“I could buy you a new apartment and pay off your debts. But I’ll only do it on one condition!” the mother declared to her daughter.

“Happy birthday, Mommy!”—Katya, my only daughter, pecked her mother-in-law, Alla Borisovna, on the cheek. “Here, take this!” Inside a luxurious envelope with gold embossing were plane tickets and a voucher for a two-week vacation in Dubai. Five stars, all-inclusive, a personal butler, spa treatments—the full package. I noticed the Burj Al Arab logo—the most expensive … Read more

Grigory looked at her with disgust again, and Zoya caught it out of the corner of her eye as she looked at herself in the mirror.

The wife, who had been with her husband from the very beginning—back when he didn’t have money even for new jeans and dinner on the table was often just pasta with processed cheese—decided she would not so easily hand over her husband and the family business to that greedy woman. Recently, Grigory informed his wife … Read more

At the bus stop, a woman thrust a little girl into my arms and left a suitcase stuffed with cash—I kept quiet for thirty years, and I never imagined…

Just grab and run, you know? Immediately…” “But why me? What’s so special about me?” Thirty years have passed, yet these phrases still ring clearly in my memory, as if spoken only yesterday. That fateful evening radically changed the course of my life. Now, looking back through the prism of all these years, I clearly … Read more

— What on earth made you think I’d work for free at your sister’s salon? Because she’s your relative? She’s nothing to me! So

— Yulya, Anya just called. She wants to talk. Yulia didn’t immediately tear herself away from what she was doing. She sat at her work desk, which looked more like a spaceship control panel—crowded with lamps, sterilizing devices, and dozens of tiny bottles of bright nail polishes. Methodically, she wiped each drill bit with a … Read more

Vladimir is getting married today. Two months ago he returned to his native village after his military service

Vladimir felt as if the ground itself were springing beneath his feet from happiness. Not from drink—no—from that very pure, bright feeling that had been overflowing him since morning. Today was his day. The day he had waited for two long years, swallowing the dust of army training grounds and rereading to tatters the envelopes … Read more

— “You wanna stuff your face? Then cook for yourself! Oh, look at him—the lord of the manor! You can boss your warehouse guys around, but here don’t you even squeak!”

— And dinner? The question was tossed into the quiet of the room as casually as Kirill tossed his jacket onto the back of the chair. He wasn’t expecting an answer; he was stating a need. The sound of his steps across the parquet was heavy, assured—the steps of a man who had returned to … Read more

So I’m supposed to congratulate your mother on every holiday and give her expensive gifts, while you can’t even send my mother a message to wish her well?

— Egor, don’t forget—my mom’s birthday is tomorrow. He waved her off without taking his eyes from the laptop screen, where graphs and tables flickered. The gesture wasn’t so much rude as automatic, like someone swatting away a pesky fly. — Nastya, I remember everything. Don’t start. I told you—I remember. She kept quiet, pretending … Read more