“You Decided to Humiliate Me in Front of the Whole Family? You Think I’ll Swallow This Too?” I Said, Getting Up From the Table
Veronika didn’t immediately realize that the conversations about money had become a pattern. At first, she thought that was simply how her mother-in-law, Oksana Leonidovna, was. She liked discussing who earned what, who had achieved more, and who was supposedly more successful.
It was unpleasant, but tolerable.
For about a year.
Veronika worked as an administrator at a dental clinic. She earned forty-eight thousand rubles plus small bonuses. Her husband, Ivan, worked as a procurement manager for a construction company and earned around seventy thousand.
Veronika never denied that he earned more. She simply didn’t think that made her less valuable.
Before the marriage, her grandfather had given her a two-bedroom apartment. It was in a good neighborhood, renovated, and fully hers before she ever met Ivan.
So after the wedding, Ivan moved in with her. There was no need to rent another place or take out a mortgage.
At first, Oksana Leonidovna behaved normally. She visited occasionally, looked around the apartment, asked questions, and seemed to evaluate everything. Veronika considered it ordinary curiosity.
Then the comments began.
One afternoon over tea, Oksana Leonidovna asked:
“Veronika, aren’t they going to raise your salary? Forty-eight thousand is very little for Moscow.”
“The salary is fixed,” Veronika replied. “There are bonuses.”
“Still not much. Ivan earns seventy, and even he thinks that’s too little.”
Ivan said nothing.
Veronika let the comment pass.
But it happened again.
And again.
Every visit eventually turned into a discussion about Veronika’s salary, education, ambition, or lack of career growth.
Finally, she spoke to Ivan.
“Your mother keeps making me feel like I’m not good enough.”
Ivan frowned.
“That’s just how she talks. Don’t pay attention.”
“Vanya, she’s done it several times already.”
“She worries about us. She wants us to have a good life.”
“Worrying means asking how we’re doing. Constantly reminding me that I don’t earn enough is different.”
Ivan sighed.
“She doesn’t mean anything bad.”
Veronika understood then that he wasn’t going to defend her.
Not because he hated her.
Because ignoring the problem was easier than confronting his mother.
The next time Oksana Leonidovna criticized her contribution to the marriage, Veronika answered calmly.
“We live in my apartment. That’s also a contribution.”
Her mother-in-law paused.
“The apartment came from your grandfather. You didn’t earn it.”
“So what? Ivan didn’t bring an apartment into the marriage either.”
“Ivan earns money,” Oksana Leonidovna replied.
Ivan stared at his plate.
After that, every visit became the same.
Oksana Leonidovna made comments.
Veronika defended herself.
Ivan became irritated with Veronika for refusing to remain silent.
Eventually, Veronika started avoiding her mother-in-law.
Then, in early October, Oksana Leonidovna invited them to Sunday lunch.
Ivan asked:
“Can we go? Maybe this time everything will be normal.”
Veronika hesitated.
“If she starts again, I’m leaving.”
“Deal.”
They arrived around two.
At first, everything really was peaceful. They ate, discussed family news, and made small talk.
Then Oksana Leonidovna casually asked Veronika about work.
“What exactly do you do at the clinic?”
“Patient scheduling, documentation, payments, coordinating with doctors.”
“So basically reception work.”
“Administration,” Veronika corrected.
“Yes, yes.”
Then Oksana Leonidovna turned to Ivan.
“Do you remember Katya Voronova? She studied economics. Now she’s a financial director. When someone invests in education, you can always see the results later.”
Veronika remained silent.
Then came the next question.
“You never graduated from university, did you?”
“I finished college and professional courses.”
“College isn’t higher education,” Oksana Leonidovna said. “I’m not criticizing you. It’s just a fact. Naturally, your ceiling is different.”
“My ceiling suits me,” Veronika replied.
“It may suit you, but Ivan is growing. He needs someone beside him who is growing too.”
Ivan continued eating.
Veronika looked at him.
He said nothing.
Then Oksana Leonidovna went further.
“To be honest, Ivan, you need a woman on your level. Educated, ambitious, with a career. Someone who can be your equal financially. Veronika is a good woman, of course, but you’re simply in different weight classes.”
Ivan looked at his mother.
Then at Veronika.
Then lowered his eyes again.
Veronika slowly put down her fork.
Something inside her changed.
Not anger.
Something colder.
She stood up.
“Veronika?” Ivan asked.
She looked directly at her mother-in-law.
“You just told my husband that he needs another woman.”
Oksana Leonidovna frowned.
“I was only talking about reality.”
“No. You were humiliating me. And you expected me to stay silent again.”
Then Veronika looked at Ivan.
“And you expected the same thing.”
“Veronika, don’t make a scene.”
“I’m not making a scene. I’m leaving.”
She picked up her handbag.
“Sit down,” Oksana Leonidovna ordered. “There’s no need to behave like this.”
“There absolutely is.”
Veronika reached the kitchen doorway, then stopped.
She turned around.
There was something she needed to say.
“Oksana Leonidovna, you reminded everyone that I don’t have a university degree. Correct?”
Her mother-in-law said nothing.
“You don’t have one either. You graduated from technical college in 1983. Ivan told me. And education was free back then. So when you use a university degree as a measure of someone’s worth, you’re demanding a standard you never reached yourself.”
The kitchen went silent.
Oksana Leonidovna turned red.
“I’m not insulting you,” Veronika continued. “I’m simply stating a fact. The same way you do.”
Then she continued.
“You also keep saying Ivan carries this family financially. Fine. Let’s count honestly.
“We live in my apartment. Ivan moved into it after our wedding. He didn’t own a home before the marriage, and he hasn’t bought one during our three years together.
“We split utilities.
“We split groceries.
“I paid more for the renovation.
“So when you say I’ve contributed nothing, I genuinely don’t understand what you mean.”
“You’re talking about my son like he’s a tenant!” Oksana Leonidovna shouted. “He’s your husband!”
“Yes. And that’s why I kept quiet for three years. Because I wanted to protect my marriage. But today you told him he needs another woman. I’m not protecting that anymore.”
“Enough!” Ivan interrupted. “Both of you need to calm down.”
Veronika turned toward him.
“You just said ‘both of you.’ Your mother suggested replacing me with another woman, and while she said it, you were sitting there eating soup.”
Ivan had no answer.
“Exactly.”
Veronika left.
Outside, the October air was cold and windy.
She took the bus, then the metro.
In the dark window of the train, she saw her reflection.
Tired.
But surprisingly calm.
At home, she made tea and sat in silence.
On the refrigerator was a magnet from St. Petersburg that she and Ivan had bought during their first trip together.
She looked at it for a long time.
Ivan arrived around eight that evening.
He entered the kitchen, tense and quiet.
Then he asked:
“Why did you talk to my mother like that?”
Veronika stared at him.
“I wasn’t the one who started it.”
“You know what she’s like. Why did you have to bring up her education? Why mention the apartment? She’s crying now.”
“I’m sorry she’s upset. But she’s been insulting me for three years.”
“She worries about me!”
“She told you that you need another wife.”
“You take everything too literally.”
“She said, ‘You need a woman on your level.’ Those were her exact words.”
Ivan remained silent.
Then he said:
“You humiliated my mother.”
“And she humiliated me.”
Veronika’s voice remained calm.
“The difference is that she did it for three years. I answered once.”
“You should have kept quiet.”
“No.”
Ivan looked at her.
“You need to apologize.”
Veronika studied him for several seconds.
She finally understood something she had been refusing to admit.
Ivan wasn’t cruel.
But whenever she needed him to defend her, he chose comfort instead.
He would rather ask his wife to tolerate humiliation than ask his mother to stop causing it.
“I’m not apologizing,” Veronika said.
“Then I don’t know how we’re supposed to live together after this.”
“I do.”
Ivan looked at her.
“How?”
“We won’t.”
He froze.
“What?”
“Pack your things.”
“Veronika, are you serious?”
“Completely.”
He stared at her in disbelief.
“Because of one lunch?”
“Not because of lunch. Because of three years. Lunch was just the last straw.”
Ivan packed for almost two hours.
Veronika remained in the living room while he opened drawers and cupboards.
At one point, he appeared in the doorway.
“Where are my documents?”
“Top drawer of the dresser. Left side.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Then the front door closed.
Veronika sat still for several minutes.
Eventually, she walked through the apartment.
Ivan had forgotten his gray jacket.
She folded it neatly and placed it beside the door.
He could collect it later.
Two weeks later, Veronika filed for divorce.
Ivan didn’t fight it.
The apartment had belonged to Veronika before the marriage, so there was nothing to divide.
Oksana Leonidovna called once, about a month after the divorce.
Veronika watched the phone ring.
She didn’t answer.
Ivan sent her a message in December.
“How are you?”
Veronika replied the next day.
“Fine.”
There were no more messages.
The St. Petersburg magnet stayed on the refrigerator until spring.
One day, Veronika removed it while cleaning.
She held it for a moment.
St. Petersburg had been a good trip.
The city wasn’t responsible for what happened.
She didn’t throw the magnet away.
She placed it in a drawer.
In its place, she hung a new magnet from Kazan, where she had recently traveled for a work conference.
For the first time, she had traveled alone.
It turned out to be pretty good.