaining that she wanted to stay close to her daughter.
One evening, when Nadya once again stayed late at work, Marina Ignatovna found a realtor’s number in her son’s phone.
“What is this?” she asked, pointing at the contact “Elena, Real Estate Agency.”
Maxim took the phone back.
“Nothing special.”
“Are you planning to look for housing for me?!” Marina Ignatovna exclaimed indignantly. “She made you do this, didn’t she? Ungrateful girl! I do everything for her: I cook, I clean, I wash her things — and she wants to throw me out!”
“Mom, calm down,” Maxim tried to reason with her. “No one is throwing you out.”
But Marina Ignatovna was no longer listening. In her mind, a clear conspiracy against her had formed: her daughter-in-law was having an affair on the side while also turning her son against her and trying to evict his mother.
Everything reached its peak when Maxim, exhausted by his mother’s hints and his own doubts, made a jealous scene for Nadya.
“Who is this Viktor?” he asked when his wife came home late again.
“A colleague,” Nadya said in surprise. “Why?”
“Just a colleague? Then why are you always with him? Why does he drive you everywhere? Why do you smile when you text him?”
Nadya was stunned.
“Are you following me?”
“No, but Mom told me she saw you getting out of another man’s car! And I myself saw how you’re constantly texting someone and smiling!”
“Your mother…” Nadya shook her head. “Of course. Who else?”
“What does my mother have to do with this?” Maxim raised his voice. “This is about you and your behavior! You’ve changed. You’ve started distancing yourself from me!”
“Maxim, are you serious right now? I’m distancing myself?” Nadya looked at him in disbelief. “You brought your mother to live with us without asking my opinion. She invades my personal space, criticizes every step I take, moves my things around, throws away anything she doesn’t like. And when I ask you to talk to her, you brush me off and say I’m exaggerating!”
“Maybe we should live separately for a while,” Maxim suddenly said. “I see it’s hard for you with my mother, and I can’t abandon her.”
Nadya felt the ground disappear from under her feet.
“Are you suggesting that I leave my own home?”
“I’m simply suggesting that you think about what matters more to you: our family or your comfort,” Maxim replied coldly.
At that moment, Alexandra Alexandrovna entered the room.
“Forgive me for interfering, but I accidentally heard your conversation. And I think it’s time to make things clear.”
Nadya and Maxim looked at her in surprise.
“Maxim, you are a good person, but right now you are making a huge mistake,” Alexandra Alexandrovna said calmly. “Your wife is not cheating on you. She is taking on extra projects to earn money.”
“Why?” Maxim didn’t understand.
“To help with the down payment on an apartment for your mother,” Alexandra Alexandrovna replied. “She didn’t want to tell you because she knew how worried you were about your mother’s well-being. She wanted to surprise you.”
Maxim looked at his wife in shock.
“Is that true?”
Nadya nodded nervously.
“I wanted to find a solution that would work for everyone. Viktor is my cousin. He returned to the city a month ago and works in the same department. We were looking together for affordable apartment options for Marina Ignatovna.”
At that moment, the doorbell rang. Viktor stood on the threshold with a folder in his hands.
“Nadyush, you forgot the documents for that option in Sosnovy,” he said, handing her the folder. “Oh, sorry. Is this a bad time?”
Marina Ignatovna, who had also come out into the hallway, pointed at him.
“There! There he is, that very man!”
Maxim looked helplessly from his wife to Viktor and back again.
“You… are you really my brother?”
“Cousin,” Viktor nodded. “When we were children, people often confused us and said we looked like real brothers. Don’t you remember? We saw each other at Nadya’s wedding and at Grandpa’s funeral.”
“I… I didn’t recognize you,” Maxim muttered. “So many years have passed.”
“All right, I should probably go,” Viktor said awkwardly. “Nadya, look through the documents. There’s an interesting option there.”
When the door closed behind him, a heavy silence hung in the hallway.
“I don’t believe a single word!” Marina Ignatovna finally exclaimed. “This is some kind of conspiracy against me! You’ve all plotted together!”
“Marina,” Alexandra Alexandrovna said sternly. “It’s time to stop this. Look at what you are doing to your son’s family. You are turning him against his wife, interfering in their life, and disrespecting their rules and their space.”
“Nothing of the sort!” Marina Ignatovna objected. “I am a good mother! I care about my son! She,” she pointed at Nadya, “is the one turning him against me!”
Maxim took a deep breath and, for the first time in a long while, looked at his mother differently.
“Mom, we need to have a serious talk.”
They spoke in Marina Ignatovna’s room for almost an hour. Nadya and Alexandra Alexandrovna sat in the kitchen, nervously listening to the muffled voices.
“What do you think he’ll tell her?” Nadya asked.
“I hope he says what he should have said a long time ago,” Alexandra Alexandrovna replied, squeezing her daughter’s hand. “That you are his wife, not his enemy; that you are partners, not rivals; and that his mother must respect your marriage and your home.”
Finally, the door opened, and Maxim came out of the room. He looked exhausted but determined.
“Nadya, Mom agreed to a separate apartment,” he said, sitting beside his wife. “I will help her with the payments, but she will live separately.”
“Maxim, I…” Nadya began, but he interrupted her.
“No, please listen to me. I was a terrible husband. I didn’t protect you, I didn’t listen to you, I made important decisions without you. I’m so ashamed. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”
Tears welled up in Nadya’s eyes.
“I just wanted you to see me and hear me. I wanted us to be a team.”
“I know,” Maxim nodded. “And I promise I will never make this mistake again. Never.”
A month later, Marina Ignatovna moved into a small but cozy one-room apartment not far from them. They helped her with repairs and furnishing, moved all her belongings, and even bought her a new television.
But the relationship between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law never improved. Marina Ignatovna did not admit her guilt and continued to believe that she had been treated unfairly.
“I devoted my whole life to my son, and now in my old age I have been left alone,” she complained to the neighbors. “That girl turned him against me and took him for herself. And I was only taking care of him!”
She visited her son, but tried to do so when Nadya was not home. Maxim tried to repair the relationship between his mother and wife, but Marina Ignatovna refused to compromise.
“I simply won’t interfere with you,” she told her son. “But don’t ask me to be friends with her. I see right through her far too well.”
Alexandra Alexandrovna also returned to her house in the suburbs, but now she visited her daughter and son-in-law more often. Her relationship with Pavel Nikolaevich continued to develop — they often went to the theater, attended exhibitions, and spent evenings in interesting conversations.
One evening, Nadya and Alexandra Alexandrovna were sitting in the kitchen. Maxim was late at work, and they could talk calmly.
“How are things with you and Maxim?” Alexandra Alexandrovna asked.
“Much better,” Nadya smiled. “We’ve started talking more, sharing thoughts and feelings. He really has changed.”
“That’s good,” Alexandra Alexandrovna nodded. “And what about Marina? Still just as uncompromising?”
Nadya sighed.
“Just the same. She’s sure I ruined her life and turned her son against her. When I come to see her with Maxim, she barely talks to me, only to him.”
“Some people never admit their mistakes,” Alexandra Alexandrovna said thoughtfully. “It’s easier for them to blame the whole world than to look inside themselves.”
“Sometimes I think maybe I should have endured it and not escalated the conflict,” Nadya admitted.
“And what would have happened then?” Alexandra Alexandrovna looked her daughter in the eyes. “Would you have lived your whole life like a shadow in your own home? Allowed her to control your every step and criticize every decision? And then children would have appeared, and she would have told you how to raise them. No, my daughter. Sometimes you have to defend your boundaries, even when it is painful and difficult.”
Nadya hugged her mother.
“Thank you for coming then. I’m not sure I would have managed without you.”
“That’s what mothers are for,” Alexandra Alexandrovna smiled. “To support their children, not control them.”
The doorbell rang — Maxim had returned. He brought Nadya’s favorite cake from the pastry shop on the other side of the city.
“I decided to please my favorite women,” he smiled, kissing his wife and hugging his mother-in-law.
Looking at them, Nadya thought that despite all the difficulties and conflicts, she had managed to defend her happiness and her family. And even if Marina Ignatovna never admitted her mistakes and never accepted her as family, the most important thing was that she and Maxim had truly become one team.
And that was worth every trial.