“Why are you the only one getting the profits?” my mother-in-law criticized me, wanting to get a share of my company
Maria quietly stirred the tea in her mug as she watched her mother-in-law. Galina Petrovna sat at the kitchen table, sadly looking down at her hands.
“Maria dear,” the older woman sighed, “you have no idea how difficult it is for me to live on just my pension.”
Maria nodded sympathetically.
“Yes, Galina Petrovna, pensions really are small these days.”
“Small!” her mother-in-law exclaimed, throwing up her hands. “They’re not just small! You can’t even buy decent groceries with those pennies. And don’t even get me started on medicine.”
Galina Petrovna took a pharmacy receipt out of her purse and handed it to Maria.
“Here, look for yourself. My blood pressure pills alone cost a third of my pension!”
Maria quickly looked over the receipt and shook her head sympathetically.
“I understand that it’s difficult. But you have a son. Ilya can help you.”
Her mother-in-law gave a bitter smile.
“Ilyusha? He barely has any money himself! His salary is tiny. He hardly has enough for his own needs.”
“Galina Petrovna,” Maria objected gently, “taking care of parents is the responsibility of their children. No outsider is going to do it for them.”
“Easy for you to say!” her mother-in-law raised her voice.
Maria carefully placed her mug on the table.
“I help my own parents. And I think that’s perfectly normal.”
“Of course you do!” Galina Petrovna got up from the table. “Your business is thriving! How am I supposed to know how much money you make there?”
“Galina Petrovna, what does my income have to do with this?” Maria asked in surprise. “We’re talking about children supporting their parents.”
Her mother-in-law paced around the kitchen, becoming visibly irritated.
“They should, they should! But what if the child doesn’t have any money? Then what?”
“Then he needs to look for additional sources of income,” Maria replied calmly. “Ilya could take on some extra work.”
“Extra work?” Galina Petrovna snorted. “Where? When? He already works himself to the bone from morning until night!”
Maria poured herself some more tea while considering her response.
“A lot of people find ways to earn extra money. He could do freelance work in the evenings.”
“Freelance work!” her mother-in-law sat back down at the table. “Maria, do you even understand what you’re saying? My son isn’t some kind of programmer.”
“People aren’t born programmers,” Maria remarked. “You can learn anything if you really want to.”
Galina Petrovna pursed her lips unhappily.
“If you want to, if you want to. Maybe what you actually need is time and energy? Ilyusha can barely stand on his feet after work as it is.”
“Galina Petrovna, I don’t understand what you’re getting at,” Maria said directly. “If you need help, ask your son.”
Her mother-in-law stood up and walked over to the window.
“I already did. He said he didn’t have any money. So now I’m supposed to figure out how to survive.”
“Then you need to look for a solution together,” Maria suggested. “Maybe review your expenses? Find cheaper alternatives to your medications?”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Galina Petrovna snapped. “I count every penny! I save on everything, even food!”
Maria looked carefully at her mother-in-law.
“Then the only option is to increase your income. Ilya could look for a better-paying job.”
“Sure!” the older woman said sarcastically. “At his age, finding a good job is impossible. Everyone wants younger people.”
“Not everywhere,” Maria objected. “Experience is valuable too.”
Galina Petrovna turned toward her daughter-in-law.
“Easy for you to talk when you have everything going your way! Your company brings in good money!”
“What does my company have to do with this?” Maria asked warily. “We’re talking about your problems.”
“Everything!” her mother-in-law stepped closer. “Some people can afford to help their parents. Others can barely make ends meet.”
Maria realized where the conversation was heading.
“Galina Petrovna, everyone helps according to their means.”
“Their means!” her mother-in-law snorted. “Some people have one level of means, while others have something completely different.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?” Maria asked directly.
Galina Petrovna sat down at the table and stared intently at her daughter-in-law.
“I’m saying there should be fairness. If someone in the family earns more, they should help everyone else.”
Maria carefully placed her mug in the sink.
“Galina Petrovna, I don’t understand your logic. Why should I financially support someone else’s parents?”
“Someone else’s?” her mother-in-law exclaimed indignantly. “I’m your husband’s mother! We’re one family now!”
“You and Ilya are family. Ilya and I are family,” Maria replied calmly. “And I help my own parents.”
Galina Petrovna abruptly stood up.
“See! Your own parents matter more to you! You don’t even want to think about your husband’s mother!”
“I do think about you,” Maria said patiently. “But your son should solve your problems, not your daughter-in-law.”
“Your son, your son!” the older woman waved her hands. “And what if the son doesn’t have any money? Is his mother supposed to starve?”
Maria took a deep breath.
“Galina Petrovna, let’s end this conversation. Talk to Ilya about your problems.”
Her mother-in-law grabbed her purse.
“Fine! So I have nobody to rely on! Have it your way, Maria!”
Galina Petrovna headed toward the exit, stomping loudly down the hallway.
“My neighbor told me daughters-in-law nowadays are heartless! I didn’t believe her! I should have!”
The front door slammed shut. Maria was left alone in the kitchen.
The following months turned into genuine torture. Galina Petrovna seemed to sense an opportunity and began attacking with renewed determination. The phone rang every day.
“Maria dear,” her mother-in-law pleaded pitifully, “give me ten thousand. I need to go see a doctor, and I have no money at all.”
“Galina Petrovna, ask your son,” Maria would patiently reply.
“How can I ask him?” the older woman protested. “He doesn’t have a penny to spare himself!”
A week later, the request doubled.
“Maria, I urgently need twenty thousand! A pipe burst, and I need to call a plumber!”
“I’m not obligated to help you,” Maria replied firmly.
“Not obligated!” Galina Petrovna shouted. “Then who is obligated if my son doesn’t have any money?”
Every refusal led to an argument with Ilya. Her husband would come home gloomy and irritated.
“Masha, why are you so cruel?” he reproached his wife. “Mom really does need help.”
“Ilyusha,” Maria patiently explained, “during the first years of our marriage, your mother constantly criticized me. My cooking, my cleaning, the way I looked.”
“So what?” Ilya shrugged. “She’s an older woman. She has her own views.”
“She called me a useless wife,” Maria reminded him. “She said I wasn’t worthy of you. And now she wants me to support her financially?”
Ilya looked guilty but remained stubborn.
“Masha, that was a long time ago. Mom has changed.”
“No, she hasn’t,” Maria shook her head. “She just needs money now.”
The requests became increasingly brazen. Galina Petrovna was already demanding thirty thousand for a new refrigerator, then forty thousand for renovations.
“Ilyusha, I’m tired,” Maria told her husband. “I don’t want to have these conversations anymore.”
The company finished the six-month period successfully. Maria happily shared the news with her husband.
“Ilyusha, can you imagine? Over the last six months, the company made two million rubles in net profit!”
Ilya raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Seriously? That much?”
“Yes!” Maria smiled. “That new contract turned out to be extremely profitable.”
The following Saturday morning, someone began pounding on the apartment door. Maria opened it and saw her furious mother-in-law.
Maria asked in surprise,
“Galina Petrovna, what happened?”
The older woman stormed into the apartment and immediately started complaining.
“What happened? Ilyusha told me about your millions!”
Maria sighed. Her husband had never been good at keeping his mouth shut.
“Come in,” she said wearily.
Galina Petrovna walked into the living room and turned toward her daughter-in-law.
“So you have millions, but you begrudge me ten thousand?”
“Galina Petrovna, this is my company,” Maria replied calmly. “My money.”
“Yours?” her mother-in-law exclaimed. “And what about your husband? Is he nobody?”
“What does Ilya have to do with it?” Maria asked in bewilderment. “I founded the company before we got married.”
“Before you got married!” Galina Petrovna snorted. “But it grew while you were married! That means Ilyusha contributed too!”
Maria shook her head.
“Ilya didn’t contribute anything. He wasn’t even interested in my business.”
“Wasn’t interested!” her mother-in-law shouted. “And who gave you moral support? Who created a comfortable home for you?”
“I created that comfortable home myself,” Maria remarked dryly.
Galina Petrovna stepped closer.
“Maria, have you completely lost your conscience? Why are you the only one getting the profits?”
Maria looked carefully at her mother-in-law.
“Because it is my company, which I built with my own hands.”
“Nonsense!” Galina Petrovna waved her hands dismissively. “If you’re married to my son, the profits should belong to both of you!”
“Both of us?” Maria repeated.
“Of course!” her mother-in-law said enthusiastically. “A family should be united! The company should belong to both of you too!”
Maria realized exactly where the conversation was going.
“Galina Petrovna, what are you talking about?”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” the older woman jabbed a finger toward her. “You should transfer half of the company into Ilyusha’s name! That would be fair!”
“Transfer it?” Maria stared at her in disbelief. “Have you lost your mind?”
“I have not!” Galina Petrovna shouted. “It’s the right thing to do! A husband and wife should divide everything equally!”
“But I founded the company before we were married!” Maria objected.
“That doesn’t matter!” her mother-in-law waved her off. “What matters is that it grew during the marriage! Ilyusha has rights!”
Maria stood up and walked toward the window.
“Galina Petrovna, leave my home.”
“Leave?” the older woman stared at her in shock. “I haven’t finished!”
“You have,” Maria said firmly. “Leave the apartment immediately.”
“You’re throwing me out?” Galina Petrovna cried. “Your husband’s mother?”
“Yes, I am,” Maria nodded. “And don’t come here again unless you’re invited.”
Galina Petrovna grabbed her purse.
“You just wait! Ilyusha is going to hear about this! He’ll deal with you!”
Her mother-in-law stormed out of the apartment. Five minutes later, Maria’s phone rang.
“Masha!” Ilya shouted into the phone. “How dare you throw my mother out?”
“Ilyusha, your mother demanded that I transfer half of my company into your name,” Maria explained calmly.
“And what’s wrong with that?” her husband asked in surprise. “We’re a family!”
“What’s wrong is that the company belongs to me,” Maria replied.
“Yours, yours!” Ilya said irritably. “And what am I? Some kind of stranger?”
“You’re my husband,” Maria said patiently. “But that doesn’t give you rights to my business.”
“It absolutely does!” Ilya shouted. “I’m your legal husband! I have rights!”
Maria ended the call. She no longer had the strength to argue. She walked into the bedroom, took a large suitcase out of the closet, and methodically began packing her husband’s belongings.
An hour later, Ilya stormed into the apartment.
“Masha, we need to talk!”
He stopped when he saw the suitcase in the hallway.
“What is this supposed to mean?”
“Your things,” Maria replied shortly. “Take them and leave.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Ilya stared at her. “This is our home!”
“No,” Maria shook her head. “This is my home. The apartment is registered in my name.”
“Masha, come on, that’s enough!” Ilya tried to hug his wife.
Maria stepped away.
“I’m filing for divorce tomorrow. My decision is final.”
“Divorce?” Ilya turned pale. “Because of Mom?”
“Because of you,” Maria corrected him. “You chose a side.”
Ilya stared at his wife in confusion.
“Masha, let’s discuss everything calmly.”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” Maria said as she opened the door. “Leave.”
Ilya picked up the suitcase and slowly walked out. At the doorway, he turned around.
“You’ll regret this.”
“Never,” Maria replied and closed the door.
The silence in the apartment felt long-awaited. For the first time in months, Maria could breathe freely.
No one would ever again try to get into her wallet or live at her expense.
She was free.
