“Just because you found a buyer for my summer house doesn’t mean I agreed to sell it!” I protested when I found out about my mother-in-law’s scheme.
Eva was arranging plates on the festive table. The porcelain rang softly in her hands. That evening, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were supposed to come over for dinner. Denis was busy in the kitchen, trying to figure out a new steak recipe.
“Are you sure the meat needs to be marinated exactly like this?” Denis looked at his wife in confusion. His glasses had slipped down to the tip of his nose.
“I’m sure, darling,” Eva smiled, straightening the tablecloth. “Your mother will be delighted.”
Eva was trying her best. They had been married for three years, but her relationship with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law was still tense, stretched tight like a string. Marina Grigoryevna, a woman with a perfect manicure, always looked at Eva with barely noticeable disapproval. But Alina did not hide her attitude at all.
“We’re here!” a ringing voice called from the front door.
Eva flinched. She glanced at the clock — again, they were half an hour early.
“Come in,” Eva said, opening the door wide and forcing a smile.
Marina Grigoryevna entered ceremoniously, holding a cake box in her hands. Alina slipped in after her, giving Eva an appraising look.
“Cute little apartment,” Alina nodded, looking around. “When did you do the renovation?”
“We finished a month ago,” Eva took the box from her mother-in-law. “Denis designed everything himself.”
“Deniska was always talented,” Marina Grigoryevna walked into the living room. “Our one-room apartment is a bit cramped, but at least it’s cozy.”
Alina took off her coat and snorted almost inaudibly.
“Well, whoever managed to marry into an apartment is the lucky one.”
“Alina!” Marina Grigoryevna scolded her daughter, though there was no real disapproval in her voice.
“I’m just joking,” Alina shrugged. “I just don’t understand why anyone would rush into marriage so early. Twenty-three is still childhood! You should have lived for yourself a little…”
Eva said nothing. The ceiling suddenly seemed more interesting than this conversation.
“Mom, Alina, come to the table!” Denis came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on an apron. “Everything will be ready in a moment.”
Dinner did not make things any easier.
“So, when are you going to the summer house?” Marina Grigoryevna cut off a piece of meat. “It’s so nice by the water in summer.”
“We want to open the season next weekend,” Eva poured drinks into the glasses. “We put up a new gazebo and renovated the pier.”
“I envy you, Evochka,” Alina shook her head. “A husband, an apartment, a summer house by the lake… And all of it so early! Meanwhile, I’m still out there enjoying my freedom, and I still haven’t found the right one.”
“I’m happy in my marriage,” Eva replied calmly, looking her sister-in-law straight in the eyes.
“Everyone says that in the first few years,” Alina laughed, winking at her brother. “We’ll live and see.”
Denis placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder. Eva smiled at him gratefully. No matter how hard Alina tried to sting her, their happiness was still stronger than any words.
But during dessert, the conversation took an unexpected turn.
“By the way, about the summer house,” Marina Grigoryevna tapped her spoon against the saucer. “I’ve been thinking. It stands empty most of the year.”
Eva froze with her fork above the cake.
“We go there regularly,” she objected calmly, though her heart was already beating faster.
“Two or three times in summer and a couple of times in autumn?” Marina Grigoryevna shook her head. “That is not regularly, dear. That is simply a pointless waste of money.”
“Mom, Eva and I will figure it out ourselves,” Denis frowned.
His mother seemed not to hear her son’s words.
“I’m simply saying that you could sell it and invest the money in something truly necessary,” Marina Grigoryevna raised her eyebrows meaningfully. “For example, to help little Alina with an apartment.”
Eva nearly choked on her tea.
“The summer house belongs to me,” she said firmly. “And I am not going to sell it.”
Alina sighed theatrically.
“You see, Mom? I told you. Some people would rather let good things go to waste.”
“The house is not going to waste,” Eva put down her cup. Her hands were trembling with indignation. “Denis and I love spending time there.”
“Oh, spending time there!” Marina Grigoryevna threw up her hands. “Young people these days think only about entertainment! And what about poor Alina suffering with me in a one-room apartment…”
“Mom, we’ve already discussed this,” Denis tried to stop the growing conflict.
“We haven’t discussed anything!” Marina Grigoryevna raised her voice. “Your wife simply doesn’t want to hear about our family’s problems!”
“Our family?” Eva finally could not hold back. “Alina is a grown woman. Why can’t she solve her own housing problem?”
“So that’s how you speak now!” Marina Grigoryevna pursed her lips. “Alina is alone. It’s hard for her. And you have everything!”
“Exactly,” Alina chimed in. “You only think about yourselves.”
Eva could no longer restrain herself.
“I will not sell the summer house so that your daughter can continue ‘enjoying her freedom,’” she looked directly at her mother-in-law. “It is my property.”
“What a selfish girl you are!” Marina Grigoryevna exclaimed. “Denis, don’t you see it?”
“Mom, enough,” Denis stood up. “The summer house really does belong to Eva. It was a gift from her parents.”
“And what have I always told you?” Marina Grigoryevna turned to Alina. “Some girls will never be able to become real wives. They don’t know how to value family! What a pity that we ended up with such a daughter-in-law.”
Eva abruptly rose from the table.
“Marina Grigoryevna, I’m asking you,” her voice rang with tension. “Do not cross the line.”
“What line?” Alina snorted. “Mom is just telling the truth. And the truth always hurts.”
Denis looked helplessly from his mother to his wife.
“Stop it!” his voice trembled. “Why can’t we just have dinner?”
But it was too late. Eva grabbed her bag from the chair and quickly headed for the door.
“Eva, wait!” Denis rushed after her.
“Let her go, she’ll cool off,” Marina Grigoryevna waved her hand. “Your wife is too hot-tempered.”
The front door slammed so hard that the dishes on the table rattled.
Eva almost ran down the street. The spring evening blew cool wind against her face, but the heat in her chest would not fade. She reached a bench in the park and collapsed onto it. The phone in her bag rang — probably Denis. Eva took it out and firmly switched it off.
“How dare they?” everything inside her boiled. The summer house by the lake, which her parents had given her as a wedding gift… Her parents, who had denied themselves everything in order to save up for it.
Bitter tears streamed down her cheeks. The hurt made her tremble. All those little jabs, hints that she was greedy, endless comparisons with perfect Alina. And now outright demands that she part with a place dear to her heart.
Eva sat in the park for several hours. Pigeons circled nearby, begging for bread that did not exist. People passed by, absorbed in their own worries.
She returned home when it began to get dark. She stepped over the threshold, ready for the argument to continue, but saw only Denis. He was sitting in the hallway, staring at his phone. When he saw his wife, he jumped up and rushed to her.
“My God, Eva!” Denis hugged her tightly. “I was so worried! Why did you turn off your phone?”
Eva buried her face in his shoulder.
“Have they already left?” she asked dully.
“A long time ago,” Denis gently stroked her back. “I told Mom everything I thought. What they did was ugly.”
Eva lifted her tearful eyes to him.
“You really told her?”
“Of course,” Denis kissed her forehead. “Are you okay? Should I make some tea?”
“Yes, please,” Eva smiled weakly.
The following week passed peacefully. Neither her mother-in-law nor Alina called. Denis surrounded Eva with care — sometimes bringing breakfast to bed, sometimes giving her flowers for no reason.
On Friday morning, Eva received a call from Olga Petrovna, her neighbor at the summer house.
“Evochka, dear,” the neighbor’s voice sounded worried. “I wanted to ask… Why didn’t you warn me that you’re selling the summer house? I would have bought it from you first. My children would have been nearby.”
“What?” Eva went cold. “I’m not selling anything.”
“How so?” Olga Petrovna was surprised. “But some people said you put the plot up for sale. They’re walking around right now, inspecting it.”
“What people?” Eva’s voice trembled.
“A woman with her daughter and some buyers. They’re showing everything and praising it.”
“Olga Petrovna, please take a photo of them,” Eva asked. “And send it to me.”
Five minutes later, her phone beeped. In the photo, Eva immediately recognized Marina Grigoryevna and Alina. With pleased faces, they were showing the gazebo to some elderly couple.
Blood pounded in her temples. Eva took a deep breath. Instead of rage, icy determination came over her.
That evening, she called her mother-in-law.
“Marina Grigoryevna, I’d like to invite you and Alina for dinner. I want to make peace,” she said in such a sweet voice that she herself felt disgusted.
At dinner, Eva was kindness itself. She served her mother-in-law’s favorite dishes and laughed at Alina’s jokes. Marina Grigoryevna visibly relaxed.
“I’m so glad you’ve understood everything, dear,” her mother-in-law stroked Eva’s hand. “In a family, the most important thing is knowing how to give in.”
“I absolutely agree with you,” Eva smiled and took out a photograph printed on ordinary paper.
She placed the picture on the table in front of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.
“There is just one thing I must disappoint you with,” Eva’s voice rang with steel. “Just because you found a buyer for my summer house doesn’t mean I agreed to sell it!”
Marina Grigoryevna choked on her tea. Alina’s face turned pale. Denis grabbed the photo, staring at the familiar figures.
“What is this?” he looked at his mother. “What were you doing there?”
“We were just…” Alina began trying to justify herself.
“Just trying to sell someone else’s property!” Denis jumped to his feet. The chair flew back with a crash. “That is theft, Mom! Fraud!”
Marina Grigoryevna twisted her lips as if she had swallowed something sour.
“Don’t dramatize it, son,” the woman spread her hands. “We only wanted to help.”
“Help?” Denis was almost shouting. “Whom?”
“Alina, of course,” his mother sobbed. “Your sister is a young woman. She needs her own place. And the summer house is just standing empty anyway…”
Eva silently watched the scene unfold. Her face remained calm, though a hurricane raged inside her.
“Deniska, it was for me,” Alina tried to take her brother’s hand. “I’m tired of living with Mom in a one-room apartment! I’m this old, and I still have to share a bathroom with my mother!”
“And you decided to steal from my wife?” Denis pulled his hand away. “That was your plan?”
“What do you mean, steal?” Marina Grigoryevna threw up her hands. “We would have shared! Part for Eva, part for Alina. Like a family!”
Eva finally stood up. Her hands no longer trembled.
“Listen to me carefully,” she said quietly. “This summer house is my property. A gift from my parents. And I am not going to sell anything. Ever.”
“You are so greedy!” Alina snapped. “And who knows why you rushed into marriage in the first place!”
“Shut up!” Denis roared. “Immediately!”
“Son, think about us,” Marina Grigoryevna switched to a pleading tone. “Alina needs an apartment. We are your family!”
“No,” Denis shook his head. “My family is Eva. And I will not let you rob her.”
“But we…” his mother tried to object.
“Leave,” Denis pointed to the door. “Right now.”
“What?” Marina Grigoryevna turned pale.
“Leave and don’t call. Don’t come over. Forget our address.”
“You’re cutting ties with your own mother?” Alina gasped indignantly.
“Yes. Until you understand what you’ve done.”
Marina Grigoryevna and Alina, their lips pressed tight, gathered their things and left, slamming the door loudly behind them. The apartment sank into silence.
Eva walked up to her husband and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Forgive me,” she whispered. “I became the reason your relationship with your family was destroyed.”
Denis embraced his wife in return and pressed her to his chest.
“It’s not your fault,” he kissed the top of her head. “It was their greed and envy. You are more important, do you understand? You are my real family.”
Three years later, Eva rocked in a chair on the veranda of the summer house, watching Denis play with their little son by the lake. The child squealed with delight whenever his father tossed him into the air.
A light breeze carried the scent of the lake. The sun gently touched her skin. Eva smiled, remembering everything they had had to endure to keep this place. Now it seemed even more precious.
Her relationship with Marina Grigoryevna and Alina was never restored. But every time she looked at her son’s happy face as he played on the shore of their lake, Eva understood: everything had turned out the right way. Sometimes you have to cut away what prevents something new from growing. Their little family was stronger than any storm.