“Mom said you have to help my sister. She’s struggling with the kids,” the husband declared—but for the first time, his wife refused to be the family’s scapegoat
Oleg stood in the bedroom doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. He had not even taken off his shoes, and two dark marks from his sneakers were already visible on the clean carpet.
Lena slowly lowered the hair dryer. A faint buzzing still lingered in her ears, but she had heard her husband’s words clearly. Every single one of them.
“Hello to you too,” she said quietly, looking at his reflection in the mirror. “Why didn’t Alina call me herself?”
“Why should she have to deal with your displeasure again?” Oleg stepped into the room, frowning irritably. “She knows how you feel about her. Mom called me. She said Alina is on the verge of a breakdown. She has two small children, and Igor is away on another business trip. She simply needs to get some sleep and go to the mall to buy a few things.”
“And that means I’m supposed to cancel my plans for the weekend?” Lena turned to face him.
“What plans, Lena? What are you canceling? You’re just sitting at home on Saturday. So you miss one episode of your show. Is it really so difficult to help your relatives?”
“I wasn’t planning to watch a show, Oleg. I’ve been waiting three months for this Saturday. I signed up for a landscape design course and paid for it. The first class is tomorrow at ten in the morning.”
Her husband waved his hand as though she had said something foolish.
“Oh, come on. Grass and bushes. You can do it next month. Alina hasn’t slept properly for three days. Don’t you feel sorry for her? You love your niece and nephew.”
“I love them when I see them for two hours during family celebrations,” Lena said, feeling the familiar anger she had suppressed for so long begin to boil inside her. “But I never agreed to become your sister’s unpaid nanny. Why does her husband leave on business trips while I’m the one expected to look after their children? Why don’t his relatives do it? Or your mother?”
“Mom is old! She has high blood pressure!” Oleg snapped. “And Igor’s parents live in another city. You know that. Anyway, I already told Alina you’d be there at nine tomorrow morning. Don’t make a scene over nothing.”
He turned around and walked into the hallway, clearly indicating that the conversation was over.
Lena froze.
Something inside her seemed to click.
Five years.
For five years, she had been the person everyone in his family called whenever they needed help.
Did her mother-in-law need wallpaper put up? Lena had artistic taste, so she should help.
Did Alina need someone to watch her cat? Lena worked from home on a computer anyway, so she could take it.
And now it was the children.
Lena followed him into the hallway. Oleg was already sitting on the ottoman, unlacing his sneakers.
“Call her and tell her I’m not coming,” Lena said firmly.
Her husband froze. He looked up, genuine astonishment spreading across his face.
“What did you say?”
“I said I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. I have plans. I told you two weeks ago that I was busy this weekend. Did you forget?”
“Lena, are you out of your mind?” Oleg stood up to his full height. “I already promised her. Mom is calming Alina down and telling her that Lena will come tomorrow and take care of everything. Do you want me to call them now and make us look like selfish people?”
“Not us, Oleg. You. You promised something that you weren’t going to do yourself. Go to your sister’s place tomorrow. Look after your niece and nephew, change diapers, take them for a walk. You’ll be helping your sister at the same time.”
“Have you lost your mind? I’m a man. What am I supposed to do with a baby? Besides, I’m going to the garage tomorrow. The guys and I agreed to look at the car.”
Lena could not help giving a bitter laugh.
“So your car and your friends count as important plans. But the course I paid for myself is just grass and bushes. And I’m supposed to look after someone else’s children simply because your mother decided so?”
“They aren’t someone else’s children! They’re my niece and nephew!” Oleg raised his voice. “What happened to you? Where did all this anger and selfishness come from? You used to be normal. You always helped.”
“I used to be a fool, Oleg. A fool who wanted your mother and sister to think she was a good person. Now I’m simply tired.”
Oleg glared at her, pulled out his phone, and quickly dialed a number.
“Hi, Mom,” he said deliberately loudly. “Yes, we’ve run into a problem. Lena is being difficult. She says she has some important course and doesn’t care that Alina is exhausted. Yes… I’m shocked too. Apparently, this is the kind of wife I have. All right, I’ll call you later.”
He ended the call and looked at Lena with icy contempt.
“Happy now? Mom is almost crying. She says she never expected you to be so heartless.”
“I don’t care, Oleg.”
“You’re an idiot,” he threw back, grabbing his jacket and storming out of the apartment. The door slammed behind him.
Lena remained standing in the empty hallway. Her heart was pounding, and her hands trembled slightly, but instead of the usual guilt, she suddenly felt a strange, almost ringing sense of lightness.
She took a deep breath.
At last, she had said it.
The evening passed in heavy silence. Oleg returned late and demonstratively went to sleep on the living-room sofa. Lena did not try to start a conversation. She set her alarm for eight in the morning, prepared her clothes, and slept surprisingly well.
The morning began with a phone call.
Lena’s phone lit up with the name of her mother-in-law: Tamara Vasilyevna.
Lena sighed, swiped the screen, and raised the phone to her ear.
“Yes, Tamara Vasilyevna. Good morning.”
“Good morning, dear Lena,” her mother-in-law said in an unusually sweet voice, without any trace of the tears Oleg had mentioned the night before. “My dear, why did you and Oleg argue over such a small thing? Don’t be angry with him. He’s simply worried about his sister.”
“I’m not angry, Tamara Vasilyevna. But I’m not changing my plans.”
“Listen to an older woman,” her mother-in-law cooed. “Men are like children. They need stability. What do you need those courses for, Lena? You’re thirty years old. Why do you need landscape design? You have your own summer cottage. You can practice there. But Alina is truly struggling. She’s crying, and the stress could make her milk dry up. Is it really so difficult for you to look after the children for three hours? They love you.”
“I’ve made my decision, Tamara Vasilyevna,” Lena replied calmly but firmly. “If Alina is having such a difficult time, why can’t you go there yourself? You’re retired, and your Saturday is free.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
Then her mother-in-law’s tone changed instantly. All the softness disappeared, and her voice became sharp and prickly.
“I already did my share when I raised Oleg and Alina! And my health isn’t good enough to run after two-year-olds. I thought you were a member of this family, Lena. I thought we could rely on you. But apparently, you only think about yourself. Don’t worry. Oleg will draw his own conclusions.”
“You can draw any conclusions you like,” Lena replied before ending the call.
She left the bedroom. Oleg was already sitting at the table, drinking tea and reading something on his phone. He did not even look up when she appeared.
“Your mother called,” Lena said, pouring herself some water.
“I know. She already messaged me,” Oleg replied gloomily. “She said you spoke to her as though she were a servant. You’re rude, Lena. I don’t recognize you anymore.”
“I’m not rude. I’ve simply learned to say no. To you and to your mother.”
“Go to hell,” Oleg snapped, jumping to his feet, grabbing his car keys, and heading toward the door. “Go plant your stupid bushes yourself, you selfish bitch.”
The door slammed again.
Lena was alone.
There was one hour left before the class began. She dressed quickly, applied light makeup, and looked at herself in the mirror.
A pretty, self-confident woman stared back at her—not an exhausted housemaid ready to run whenever her husband’s relatives called.
The class was wonderful.
Lena became completely absorbed in garden design styles, zoning methods, and the rules for combining different plants. She filled an entire notebook, met several pleasant people, and, for the first time in a long while, felt genuinely happy and inspired.
She did not think about Alina’s demanding children, her angry husband, or her grumbling mother-in-law.
At around two in the afternoon, during the break, her phone came to life again.
This time, Alina was calling.
Lena hesitated for a moment but answered.
“Yes, Alina?”
“Do you have any conscience at all?!” Alina shrieked through the phone. A child was crying loudly in the background. “Because of your stubbornness, my entire day is ruined! I couldn’t go anywhere! Dima is being difficult, and the baby won’t let me put her down! Mom came, but her blood pressure shot up within an hour, and now she’s lying on the sofa with a cloth on her head! Oleg is at the garage and turned off his phone! Are you happy? Is this what you wanted?”
“Calm down, Alina,” Lena interrupted coldly. “What does any of that have to do with me? They’re your children. Your husband left. Your mother volunteered to help. Why am I the one to blame?”
“Because you were supposed to come! My brother said you would help! We were counting on you!”
“Your brother had no right to promise anything on my behalf. I never agreed. Learn to manage on your own, or hire a nanny for a few hours when you’re tired. You have enough money for that.”
“Take your advice and go to hell! You heartless monster! Don’t ever set foot in my home again!”
Alina ended the call.
Lena stared at the dark screen for several seconds. Her heart was pounding, but she felt neither fear nor guilt.
She only felt that she was completely right.
After class, Lena did not go straight home. She stopped at a small café and ordered lunch and a slice of cake. She did not want to return to the atmosphere of conflict that was certainly waiting for her in the apartment.
But she could not avoid going home forever.
At around five in the evening, she unlocked the door.
The apartment was noisy.
Oleg’s sneakers and her mother-in-law’s shoes stood in the entryway. Lena frowned and walked into the living room.
The scene before her was almost theatrical.
Tamara Vasilyevna sat pale-faced on the sofa with a cup of tea. Oleg fussed around her, handing her some pills. Alina sat in an armchair with an angry expression, rocking her one-year-old daughter to sleep. Meanwhile, two-year-old Dima pushed a toy car across the parquet floor, making loud noises.
Everyone fell silent when Lena appeared.
Oleg straightened and glared at her.
“So you finally decided to show up,” he said through clenched teeth. “Look what you’ve done to this family. We had to call an ambulance for Mom. Her blood pressure went over two hundred because of your behavior. Alina can barely stand.”
Lena closed the living-room door behind her and stopped in the middle of the room.
She did not remove her spring coat. She stood there with her handbag still hanging from her shoulder.
“Why are you all here?” she asked calmly. “Why aren’t you at Alina’s apartment?”
“Because Mom is sick, so we brought her here!” Oleg shouted. “Alina can’t stay alone with two children and a sick mother! Do you even understand what your selfishness has caused?”
Tamara Vasilyevna groaned weakly from the sofa and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Lena, how can your conscience be clear?” her mother-in-law said quietly. “We treated you like our own daughter. And you trampled all over your family because of a few flowers.”
Alina snorted angrily from the armchair.
“Oh, stop explaining things to her, Mom. She doesn’t care about anyone. The important thing is that Her Majesty attended her course. We’re suffering here while she’s enjoying herself.”
Lena looked at her husband, then at his mother, and finally at his sister.
There was not a drop of pity or desire to defend herself left inside her.
She felt only deep disgust at their shameless manipulation.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Lena said loudly and clearly, interrupting another one of her mother-in-law’s groans. “You’re going to stop this performance. Tamara Vasilyevna, if your blood pressure is over two hundred, you call an ambulance and go to the hospital. You don’t travel across the city to visit someone. Alina, you have your own three-bedroom apartment, and your husband earns enough money for you to hire a nanny from an agency for a day. And Oleg, you’ve truly outdone yourself. You hid in the garage, turned off your phone, abandoned your sister and mother, and somehow made me the guilty one.”
“How dare you speak to my mother like that?” Oleg stepped toward her, his face red with rage. “Have you completely lost your mind? Apologize to Mom and Alina right now!”
“Not a chance,” Lena replied sharply. “I’m not going to be your unpaid servant anymore. And I’m no longer going to sacrifice my personal time to solve your family’s problems.”
“Oh, really?” Oleg choked with outrage. “Then pack your things and get out! This is my apartment. I’m the one paying for it!”
The room fell silent.
Tamara Vasilyevna even stopped groaning and stared at her daughter-in-law with interest. Alina smiled triumphantly.
They thought this was the final argument—the one that would force Lena to fall to her knees and beg for forgiveness.
But Lena simply nodded calmly.
“Excellent idea, Oleg. The apartment really is yours. You bought it before we got married. I’ll be happy to leave.”
She turned around, walked into the bedroom, and pulled a large suitcase from the wardrobe.
Her hands moved quickly and confidently. She threw in her clothes: jeans, sweaters, dresses, and cosmetics.
Oleg appeared in the doorway behind her. His former confidence had vanished, replaced by confusion.
“Lena, what are you doing? Are you really packing? Are you destroying our family over something so trivial?”
“It may be trivial to you, Oleg. To me, it represents five years of being treated as though I didn’t matter. You just threw me out of our home because I refused to look after your sister’s children. Think about that when you have time.”
“I said it in the heat of the moment,” he muttered, trying to step closer. “But you’re responsible too. You pushed everyone too far. Apologize to Mom, and we’ll forget the whole thing.”
Lena zipped the suitcase shut, lifted it, and looked directly into her husband’s eyes.
“No, Oleg. The matter is settled. I’m going to stay with my mother. Next week, I’ll file for divorce. I’m not spending another day in a family where I’m treated like a free resource and my interests are never respected.”
She walked decisively toward the exit.
Oleg tried to grab her arm, but she pulled away sharply.
In the hallway, her mother-in-law and Alina watched her in shock. Their victorious smiles had disappeared. Tamara Vasilyevna had even forgotten to keep her hand pressed to her forehead.
“Lena, have you lost your mind?” Alina shouted after her. “You’re getting divorced over something so stupid?”
Lena did not answer.
She opened the front door, rolled her suitcase onto the landing, and slammed the door behind her.
A fresh spring wind was blowing outside.
Lena walked toward the taxi stand, pulling her suitcase behind her, and for the first time in five years, she breathed freely.
She did not care what they were saying behind her back in that apartment.
She had finally stood up for herself.
And that was her greatest victory.