Yana pushed open the apartment door and immediately heard voices coming from the kitchen. Her husband, Igor, was talking with his mother, Valentina Stepanovna. The woman had arrived that morning and settled herself in the kitchen, as usual.
“So, what’s going on with the television?” Igor asked.
“It’s become completely old,” his mother-in-law complained. “The picture is bad, the sound comes and goes. It’s been time to replace it for a long while.”
Yana took off her shoes and went into the kitchen. Her mother-in-law was sitting at the table with a cup of tea, while Igor was turning his phone over in his hands.
“Oh, Yana’s home,” her husband said happily. “We were just discussing Mom’s television.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Yana asked tiredly.
“It’s completely broken. She needs a new one,” Valentina Stepanovna answered.
Igor put down his phone and looked at his wife.
“You always pay for things like this. Buy Mom a television. We don’t want to spend our own money.”
Yana froze while taking off her jacket. Her husband had said it so naturally, as if they were talking about buying a loaf of bread at the store.
“You feel sorry spending your money, but I shouldn’t?” Yana asked again.
“Well, you have a good job and earn decent money,” Igor explained. “And my salary is small.”
Yana frowned and looked at her husband as if checking whether he was serious. He was. Igor’s face showed complete confidence that what he had said was perfectly right.
“Igor, I’m not a bank,” Yana said slowly.
“Oh, come on,” her husband waved her off. “It’s just one television.”
Yana sat down at the table and remembered the past few months. Who paid for the apartment? Yana. Who bought the groceries? Yana. Who paid the utility bills? Also Yana. And on top of that, Valentina Stepanovna’s medicine, since she was constantly complaining about her blood pressure and joints. And then there was her mother-in-law’s loan, which she had taken out for renovations but had stopped paying after three months.
“Remembering something?” Igor asked.
“Yes. I remembered who has been paying for everything in this family for the past two years.”
Valentina Stepanovna joined the conversation.
“Yana, you’re the woman of the house, so the responsibility falls on you. Is it really so hard to buy Igor’s mother a television? It’s a family purchase.”
“A family purchase?” Yana repeated. “And where is the family when money needs to be spent?”
“We’re not doing nothing,” Igor objected. “I work, and Mom helps around the house.”
“What help around the house?” Yana asked in surprise. “Valentina Stepanovna comes over to drink tea and talk about her illnesses.”
Her mother-in-law took offense.
“What do you mean, talk? I give you advice on how to run a family properly.”
“Advice that I should support everyone?”
“Well, who else would?” Igor asked sincerely, surprised. “You have a stable job and good income.”
Yana looked carefully at her husband. He genuinely considered it normal that his wife carried the whole family financially.
“And what do you do with your money?” Yana asked.
“I save it,” Igor replied. “For a rainy day.”
“What rainy day?”
“Well, who knows? A crisis, getting laid off. A person needs a safety cushion.”
“And where is my safety cushion?”
“You have a reliable job. They won’t fire you.”
Yana calmly remarked:
“Maybe it’s time for you and your mother to decide for yourselves what to buy and with whose money.”
Igor smirked.
“Why are you talking like that? You’re good with money. And we already try not to burden you with unnecessary expenses.”
“You don’t burden me?” Blood rushed to Yana’s face. “Igor, do you seriously think you don’t burden me?”
“Well, we don’t ask you to buy something every day,” Valentina Stepanovna defended her son. “Only when it’s really necessary.”
“A television is really necessary?”
“Of course! How can one live without a television? Watching the news, programs.”
“You can watch things online.”
“I don’t understand the internet,” her mother-in-law snapped. “I need a proper television.”
Yana realized the conversation was going nowhere. Valentina Stepanovna and Igor sincerely believed that Yana was supposed to provide for everyone and everything. Meanwhile, they saved every penny of their own.
“Fine,” Yana said. “Tell me, how much does the television you want cost?”
“Well, you can find a good one for around forty thousand,” Igor perked up. “A big one, with internet.”
“Forty thousand rubles,” Yana repeated.
“Yeah. It’s not that much.”
“Igor, do you know how much I spend on our family every month?”
“Well… probably a lot.”
“About seventy thousand rubles a month. Apartment, groceries, utilities, your mother’s medicine, her loan.”
Igor shrugged.
“It’s family. That’s normal.”
“And how much do you spend on the family?”
“Well… sometimes I buy milk. Bread.”
“Igor, you spend at most five thousand rubles a month on the family,” Yana calculated. “And not even every month.”
“But I’m saving for a rainy day.”
“Whose rainy day? Yours?”
“Ours, of course.”
“Then why is the money in your personal account and not a joint one?”
Igor fell silent. Valentina Stepanovna also quieted down.
“Yana, you’re saying the wrong thing,” her mother-in-law finally said. “My son provides for the family.”
“Provides how?” Yana asked in surprise. “Valentina Stepanovna, the last time Igor bought groceries was six months ago. And only because I was sick and asked him to go to the store.”
“But he works!”
“So do I. Only for some reason, my salary goes to everyone, while his goes only to him.”
“Well, that’s how it’s done,” Igor said uncertainly. “The woman manages the household.”
“Managing the household does not mean carrying everyone on your neck,” Yana objected.
“What are you suggesting?” Valentina Stepanovna asked.
“I suggest everyone support themselves.”
“What do you mean?” her mother-in-law protested. “What about family?”
“What about family? Family is when everyone contributes equally, not when one person drags everyone else along.”
Igor looked at his wife in confusion.
“Yana, you’re thinking strangely. We’re husband and wife. We have a shared budget.”
“Shared?” Yana laughed. “Igor, a shared budget is when both people put money into one pot and spend it together. What do we have? I put money in, and you spend yours on yourself.”
“Well, not on myself. I save it.”
“For yourself. Because when money is needed, you’ll spend it on your own needs, not shared ones.”
“How do you know?”
“I know. Right now your mother needs a television. You have forty thousand saved. Will you buy it?”
Igor hesitated.
“Well… those are my savings.”
“Exactly. Yours.”
Valentina Stepanovna decided to turn the conversation around.
“Yana, you shouldn’t speak to your husband like that. A man needs to feel like the head of the family.”
“And the head of the family should support the family, not live at his wife’s expense.”
“Igor does not live at your expense!” her mother-in-law protested.
“He does. For the last two years I have paid for the apartment, food, utilities, your medicine, and your loan. Meanwhile Igor saves money for his personal needs.”
“This is temporary,” her husband tried to justify himself. “There’s a crisis now, times are hard.”
“Igor, we’ve had a crisis for three years already. And every month you shift more and more expenses onto me.”
“I’m not shifting them. I’m asking for help.”
“Help?” Yana smirked. “Have you paid for the apartment in the last six months?”
“No, but…”
“Bought groceries?”
“Sometimes.”
“Igor, milk once a month does not count as buying groceries.”
“Fine, I didn’t buy them. But I work and bring money into the family.”
“You bring it in and immediately hide it in your personal account.”
“I don’t hide it. I save it for the future.”
“For your future.”
Valentina Stepanovna inserted herself into the argument again.
“Yana, what’s wrong with you? You never complained before.”
“Before, I thought it was temporary. I thought my husband would soon start participating normally in family expenses.”
“And now?”
“Now I understand that I’m being used like a cash cow.”
“How can you say that?” Igor was outraged.
“What else do you call a situation where one person supports everyone else, and they still demand gifts from her?”
“What gifts? Mom needs a television!”
“Igor, if your mother needs a television, let your mother buy it. Or you buy it for her from your savings.”
“But her pension is small!”
“And is my salary made of rubber?”
“Well, you can afford it.”
“I can. But I don’t want to.”
Silence fell. Igor and Valentina Stepanovna exchanged glances.
“What do you mean, you don’t want to?” her husband asked quietly.
“I mean I’m tired of supporting this family alone.”
“But we’re family. We’re supposed to help each other.”
“Exactly. Each other. Not one person helping everyone else.”
Yana stood up from the table. She understood that they saw her as an ATM that was supposed to hand out money on demand.
“Where are you going?” Igor asked.
“To settle some issues.”
Without saying another word, Yana took out her phone and opened the banking app right at the table. Her fingers quickly tapped the screen—she blocked the joint card that Igor had access to. Then she opened the transfer section and began moving all the savings to a new account she had opened a month earlier, just in case.
“What are you doing?” Igor asked warily.
“Settling financial matters,” Yana answered briefly.
Her husband tried to look at her phone, but Yana moved the screen away. Five minutes later, all the money had moved to her personal account, to which neither her husband nor her mother-in-law had any access.
“Yana, what’s going on?” Igor asked anxiously.
“What should have happened a long time ago.”
Yana went into the card settings and permanently blocked access for everyone except herself. Igor looked at his wife in confusion, not understanding the scale of what was happening.
Valentina Stepanovna sensed something was wrong and jumped up from her chair.
“What have you done? We’ll be left without money!”
“You’ll be left with the money you earn yourselves,” Yana replied calmly.
“What do you mean, ourselves? What about family? What about the shared budget?” her mother-in-law shouted.
“Valentina Stepanovna, we never had a shared budget. There was only my budget, which everyone lived off.”
“You’ve lost your mind!” her mother-in-law kept shouting. “We’re family!”
Yana, without raising her voice, said clearly:
“From today on, we live separately. I am not obligated to pay for your whims.”
“What whims?” Igor was indignant. “These are necessary expenses!”
“A television for forty thousand is a necessary expense?”
“For Mom, yes!”
“Then let Mom buy it with her pension. Or you buy it with your savings.”
Valentina Stepanovna rushed to her son.
“Why are you silent? Put her in her place! She’s your wife!”
Igor mumbled something vague, afraid to look Yana in the eyes. He understood that his wife was right, but he did not want to admit it aloud.
“Igor,” Yana said quietly, “do you really think I should support your entire family?”
“Well… we’re husband and wife.”
“Husband and wife means partnership. Not a situation where one person provides for everyone else.”
“But my salary is smaller!”
“Your salary is smaller, but you have more savings. Because you don’t spend them on anything except yourself.”
Igor fell silent again. Valentina Stepanovna realized that her son was not going to pressure his wife and decided to act herself.
“Yana, return the money immediately! I’m running out of medicine!”
“Buy it with your own money.”
“My pension is small!”
“Ask your son. He has savings.”
“Igor, give me money for medicine!” Valentina Stepanovna demanded.
Her son hesitated.
“Mom, I’m saving for the family.”
“I am the family!” his mother shouted.
“But those are my savings.”
“You see,” Yana noted. “When it comes to spending, everyone’s money suddenly becomes personal.”
Valentina Stepanovna realized the situation was serious and changed tactics.
“Yana, let’s talk calmly. You’re a kind woman. You always helped.”
“I helped until I realized I was being used.”
“Not used. Appreciated!”
“Appreciated for what? For paying all the bills?”
“For supporting the family.”
“I am not supporting a family. I am supporting two adults who can work and earn money themselves.”
The next morning, Yana went to the bank and opened a separate account in her own name. She also printed out statements for the past two years so it would be clear that all the money had been spent only on her husband and mother-in-law. Groceries, rent, utility bills, medicine, Valentina Stepanovna’s loan—everything had been on Yana.
When she returned home, Yana took out a large suitcase and began packing Igor’s things. Shirts, trousers, socks—she packed everything neatly.
“What are you doing?” her husband asked when he came home from work.
“Packing your things.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t live here anymore.”
“What do you mean I don’t live here? This is my apartment too!”
“The apartment is registered in my name. And I decide who lives in it.”
“But we’re husband and wife!”
“For now, yes. But not for long.”
Yana rolled the suitcase into the hallway and held out her hand.
“The keys.”
“What keys?”
“To the apartment. All sets.”
“Yana, are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
Igor reluctantly handed over the keys. Yana checked—the main set and the spare.
“Does your mother have keys?”
“Yes, she sometimes comes over.”
“Call her. Let her return them.”
“Why?”
“Because Valentina Stepanovna no longer has the right to enter my apartment.”
An hour later, her mother-in-law arrived. She understood that things were serious when she saw the suitcase in the hallway.
“What does this mean?” Valentina Stepanovna asked threateningly.
“It means your son is moving out.”
“Moving where? This is his home!”
“This is my home. And I no longer want to support freeloaders.”
“How dare you!” her mother-in-law exploded.
“I dare. Hand over the keys.”
“What keys?”
“To the apartment. I know you have a duplicate.”
“I won’t give it back!”
“Then I’ll call the police.”
Valentina Stepanovna made a real scene. She shouted that Yana was destroying the family, that people didn’t treat relatives that way, that she had always considered her daughter-in-law a good girl.
“The good girl is gone,” Yana said calmly and dialed the police.
“Hello, I need help. Former relatives are refusing to return the keys to my apartment and leave the premises.”
Half an hour later, two officers arrived. They clarified the situation and checked the apartment documents.
“Citizen,” they addressed the mother-in-law, “return the keys and leave the apartment.”
“But my son lives here!”
“Your son is not the owner of the property and has no right to manage it.”
In front of witnesses, Valentina Stepanovna reluctantly took the keys out of her purse and threw them on the floor.
“You’ll regret this!” her mother-in-law shouted as she left. “You’ll end up alone!”
“I’ll be alone, but with my own money,” Yana replied.
Igor silently took the suitcase and followed his mother out. At the door, he turned back.
“Yana, maybe you’ll think it over?”
“There’s nothing left to think about.”
A week later, Yana filed for divorce. There was almost no jointly acquired property—the apartment had originally belonged to Yana, and she had also bought the car with her own money. There was nothing to divide.
Igor tried calling. He asked to meet and talk. He promised that everything would change, that he would pay for all expenses himself.
“It’s too late,” Yana answered. “Trust cannot be restored.”
“But I love you!”
“Do you love me or my wallet?”
“You, of course!”
“Then why did you live at my expense for three years without feeling any remorse?”
Igor could not find an answer to that question.
The divorce was processed quickly. Igor did not object, understanding that arguing was pointless. The court declared the marriage dissolved.
For another month, Valentina Stepanovna kept calling Yana—sometimes crying into the phone, sometimes threatening her, sometimes asking for money for medicine. Yana listened silently and hung up.
“My blood pressure has gone up because of you!” her mother-in-law complained.
“Get treatment at your son’s expense. He has savings.”
“He says he feels sorry spending the money!”
“Wonderful. Now you understand how I felt for three years.”
Six months later, Yana met Igor in a store. Her ex-husband looked tired; his clothes had lost their former freshness.
“Hi,” Igor greeted her uncertainly.
“Hello.”
“How are you?”
“Great. And you?”
“Fine… I’m living with Mom for now.”
“I see.”
“You know, I realized I was wrong. I really put too much on you.”
“You realized it?”
“Yes. Now I pay for all of Mom’s expenses myself, and I understand how hard it is.”
“But you have savings.”
“I did. I spent them on Mom’s medicine and repairs for her apartment.”
“And how does it feel? Do you feel sorry for the money?”
Igor was silent for a moment, then answered honestly:
“Yes. Very sorry.”
“Now imagine that for three years in a row.”
“I understand. Forgive me.”
“I’ve already forgiven you. But that changes nothing.”
“What if I fix everything? Become different?”
“Igor, you only became different when you were left without my money. That is not change. That is forced circumstance.”
“But I realized my mistake!”
“You realized it when you had to pay yourself. If I had continued supporting everyone, you still wouldn’t have understood.”
Igor nodded. He understood that Yana was right.
“I have to go,” Yana said and walked to the checkout.
At home, Yana made tea and sat by the window with a book. The apartment was quiet—no one demanded money for televisions, medicine, or any other needs. In her account lay money that belonged only to Yana. No one told her how to spend it.
After closing the door behind her ex-husband six months earlier, Yana felt true lightness for the first time in a long while. It turned out that freedom from financial parasites was worth more than any family ties. Now every kopeck she spent was a conscious choice, not coercion.
Yana never again allowed anyone to sit on her neck. She learned to say “no” and not feel guilty for refusing to support other people’s grown adults. Money became a tool for realizing her own plans again, not a means of survival for the dependents around her.
