Lena sat at the kitchen table, twirling a pen between her fingers. In front of her lay a blank sheet of paper, and she couldn’t bring herself to write the first word of her résumé. For three months her job hunt had led nowhere—either her qualifications didn’t fit, or the pay was miserable, or the […]
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Nadezhda stood by the bank window, clutching the account statement in her hands. The numbers blurred before her eyes from excitement. Seven million. A full seven million rubles. — Nadya, well, what is it? — Evgeny came up behind her, peering over his wife’s shoulder. — Is everything correct? — Yes, Zhenya… — Nadezhda’s voice […]
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“What did you come barging in for, you cow? We didn’t invite you. You’re not part of the family, so get out!” the mother-in-law snapped, having gathered with the relatives for Easter at her daughter-in-law’s dacha. And ten minutes later, everyone was running off, slippers flying. Sunbeams slid across the light wallpaper, glinting off the […]
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— Kolya, this morning after you left for work, some girl came by and asked for you! — Sasha told her husband over dinner. — What girl? — Nikolai was surprised. — At least pretty? — What kind of person are you? You always have to make everything crude! — his wife snapped. — She […]
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“Have you lost your mind, Lyudmila Petrovna? Olya’s already living practically on a dump, and now she’s going to take my apartment too?” Marina couldn’t believe her ears. She and Sergey were having dinner, and her mother-in-law, Lyudmila Petrovna—wearing the face of a prosecutor—was laying out her plan. “Olya needs support. She needs a place […]
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“I came home at the wrong time—or at exactly the right time to catch my mother-in-law playing the heiress in action. Trying on my jewelry came with plans for my property. Then a call to the lawyer.” Tatyana stood in front of a huge mirror in the walk-in closet, scrutinizing her reflection. An ivory cashmere […]
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— “What do you mean ‘Elena Vladimirovna’? You’re only twenty-nine!” her friends would remark, chuckling. — “It stuck,” Lena would wave it off. “For clients I’m Elena Vladimirovna; for suppliers—especially. And for colleagues.” Lena was building her business and meant it seriously. So at work the tone was businesslike, with no chumminess. — “Come on, […]
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The autumn air in the settlement of Lesnaya Sloboda was thick, sweet, and searingly cold. It smelled of rotting leaves, smoke from stove pipes, and that special, timeless silence that wraps the soul like a good old blanket. Olga had come here, to the nest she’d left long ago, to visit her parents—or rather, their […]
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Lena had always known the value of her apartment. Not in rubles, but in the meaning her late father put into it when he said, “Daughter, this is your fortress. As long as you have your own place, you don’t have to bow to anyone.” The two-room apartment on the fourth floor of a panel-built […]
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Marina stopped in the bedroom doorway, watching Roman hurriedly pack his things into a scuffed backpack. His movements were sharp, jittery—as if he were getting ready to flee. The zipper snapped shut with a metallic click, and he turned his back to the wardrobe. — Going somewhere? — She stepped into the room. — Rom? […]
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