Natalya was wiping dust off the coffee table when she heard a familiar crunch. She lifted her head and froze. On the dark surface she had just cleaned, trash had reappeared. Sunflower seed shells. She glanced at the sofa, where Inga, her sister-in-law, sprawled. — Inga, maybe stop making a mess? — Natalya’s voice trembled […]
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When I walked into the restaurant in a terrycloth robe the color of fresh carrots and house slippers with pink pom-poms, the waiter didn’t believe at first that I was the birthday boy’s wife. I swear I saw his eye twitch as he tried to figure out whether I was a lunatic or this was […]
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Valentina sat staring at one spot, unable to look away. No, this simply couldn’t be! And with her too — this should not be happening. She kept rereading the message her husband had obviously sent to the wrong woman by mistake. The text was short but painfully clear. Fyodor was explaining to his mistress […]
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The call came on Saturday morning when Yulia was still lying in bed with a cup of coffee. The screen showed the name of her mother-in-law — Valentina Petrovna. Usually, that didn’t bode well. “Yulechka, dear,” came the syrupy sweet voice, “how are you? How’s your mood?” “Fine,” Yulia answered cautiously. When her mother-in-law started […]
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Lida had felt since childhood that her life would be different — not like everyone else’s. What happened long ago left a deep mark on her — both literally and metaphorically. As a child, she survived a terrible accident that changed everything: her face was covered with burn scars, and her mother’s life became a […]
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The evening shift in the on-call room of the district hospital always felt like a small play. The nurses exchanged tired glances for fresh ones, handed over duties like a relay race, along with the latest news. Olga adjusted her medical cap in front of the cloudy mirror, critically examining her reflection. The corners of […]
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Andrey pushed the apartment door open with his shoulder since his hands were full. In one hand — a briefcase, in the other — a box with a new smartphone he had bought on the way home. Inside, everything tightened with a familiar feeling of guilt, but he forced himself to straighten his shoulders. […]
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— Did you put my things in the storage closet? — Olga’s voice rang out like a fork scraping an empty plate. Discover more Family games — Because they shouldn’t be lying around in the children’s room, — Irina replied calmly, but with a chill, drying her hands on a waffle towel. — This isn’t […]
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— Marina, I can’t. Understand, I’m not able to be with a person who… is disabled. Artyom said this almost in a whisper, not looking at her, but at the wheelchair standing nearby — someone else’s, hateful. He looked at it like a beast that had torn apart their future. Marina sat silently, the white […]
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Twenty-three-year-old Anastasia never knew her parents. She was found as an infant, wrapped in worn-out swaddling clothes, left right on the doorstep of an orphanage. This was told to her by her caregiver — Elena Viktorovna, a kind-hearted woman who genuinely cared for the children despite the harsh living conditions in the institution. Within the […]
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