You’ll eat in the kitchen after everyone else. You’re a stranger here,” Vera Ivanovna ordered as she ladled borscht into bowls.
I froze with the ladle in my hand. My husband lowered his eyes to his plate. His sister Lyuda giggled.
“Excuse me, what?” I asked.
“You heard me perfectly. Family eats at the table, and you can sit in the kitchen. So you don’t take up space.”
I put the ladle back into the pot. My mother-in-law was fifty-four. I was thirty-two. We had been living together in this apartment for six years. For six years I had endured her attacks, remarks, and humiliation.
“I cooked this borscht,” I said calmly. “And I bought the ingredients for it.”
“So what? This is our kitchen, our stove. Cook, since you’re such a good housewife. But go eat in the kitchen.”
Vadim still did not lift his eyes from his plate. My husband, thirty-five years old, an engineer, earned thirty-eight thousand rubles. I worked as an accountant, earning sixty-two thousand. This entire family was living on my money.
Silently, I took my plate and went to the kitchen. I sat at the small table by the window. I ate alone, listening as they laughed, talked, and discussed the news in the other room.
After lunch, I washed all the dishes. Vera Ivanovna walked past me without even looking.
That evening, I sat down at the computer and opened my banking app. I began calculating. Over the past six months, I had transferred one hundred twenty-three thousand rubles to my mother-in-law’s card. Medicine for her heart, her blood pressure, her joints. Twenty to twenty-five thousand every month.
I opened a second file. Utility bills. All paid by me. Eleven thousand every month.
A third file. Groceries. I bought everything. Meat, vegetables, grains, milk. Another twenty-five to thirty thousand a month.
I added it all up. In six months, I had invested more than four hundred thousand rubles into this family.
Vadim entered the room.
“Why are you so gloomy?”
“I’m calculating expenses.”
“And what does it say?”
“It says your mother just humiliated me in front of everyone. Sent me to eat in the kitchen. And at the same time, I’m supporting her and your entire family.”
He waved his hand dismissively.
“Come on, Mom just said it without thinking. Don’t pay attention.”
“Don’t pay attention? Vadim, I’ve lived in this house for six years. I’ve endured humiliation for six years. And you’re telling me not to pay attention?”
“What do you want me to do? Fight with my mother?”
“I want you to take my side. Just once.”
He sighed and left the room. I remained sitting in front of the computer.
The next day, I went to the bank. I opened a separate account. I transferred my entire salary there. I blocked access to my main card for everyone except myself.
That evening, Vera Ivanovna came into my room.
“Listen, I need to buy medicine. Transfer twenty-two thousand to my card.”
“No.”
She stared at me.
“What do you mean, no?”
“Just that. I’m not transferring money anymore.”
“Have you completely lost your mind? These are my medicines! The doctor prescribed them!”
“He prescribed them. Buy them yourself.”
“I don’t have money!”
“Then ask your son. Or your daughter.”
“Vadim!” she shouted. “Come here!”
My husband rushed into the room.
“What happened?”
“Your wife refuses to buy my medicine!”
Vadim looked at me.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. I’m not buying it anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because yesterday your mother told me I was a stranger here. Strangers don’t support the owners.”
Vera Ivanovna turned crimson.
“How dare you talk to me like that!”
“Easily. Especially after you sent me to eat in the kitchen.”
“I was joking!”
“A bad joke. And an expensive one.”
Vadim stood between us, confused.
“Listen, let’s still buy the medicine. Mom is sick.”
“Buy it yourself. With your own money.”
“I don’t have that much.”
“Neither do I anymore.”
Vera Ivanovna turned around and left the room, slamming the door. Vadim looked at me reproachfully and followed her.
I was left alone. I took out my phone and called my friend Sveta.
“Hi. Listen, can I come over? I need to talk.”
“Of course, come.”
I packed a bag and left the house. Vadim did not even ask where I was going.
I spent two hours at Sveta’s place. I told her the whole situation.
“You’re doing the right thing,” she said. “They humiliated you, and you silently endured it. Now let them feel what it’s like without you.”
“But they’re family.”
“Family means respect. They didn’t respect you. That means, to them, you were just a wallet.”
I returned home late in the evening. Vadim was sitting in the kitchen.
“Where were you?”
“At a friend’s.”
“Mom is crying. She says she’ll get worse without her medicine.”
“Vadim, your mother has a pension of seventeen thousand rubles. Lyuda earns forty thousand. You earn thirty-eight. The three of you can chip in for her medicine.”
“But we’re used to you helping.”
“You’re used to humiliating me and using my money. Now get unused to it.”
He fell silent. I went into the room and lay down to sleep.
In the morning, Vera Ivanovna tried to talk again.
“Listen, I got carried away yesterday. Sorry. Let’s forget it.”
“No. We won’t forget it.”
“Why are you acting like a child? You got offended and now you’re taking revenge!”
“I’m not taking revenge. I’m simply no longer paying for people who don’t respect me.”
“But I apologized!”
“You apologized after I cut off the money. If I hadn’t, you would have kept humiliating me.”
She left, breathing loudly through her nose. I finished my coffee and got ready for work.
At lunchtime, Vadim called.
“Mom isn’t feeling well. She says she’s dizzy. She needs her medicine.”
“Go to the pharmacy and buy it.”
“I don’t have money until payday.”
“Borrow from your colleagues.”
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
He hung up. I continued working.
That evening, I came home. Vera Ivanovna was lying on the sofa with a cloth on her forehead, pretending to be dying.
“Do you see what’s happening to me?” she moaned. “And it’s all because of you.”
“Because of me, you lived on my money for six years. Now it’s time to take care of yourselves.”
“You’re heartless.”
“Maybe. But I won’t allow myself to be humiliated anymore.”
I went to the kitchen and started making dinner. Only for myself. I boiled buckwheat and fried a cutlet. I sat at the small table by the window and calmly ate.
Angry voices came from the other room. Vera Ivanovna lamented, Vadim tried to calm her down, and Lyuda commented on something. I didn’t care.
After dinner, I washed my own dishes and went to the room. I lay down on the bed and opened a book.
Vadim came in half an hour later.
“We decided the three of us would chip in for Mom’s medicine. Eight thousand each.”
“You made the right decision.”
“But now I won’t have enough to live on.”
“Then ask your mother to save on medicine. Or let Lyuda give more.”
“You understand Lyuda needs money too.”
“I understand. So do I.”
He sat on the edge of the bed.
“How long is this going to continue?”
“I don’t know. Maybe until we move out of here.”
“You want to move out?”
“I want to live separately. Without your mother and her humiliation.”
“But we don’t have money for rent.”
“I do. I’ve been saving for three years. One hundred eighty-seven thousand rubles. Enough for the first payment and two months of rent.”
He stared at me.
“You were saving secretly?”
“I was saving for the future. Now I realize the future has arrived.”
Vadim was silent. Then he got up and left the room.
I continued reading my book. My soul felt calm.
Several days passed. Vera Ivanovna stopped speaking to me. Vadim walked around gloomy. Lyuda came over less often.
I continued cooking only for myself, buying only my own groceries, and paying only for my phone and transportation pass. I split the utility bills into four parts. Now everyone paid their share.
One evening, Vadim sat down with me at the kitchen table.
“Mom says you’re kicking her out.”
“I’m not kicking her out. I’m simply not supporting her anymore.”
“But she’s my mother.”
“Your mother. Not mine. She herself reminded me that I’m a stranger here.”
“She didn’t mean it like that.”
“She meant exactly that. And now she’s living with the consequences.”
He lowered his head.
“What should I do?”
“Decide. Either we move out and live separately, or I move out alone.”
“You’re making me choose?”
“No. Your mother did that when she sent me to eat in the kitchen.”
Vadim was silent. I got up and went to the room.
The next day, I found an ad for a one-room apartment for rent. Twenty-five thousand a month. I called the landlady and arranged a viewing.
The apartment turned out to be small but clean. Third floor, with a balcony. I liked it.
“I’ll take it,” I told the landlady.
“Excellent. First month and deposit right away. Fifty thousand.”
I transferred the money. Signed the contract. Got the keys.
That evening, I told Vadim.
“I found an apartment. I’m moving out the day after tomorrow.”
He turned pale.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“And what am I supposed to do now?”
“Choose. Either you come with me, or you stay here.”
“I need to think.”
“Think. Until the day after tomorrow.”
I began packing my things. I folded clothes, books, documents. Vadim walked around the room, watched, and said nothing.
Vera Ivanovna burst in that evening.
“What is this supposed to mean?!”
“It means what it means. I’m moving out.”
“How dare you!”
“Easily. It’s my decision.”
“You’re destroying the family!”
“You destroyed the family when you humiliated me.”
She ran out of the room. There were sobs, shouting, and doors slamming. I didn’t care.
Vadim came in late at night.
“I’m going with you.”
I looked at him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I can’t live like this anymore.”
“Good.”
We left on Saturday morning. Vera Ivanovna stood in the hallway, watching us with red eyes. Lyuda tried to say something, but I didn’t listen.
I took my things. Vadim took his. We walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind us.
In the new apartment, I put on the kettle and took out cups. Vadim sat on the sofa, looking out the window.
“Everything will be different now,” I said.
“I know.”
“Your mother won’t humiliate me anymore.”
“I know.”
I poured tea and sat beside him. We drank in silence.
My soul was calm. I was no longer a stranger in my own kitchen. I was the mistress of my own life.