— Ksyusha! Ksyushenka! Open up quickly!
Oksana jolted upright in bed, squinting at the bright morning light. It was six in the morning. Outside, she could hear cheerful shouts and knocking at the door.
— Vitya, is that your mom? — she whispered, nudging her husband on the shoulder.
— No way, — he mumbled without opening his eyes. — We didn’t agree on anything.
— Well, here we are, come greet us! Ksyusha! Why aren’t you answering? We’re standing here with all our suitcases!
Oksana jumped up, threw on her robe, and ran to the door. On the porch was Marina Andreevna with a huge bag slung over her shoulder, with Roman Romanovich standing behind her carrying two suitcases.
— What happened? What are you doing here? — Oksana asked in confusion.
— What do you mean? — her mother-in-law replied, surprised, barging past her into the house. — We’ve come to stay at your dacha! Summer is here! Roma, bring in the luggage quickly.
— But we didn’t agree on this… Marina Andreevna, you could have at least warned us!
— Oh, Ksyusha, don’t be silly! There’s no need for formalities between family! — her mother-in-law waved her off, already inspecting the room. — My goodness, this place is a mess! Roman Romanovich, look how much dust is on the windowsills!
— My name is Oksana, — the lady of the house said quietly but firmly.
— What are you talking about! — Marina Andreevna laughed. — Ksyusha and Oksana are the same thing! Don’t argue with me, dear. You’re not old enough for that yet!
At that moment, a sleepy Vitya showed up in just his underwear and t-shirt.
— Mom, Dad! What are you doing here?
— Son! — Marina Andreevna rushed over to him. — You’ve lost weight! Ksyusha must not be feeding you well!
— Mom, what does that have to do with… — Vitya started, but his mother cut him off.
— Roman Romanovich, take the suitcases to that room, — she directed him toward the couple’s bedroom. — We’ll stay there.
— Wait a minute! — Oksana protested. — That’s our bedroom!
— So what? We’re the elders, we’re entitled! You two are young, sleep on the couch. You’ll survive!
Roman Romanovich awkwardly shifted from foot to foot, holding the suitcases.
— Maybe we could stay in the living room? — he suggested uncertainly.
— No living room! — his wife cut in decisively. — At our age, we don’t sleep on couches! Ksyusha, help us unpack our things.
— I am not Ksyusha! — Oksana burst out. — My name is Oksana! O-ksa-na! How many times do I have to say it!
Marina Andreevna stopped and looked intently at her daughter-in-law.
— Listen, dear, don’t start making a scene! Ksyusha is just a short form for Oksana. I know better what to call you!
— But that’s a completely different name! Ksenia and Oksana are not the same!
— Nonsense! — her mother-in-law waved her off. — Vitya, explain to your wife that she should listen to her elders!
Vitya just raised his hands helplessly.
— Look, maybe let’s have breakfast and figure things out afterwards…
— See? — Marina Andreevna nodded with satisfaction. — My son understands me. And you, Ksyusha, don’t be difficult!
Oksana clenched her fists and headed to the kitchen. She could feel herself boiling inside but tried to hold back as much as possible.
In the kitchen, her mother-in-law immediately began giving orders.
— Roman Romanovich, sit at the table! Ksyusha, where do you keep the grains? I’ll make proper porridge now! Vitya looks too skinny!
— We have cereal, yogurt… — Oksana began.
“What are these cereals?!” Marina Andreevna scoffed. “This is not real food! You need a proper breakfast! Where are the frying pans?”
Without waiting for an answer, her mother-in-law began flinging open the cabinets.
“Goodness, what a mess! Ksyusha, you really have no idea how to run a household!”
“It’s Oksana,” the homeowner stubbornly repeated.
“Ksyusha, stop being stubborn!” Marina Andreevna snapped at her. “And anyway, you’d better do something useful instead of arguing!”
Vitya, seeing a scandal brewing, hurried to step in.
“Mom, how long are you planning to stay with us?”
“Oh, we’re not just visiting, son!” his mother happily announced. “We’re here for the whole summer! As soon as we heard Ksyusha got a dacha, we decided instantly—we have to help get everything set up properly!”
Oksana caught her breath in shock.
“What do you mean, for the whole summer?”
“Well, how else?” her mother-in-law said, surprised. “The dacha is a family place now! We’ll relax together, start a garden, and introduce the neighbors to proper people!”
“But this is my dacha!” Oksana finally burst out. “My aunt left it to me!”
“Aunt, no aunt—what’s the difference?” Marina Andreevna waved her off. “You’re married to my son! That makes the dacha family property!”
The door suddenly knocked. Vitya hurried over to answer, grateful for any chance to break up the growing argument.
On the doorstep stood a woman of about sixty, wearing a tracksuit.
“Hello! I’m Tamara Ivanovna, the president of our cooperative board. I heard voices and thought I’d come meet the new neighbors!”
“Come in, come in!” Marina Andreevna exclaimed happily, pushing Vitya aside. “My name is Marina Andreevna! And this is my husband, Roman Romanovich. We’re going to live here from now on!”
Tamara Ivanovna looked around at the group with curiosity.
“So, you’re the new owners?”
“No, not at all!” Oksana couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m the owner! Oksana. These are my father- and mother-in-law…”
“Ksyusha is just shy,” Marina Andreevna interrupted her. “She’s our daughter-in-law. But of course, we’re the main ones here! We’ve got plenty of dacha experience!”
Tamara Ivanovna nodded in understanding.
“I see. Well, welcome then! We’re a friendly community here. I hope you’ll fit right in!”
“Absolutely!” the mother-in-law assured her. “We’re very sociable people! Ksyusha is a bit reserved, but don’t worry, we’ll change that!”
Oksana felt her cheeks burning with indignation, but she stayed silent.
After the chairman left, Marina Andreevna resumed organizing the place with fresh energy.
“Roman Romanovich, go unpack the bags! And you, Ksyusha, show me where everything is kept. We’re going to get things properly sorted now!”
“Maybe we should talk about how we’re all going to live here?” Oksana timidly suggested.
“What’s there to talk about?” her mother-in-law said in surprise. “We’ll just live! In the mornings, I’ll be in the garden, you get the house in order, men will do something useful. It’s all simple!”
“But I have my own plans for the summer…”
“What plans?!” Marina Andreevna laughed. “You’re a married woman! Your plans are your family and your home! And I’ll teach you how to manage things properly!”
Vitya coughed awkwardly.
“Mom, maybe you don’t need to be so strict right away…”
“Vitenka, are you against your wife learning to cook properly?” his mother asked reproachfully. “Look at her—she’s so skinny! I bet she just feeds you sandwiches!”
“I cook just fine!” Oksana protested.
“Oh, of course you do!” her mother-in-law said with a hint of sarcasm. “But all those jarred salads of yours, is that even real food? No, dear, let me teach you how to cook properly!”
Just then, there was another knock on the door. This time, it was the neighbors—a man in his fifties with a friendly face and his wife, a cheerful, full-figured woman.
“Welcome!” the man said. “I’m Nikolai Petrovich, and this is my wife, Elena Vasilievna. We live in the house next door.”
“So nice to meet you!” Marina Andreevna beamed. “I’m Marina Andreevna—and this is our Ksyusha, our daughter-in-law!”
“Oksana,” the lady of the house corrected her, extending a hand to the neighbors.
“Oh, don’t mind her!” the mother-in-law laughed cheerfully. “She’s a character! Ksyusha always stays Ksyusha!”
Elena Vasilievna looked at Oksana with sympathy.
“We wanted to suggest,” Nikolai Petrovich began, “maybe we could team up for the summer? It’s tradition here—we share a garden, spend weekends together…”
“That’s a wonderful idea!” Marina Andreevna immediately agreed. “We’re very social people! Right, Roman Romanovich?”
The father-in-law nodded silently.
“And what do you think?” Elena Vasilievna asked Oksana.
“I…” Oksana started, but her mother-in-law jumped in first.
“Ksyusha is all for it! She’s very obedient! Just wait, you’ll see how well we settle in here!”
After the neighbors left, Oksana couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Marina Andreevna, we need to have a serious talk!”
“About what?” her mother-in-law asked, sorting through items in her suitcase.
“You can’t just move in and start deciding how I should live!”
“What do you mean I can’t?” she shot back. “I’m your husband’s mother! I have every right!”
“But this dacha is mine!”
“It’s a family dacha!” Marina Andreevna retorted. “And besides, who else is going to teach you? See how rude you are—no respect for your elders!”
Vitya stepped between them.
“Girls, why are you fighting…”
“Girls?” Oksana exclaimed. “I’m a grown woman! And this is my house!”
“Ksyusha, don’t yell at your mother-in-law!” Vitya said sternly. “Mom just wants what’s best!”
“See!” Marina Andreevna said triumphantly. “My son understands me! And you, Ksyusha, are just spoiled!”
Oksana felt like she was about to explode.
“My name is Oksana! O-k-sa-na! Why is that so hard to remember?”
“Because that’s what I want!” her mother-in-law snapped. “And you don’t tell me what to do! I’m older, so I know best!”
“This is my house!” Oksana shouted.
“It’s our house!” Marina Andreevna corrected her. “Family property! And I’m the head of the house as the eldest!”
Roman Romanovich coughed awkwardly.
“Maybe we shouldn’t get so worked up…”
“Roman Romanovich, don’t butt in!” his wife scolded him. “Is this a man’s business or a woman’s?”
The father-in-law fell silent obediently.
“Vitya!” Oksana turned to her husband. “Say something!”
“What am I supposed to say?” he shrugged. “Mom came to relax, you don’t want her here… You two should find a compromise!”
“What kind of compromise?” Oksana didn’t understand.
“Well… maybe live together for a bit, maybe you’ll get used to each other…”
Marina Andreevna nodded with satisfaction.
“That’s my boy! Ksyusha just isn’t used to nice things! She’ll learn, no worries!”
The rest of the day was filled with tension. My mother-in-law meticulously inspected every corner of the house, giving advice and criticizing everything she came across.
“Ksyusha, these curtains need to be changed! They don’t match the decor at all!”
“You need to redo the wallpaper here!”
“And your dishes look so cheap!”
By evening, Oksana was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. When Marina Andreevna announced that tomorrow they would go shopping for “proper groceries,” Oksana finally snapped.
“Enough!” she yelled. “That’s it! This is my house, and I decide what gets bought here!”
“Oh my!” her mother-in-law shook her head. “You’ve really let yourself go! Vitya, do you see how your wife is talking to your mother?”
“Oksan, please calm down…” her husband pleaded.
“Calm down!” his wife mimicked him. “Don’t you see what’s happening? Your mother has taken over our house!”
“Taken over!” Marina Andreevna laughed. “What a joke! A mother visits her son—and that’s being taken over?”
“I don’t want you living here!” Oksana blurted out.
A heavy silence fell over the house. Marina Andreevna slowly turned to her daughter-in-law.
“What did you say?”
“I said I don’t want you living here!” Oksana repeated, unable to stop now. “This is my house, my dacha! I decide who can come in!”
“Roman Romanovich!” the mother-in-law exclaimed. “Did you hear that? She’s kicking us out of the house!”
“Vitya!” she turned to her son. “Are you just going to let this happen?”
Vitya shook his head, completely lost.
“Well… maybe we really should have given her a heads up…”
“Vitya!” his mother gasped. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m not on anyone’s side… It’s just…”
“You’re just a pushover!” Oksana couldn’t hold back. “You can’t even stand up for your wife!”
“Ksyusha!” Marina Andreevna was outraged. “How dare you talk about your husband like that!”
“Don’t call me Ksyusha!” Oksana shouted. “How many times do I have to say it!”
“I’ll call you whatever I want!” her mother-in-law snapped. “You can’t tell me what to do!”
“Then I won’t answer you!”
“What do you mean you won’t?”
“Exactly what I said! If you call me Ksyusha, I won’t respond!”
Marina Andreevna snorted disdainfully.
“Fine then! We can do without your answers!”
The next few days passed in a cold war. Marina Andreevna pointedly called her daughter-in-law only “Ksyusha,” and true to her word, Oksana never responded. This drove her mother-in-law mad.
“Roman Romanovich, do you see how rude she is?” she complained to her husband. “The eldest in the house speaks to her, and she just turns up her nose!”
“Maybe we should just call her by her real name?” her father-in-law timidly suggested.
“Never!” his wife snapped. “She needs to learn to respect her elders!”
The situation got even worse when my mother-in-law started socializing with the neighbors and introducing herself as the mistress of the house.
“Yes, Roman Romanovich and I live here now,” she told Elena Vasilievna over the fence. “Ksyusha is young and inexperienced, she can’t cope unless someone keeps an eye on her!”
“But where’s the actual hostess?” the neighbor asked.
“Oh, she’s sulking around the house somewhere,” Marina Andreevna waved dismissively. “She has a difficult personality!”
Oksana, hearing this conversation from the window, was so outraged she could barely breathe.
The big moment came on Saturday, when the neighbors gathered to discuss plans for a shared vegetable garden. Marina Andreevna welcomed them like she was the true mistress of the house.
“Come in, come in!” she said warmly. “We’ll go over all the details right now!”
“Where’s Oksana?” Elena Vasilievna asked.
“Ksusha’s somewhere in the house,” her mother-in-law waved off dismissively. “She can’t be bothered with the garden! Spoiled as can be!”
At that moment, Oksana walked into the room.
“Good afternoon,” she greeted the neighbors.
“Ksusha!” Marina Andreevna called to her. “We’re planning the garden here! Of course, you won’t be participating, but you can listen in!”
“Why wouldn’t I participate?” Oksana asked, surprised.
“Because you don’t know how to do garden work!” her mother-in-law explained. “You’d be better off tidying up the house!”
“Excuse me,” Oksana addressed the neighbors, “but I’m the owner of this summer house. I’m the one who makes decisions about the garden!”
“Owner!” Marina Andreevna laughed. “What an idea! We’re the elders here, so we’re in charge!”
Nikolai Petrovich coughed awkwardly.
“Sorry, but who’s actually the… official owner?”
“I am,” Oksana said firmly. “I inherited this summer house from my aunt!”
“So what?” Marina Andreevna brushed her off. “A married woman can’t be independent! Men are the main ones in the family!”
“But the property is registered to me!” Oksana protested.
“Just paperwork!” her mother-in-law said scornfully. “The important thing is who has experience! And I do!”
The neighbors exchanged glances.
“Maybe you all should settle this among yourselves first?” Elena Vasilievna suggested.
“There’s nothing to settle!” Marina Andreevna declared. “Ksusha should be grateful that we’re helping her! At her age, I was already managing three gardens!”
“My name is Oksana!” the owner corrected her again.
“Ksusha is Ksusha! Stop making a fuss!” her mother-in-law snapped.
“Those are different names!” Oksana couldn’t take it anymore. “Ksenia and Oksana are completely different names!”
“What would you know!” Marina Andreevna waved her off. “I’ve been married for forty years, I know better!”
“What does forty years of marriage have to do with anything?” Oksana couldn’t understand.
“It means I’ve got more experience!” her mother-in-law explained. “And enough with the backtalk! You’ve gotten way too bold!”
The neighbors quickly said their goodbyes, leaving the family to sort things out on their own.
After they left, Oksana lost her patience.
“That’s it! Enough!” she shouted. “I’m changing the locks tomorrow!”
“What?” Marina Andreevna gasped.
“I’m changing the locks! And from now on, no one comes in without my permission!”
“Roman Romanovich!” her mother-in-law called out to her husband. “Do you hear this? She’s throwing us out of the house!”
“Out of my house!” Oksana clarified.
“Vitya!” his mother called her son. “Are you going to let this happen?”
Vitya came out of the bathroom, drying his face with a towel.
“What’s going on?”
“Your wife is kicking your parents out of the house!” his mother complained.
“Oksan, come on…” her husband started.
“Come on, what?” his wife snapped. “Your mother’s taken over my home! She acts like she owns the place! Calls me by someone else’s name! And you just stay silent!”
“But she’s my mom…”
“And who am I?” Oksana said, confused. “Am I your wife or not?”
Vitya shook his head helplessly.
“Of course, you’re my wife… But she’s my mom too…”
“Choose!” Oksana demanded, laying down an ultimatum. “Either you’re on my side, or I’m leaving this place!”
“Then go!” Marina Andreevna suddenly snapped. “And don’t come back! My son is better off without a wife like you!”
“Mom!” Vitya gasped in shock.
“What do you mean ‘Mom’?” she retorted, undeterred. “Just look at her disrespect! She won’t listen to her elders, always causing drama! No, we don’t need a daughter-in-law like that!”
Oksana felt a chill sweep through her.
“Fine,” she replied quietly. “I really will leave, then. But the dacha stays with me!”
“How is it yours?” her mother-in-law blurted out, outraged.
“Simple as that! The documents are in my name! I’ll decide what happens here!”
Marina Andreevna was at a loss for words.
“But… but we’ve already told all the neighbors we’d be living here!”
“That’s your problem!” Oksana shot back.
Roman Romanovich, who had stayed silent until now, suddenly spoke up.
“Marina, maybe that’s enough? Let’s go home?”
“We’re not going anywhere!” his wife snapped. “She wishes! I’ll show her what happens when you disrespect your elders!”
“But the dacha isn’t even ours…”
“I don’t care!” declared Marina Andreevna. “Let her complain to the prosecutor if she wants! I’m not leaving!”
The next day, Oksana really did change the locks. When her mother-in-law discovered it, a brand new scandal erupted.
“Ksyusha!” she banged on the door. “Open up this instant!”
“Call me by my real name!” Oksana replied from inside.
“Don’t hold your breath! Ksyusha is Ksyusha!”
“Then I’m not opening the door!”
Marina Andreevna paced the yard, at a complete loss for what to do next.
“Roman Romanovich! Do something!”
“What can I do?” her husband shrugged. “The dacha isn’t ours…”
“How is it not ours? What about our son? What about family?”
“But the deed is in her name…”
Furious, the mother-in-law rushed over to the neighbors.
“Elena Vasilievna!” she shouted over the fence. “Can you believe what’s happening? My daughter-in-law kicked her husband’s parents out of the house!”
“You don’t say!” the neighbor gasped.
“It’s true! She changed the locks! No shame at all!”
“And what about Vitya?”
“Vitya’s under her thumb!” Marina Andreevna complained. “He can’t even say a word!”
Soon the whole summer neighborhood was buzzing about the family drama. People took sides: some pitied the “poor mother-in-law, thrown out by her ungrateful daughter-in-law,” while others thought, “the young couple deserve their own privacy.”
Tamara Ivanovna, the head of the board, decided to step in.
“Tell me,” she addressed Marina Andreevna, “whose name is the property registered under?”
“It’s Ksyusha’s,” she admitted reluctantly.
“Well then… she’s the owner,” Tamara Ivanovna said, spreading her hands.
“Owner?!” the mother-in-law protested. “She’s young! Inexperienced! You can’t get by without help from your elders!”
“But the law is the law,” Tamara Ivanovna answered firmly.
Realizing she wouldn’t win officially, Marina Andreevna decided on a new tactic. She started turning all the neighbors against Oksana, telling them about “the ingratitude of today’s youth.”
“Just imagine,” she complained to Nikolai Petrovich, “we came to her with only good intentions, wanted to help, and she kicked us out like dogs! No shame about it! Left us, older people, stranded outside!”
“Well, the dacha is still hers…” the neighbor added uncertainly.
“Oh, come on!” Marina Andreevna waved her hands in frustration. “What difference does it make whose summer house it is? Family should stay together! And what’s she doing? She’s causing a split!”
Gradually, some neighbors really did start giving Oksana the side-eye. Especially the older ones—they were used to different times, when elders in the family held unquestioned authority.
Galina Sergeevna from across the street would walk over to the fence every day and shake her head in reproach as she looked at Oksana’s windows.
“Ah, what is youth coming to these days,” she would sigh. “Back in our day, this would never happen!”
Vitya darted between his wife and his mother, trying to make peace, but only made things worse.
“Oksan, just think about it,” he pleaded with his wife. “Mom doesn’t mean any harm! She’s just used to being in charge!”
“And I’m used to being called by my name!” Oksana snapped back. “Is that really so difficult to understand?”
“But she is older…”
“Age doesn’t give you the right to be rude!” his wife refused to back down.
“Alright, alright… Maybe we can come up with some sort of compromise?”
“What compromise? She doesn’t even want to apologize!”
And it was true, Marina Andreevna had no intention of saying sorry. On the contrary, she saw herself as the wronged party.
“Roman Romanovich,” she said to her husband, pacing the yard, “just look at how far it’s gone! The daughter-in-law has thrown her mother-in-law out! In our day, you’d be kicked out of the family for less!”
“Marina, maybe we should just go home?” her husband suggested timidly. “Why are we torturing ourselves here?”
“No way!” his wife declared. “She needs to learn to respect her elders! I’ll make her life so hard, she’ll be begging for forgiveness on her knees!”
But Oksana wasn’t about to beg. She methodically walked around the property, watering flowers and tending the garden beds. The neighbors watched her with curiosity—some even greeted her, but most kept their distance.
The campaign against Oksana was especially stirred up by Galina Sergeevna.
“Did you see how she holds her head high?” she whispered to Elena Vasilievna. “As if nothing happened! Yet her husband’s parents are wandering around the yard!”
“But the summer house really does belong to her…”
“So what!” Galina Sergeevna brushed it off. “Family comes first! She’s just selfish!”
A week later, another incident occurred. A local repairman, Sergey, arrived to fix the plumbing for Oksana. Instantly, Marina Andreevna rushed over to him.
“Young man, who are you here for?”
“The owner,” he replied. “Here to fix the pipes.”
“Well, I’m the owner!” the mother-in-law announced. “Marina Andreevna!”
“Do you have the documents for the property?” the repairman asked.
Marina Andreevna was caught off guard.
“What documents… I’m the owner’s mother!”
“I see,” Sergey nodded. “And where’s the owner himself?”
“At work! But I can explain everything that needs to be done!”
At that moment, Oksana came up to the gate.
“Sergey Ivanovich? Come in, I’ll show you where the problem is!”
“Ksyusha!” her mother-in-law called after her. “I already explained everything to the repairman!”
Oksana didn’t even look back. The repairman glanced at Marina Andreevna in confusion.
“So, who’s actually in charge here?”
“I am!” both women answered at once.
Sergey scratched his head.
“So, who’s going to show me the documents?”
“I will,” said Oksana, leading the repairman into the house.
Marina Andreevna stayed in the yard, fuming with anger.
“Roman Romanovich!” she called out to her husband. “Do you see what’s going on? She’s embarrassing me in front of strangers!”
“Marina, that’s enough,” her father-in-law said tiredly. “Let’s go home!”
“I’m not going anywhere!” his wife insisted stubbornly. “She won’t get her way!”
That evening, Vitya’s car pulled up to the house. He got out looking exhausted and worn out.
“Mom, Dad, why are you still here?”
“Where else can we go?” Marina Andreyevna threw up her hands. “Your wife kicked us out of the house!”
“But the dacha isn’t ours…”
“Vitya!” his mother exclaimed indignantly. “You too?! Don’t you see—Ksyusha is humiliating us on purpose!”
“Mom, her name is Oksana…”
“Ksyusha!” his mother-in-law snapped back. “And don’t argue with me!”
Vitya sighed heavily and headed toward the house. Oksana met him at the doorstep.
“Have you decided anything?” she asked.
“Oksana, what am I supposed to do?” he spread his hands. “Mom won’t leave, and you won’t give in…”
“And what exactly should I give in on?” his wife asked in surprise. “The right to be called by my own name?”
“Well, isn’t that such a small thing…”
“It might be small to you! But for me, it’s a matter of principle!”
“But mom is older…”
“That doesn’t give her the right to be rude!” Oksana exclaimed. “Vitya, if you won’t stand up for me, I’m going to seriously reconsider our marriage!”
Vitya turned pale.
“Wait, do you want a divorce?”
“I want my husband to defend me! Not try to compromise with people who insult me!”
“But she doesn’t mean any harm…”
“I don’t care if she means harm or not!” Oksana cut him off. “I’m tired of putting up with it!”
The next day things reached their peak. Marina Andreyevna decided to hold a ‘people’s court’ and gathered all the neighbors in the yard.
“Good people!” she addressed the neighbors. “Tell me yourselves—is it right for a daughter-in-law to treat her mother-in-law this way?”
“What happened?” asked Tamara Ivanovna.
“She kicked us out of the house!” Marina Andreyevna complained. “Her husband’s own parents! Can you imagine?”
“But the dacha isn’t yours,” Nikolai Petrovich pointed out.
“What difference does it make!” the mother-in-law waved her hands. “Family is supposed to be together! And what is she doing? She doesn’t respect elders!”
“Maybe you did something wrong?” Elena Vasilyevna suggested carefully.
“What did I do wrong?” Marina Andreyevna was offended. “I came to visit my son! I wanted to help! And she tells me—leave, I don’t want to see you!”
At that moment, Oksana walked out of the house. When she saw the gathering of neighbors, she paused.
“Ksyusha!” her mother-in-law immediately called out. “Come here! Explain to everyone why you kicked your husband’s parents out of the house!”
Oksana stood silently at the porch.
“Do you hear me, Ksyusha?” Marina Andreyevna raised her voice. “Or have you gone deaf already?”
“My name is Oksana,” the lady of the house said calmly.
“See!” the mother-in-law triumphantly turned to the neighbors. “She’s even arguing with her elders in front of everyone! She’s completely shameless!”
“Marina Andreyevna,” Tamara Ivanovna addressed her, “what do you call your own daughter? By her name, or whatever you feel like?”
“What’s my daughter got to do with it?” she couldn’t understand.
“Well, everyone has the right to be called by their own name,” the chairwoman explained.
“So what if they do!” Marina Andreyevna waved a hand. “Ksyusha is just a nickname for Oksana!”
“No,” Tamara Ivanovna objected. “Ksyusha is short for Kseniya. For Oksana, it’s Oksanka or just Oksana.”
Marina Andreevna was taken aback for a second, but quickly regained her composure.
“Why do you all keep being so clever!” she snapped. “I’ve been married for forty years, I know best!”
“What does forty years of marriage have to do with it?” the chairwoman asked, confused.
“It means I have more experience!” the mother-in-law explained. “And anyway, it’s not about names! The point is, she doesn’t respect her elders!”
“And do you respect her?” Elena Vasilievna suddenly asked.
“How can you say I don’t respect her?” Marina Andreevna exclaimed indignantly.
“Well, you call her by the wrong name, you boss people around in her house without asking…”
“But she’s younger!” the mother-in-law protested. “Younger people are supposed to listen!”
“She’s an adult woman,” Nikolai Petrovich pointed out.
“So what!” Marina Andreevna waved her hand dismissively. “She’ll always be the younger one to me!”
The neighbors exchanged glances. Many were starting to realize the problem wasn’t just with Oksana.
“Maybe you should really try to find a compromise?” Tamara Ivanovna suggested.
“What compromise!” Marina Andreevna flared up. “She should apologize! She should ask her elders for forgiveness!”
“What should I apologize for?” Oksana asked.
“For disrespect! For rudeness! For kicking your husband’s parents out of the house!”
“I didn’t kick anyone out,” Oksana calmly replied. “I just don’t want to live with people who don’t respect me.”
“How can you say I don’t respect you?” her mother-in-law gasped.
“You call me by the wrong name, take charge in my home, ignore my requests…”
“Oh, stop making things up!” Marina Andreevna waved her hand. “I’m doing everything just fine!”
“No, it’s not fine,” Oksana said firmly.
“Ksyusha, stop being so stubborn!” her mother-in-law said angrily.
“See?” Oksana turned to the neighbors. “She keeps calling me by the wrong name!”
The neighbors stayed silent. The situation was awkward for everyone.
“Alright,” Tamara Ivanovna finally said, “this is a family matter. You need to sort it out yourselves.”
The community meeting broke up, leaving the opposing sides alone together.
“See!” Marina Andreevna said triumphantly to Oksana. “Even the neighbors understand you’re in the wrong!”
“No one understands anything,” Oksana replied tiredly. “They just don’t want to get involved.”
“Because you’re the one who’s wrong!” her mother-in-law insisted.
“No, it’s because you’re stubborn and won’t admit your mistakes!”
“What mistakes? I’m doing everything right!”
Roman Romanovich stepped into the conversation.
“Marina, maybe that’s enough? Let’s go home?”
“We’re not going anywhere!” his wife cut him off. “Not until this person apologizes!”
“I’m not going to apologize,” Oksana said calmly. “Because I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“How can you say that?” Marina Andreevna protested. “You kicked your husband’s parents out of the house!”
“Out of my house,” Oksana corrected her.
“The family home!”
“My home! And I decide who gets to live here!”
“What a character!” the mother-in-law shook her head. “She’s completely out of control!”
That evening, Vitya came home. His parents immediately started complaining to him.
“Son,” Marina Andreevna lamented, “just look at what your wife is doing! She’s completely out of hand!”
“Vitya,” Oksana turned to her husband, “this is the last time I’m asking: whose side are you on?”
“Oksan, why are you even asking…” he started to say.
“Answer me directly: whose side are you on?”
Vitya was clearly struggling. On one hand, there was his mother, who gave birth to him and raised him. On the other, his wife—the woman he planned to spend his life with.
“I… I’m on the side of justice,” he finally managed to say.
“That’s not an answer,” Oksana replied coldly.
“But what am I supposed to do?” Vitya pleaded. “My mom won’t give in, you won’t give in…”
“And I’m not planning to!” Marina Andreevna declared. “Let this woman apologize!”
“What for?” Oksana asked.
“For everything! For being disrespectful, for rudeness, for not listening to her elders!”
“I didn’t insult anyone or act rudely,” Oksana calmly replied. “I’m just standing up for my rights.”
“What rights?” her mother-in-law scoffed. “You’re a married woman! You have no rights!”
“Yes, I do!” Oksana replied firmly. “And one of them is the right to be called by my own name!”
“Ksyusha is your name!”
“No, it isn’t!”
“Yes, it is!”
“Enough!” Vitya snapped. “I’m tired of these arguments!”
“Then make a decision already!” his wife demanded. “Either you make your mother call me by my name, or I’m leaving!”
“I will not!” Marina Andreevna declared. “Even if you kill me—I won’t!”
“Why not?” Oksana didn’t understand.
“Because I don’t want to!” her mother-in-law snapped. “That’s my right!”
“No, it’s not! You don’t have the right to insult people!”
“Who am I insulting?” Marina Andreevna protested. “Calling you Ksyusha is an insult now?”
“To me, it is an insult!”
“Well, that’s your problem! So sensitive!”
“Mom,” Vitya tried to intervene, “maybe you really should…”
“No need!” his mother interrupted. “I have principles! I won’t indulge silly whims!”
“This isn’t a whim!” Oksana objected.
“It is a whim!” the mother-in-law insisted. “And I won’t give in to it!”
The argument could have gone on forever, but suddenly Roman Romanovich stood up.
“That’s enough,” he said wearily. “Marina, get ready. We’re going home.”
“I’m not going anywhere!” his wife stubbornly replied.
“Oh yes you are,” her husband said firmly. “I’ve had enough of this circus!”
“Roman Romanovich!” Marina Andreevna gasped. “What, are you against me now?”
“I’m on the side of common sense!” her father-in-law answered. “It’s not our dacha, the hostess doesn’t want us here—so we’re going home!”
“I don’t want to!” Marina Andreevna insisted.
“I don’t care what you want!” her husband snapped. “Get ready!”
For the first time in so many years, Roman Romanovich stood his ground. Marina Andreevna was stunned—she hadn’t expected this turn of events.
“But… but what about principles?” she weakly protested.
“What principles?” her husband snorted. “It’s just your stubbornness!”
“I’m not stubborn! I’m doing the right thing!”
“No, you’re not!” her father-in-law cut her off. “Calling someone by the wrong name isn’t right!”
Marina Andreevna stared at her husband, completely shocked.
“You… you’re on her side?”
“I’m on the side of justice!” Roman Romanovich replied. “I said get ready!”
But her mother-in-law wouldn’t give up.
“No!” she declared. “Until this person apologizes, I’m not going anywhere!”
“Then I’ll go by myself!” her husband threatened.
“Go ahead!” Marina Andreevna waved him off. “I’ll stay right here!”
“Where are you going to stay?” Roman Romanovich asked in surprise.
— Right here! In the yard! Let the whole street see how a daughter-in-law treats her mother-in-law!
— Mom, please stop! — Vitya exclaimed in horror.
— Why should I? — she insisted stubbornly. — I’ll stay right here until she apologizes!
Oksana shook her head.
— Have it your way. But I’m not letting you into the house.
— I don’t need to! — Marina Andreevna replied proudly. — I’ll manage!
— Marina, — Roman Romanovich said wearily, — why are you acting like a child?
— I’m just standing by my principles! — his wife shot back.
— You’re just being stubborn! — her husband corrected her.
— Not stubborn, just principled!
— Not principled at all! — her father-in-law disagreed. — Completely wrong!
The family conflict hit a dead end. Marina Andreevna remained in the yard, having set up a makeshift camp on the bench. The neighbors watched with a mix of amazement and sympathy.
Galina Sergeevna approached the fence several times, trying to support the ‘unfortunate mother-in-law,’ but even she started to realize Marina Andreevna was taking things too far.
— Maybe you should just go home? — she gently suggested. — Why put yourself through this?
— No! — answered Marina Andreevna. — Not until she apologizes!
— But what if she doesn’t apologize?
— Then I’ll sit out here till winter! — the mother-in-law declared stubbornly.
Vitya paced between the house and yard, trying to convince first his wife, then his mother.
— Oksana, just give in! — he pleaded. — Just say you’re sorry!
— Sorry for what? — his wife didn’t understand. — For defending my rights?
— Well, for… for the conflict!
— I didn’t start this conflict!
— But mom won’t leave!
— That’s her choice!
— But she’s elderly!
— Elderly, but stubborn!
The discussions led nowhere. Marina Andreevna sat in the yard, suffering pointedly and making it clear how miserable she was. Oksana just went about her business, ignoring her mother-in-law.
A week passed, then another. Marina Andreevna grew thinner and paler, but refused to back down. Roman Romanovich kept traveling back and forth, bringing her food and clean clothes.
— Marina, — he begged, — please, stop tormenting yourself!
— I won’t! — she replied. — Not until she apologizes!
— She won’t apologize! — her husband despaired. — You see that!
— Then I’ll just keep waiting!
— You’ll wait until you’re old!
— I will!
At first, the neighbors felt sorry for her, but soon they started getting annoyed. Marina Andreevna’s constant complaints and moaning began to get on everyone’s nerves.
— Listen, — Elena Vasilievna said to her, — don’t you think it’s time to stop? Everyone’s tired of this spectacle!
— What spectacle! — Marina Andreevna protested. — I’m suffering!
— You’re making yourself suffer!
— No! Ksyusha is making me suffer!
— Oksana, — the neighbor corrected her.
— Ksyusha! — the mother-in-law stubbornly insisted.
Elena Vasilievna waved her hand and left.
Tamara Ivanovna also tried to reason with the stubborn mother-in-law.
— Marina Andreevna, — she said, — why are you acting like a child? You’re a grown woman, but behave like a spoiled kid!
— I’m not spoiled! — she objected. — I’m just principled!
— That’s not principle, that’s stubbornness!
— No, it’s principle!
— Fine, maybe it is. But why torment yourself?
— If Ksyusha apologizes, I’ll stop suffering right away!
— And if she never does?
— She will! She’s got nowhere to go!
But Oksana never apologized. She calmly went on with her life, taking care of her garden and spending time with the neighbors who treated her well.
Vitya was starting to think that his mother was going too far.
“Mom,” he would say, “just look at yourself! What have you become!”
“What have I become?” Marina Andreyevna didn’t understand.
“A laughingstock! The whole village is laughing at you!”
“They’re not laughing, they’re sympathizing!”
“At first, they felt sorry for you, but now they’re laughing!” her son admitted honestly.
Marina Andreyevna thought about it. She had indeed noticed that her neighbors didn’t sympathize with her as much anymore.
“Let them laugh!” she finally said. “At least I know I’m right!”
“Mom, you’re not right!” Vitya couldn’t hold it in anymore. “You’re completely wrong!”
“How am I wrong?” his mother gasped.
“You just are! You should call people by their real names! It’s basic respect!”
“Vitya!” Marina Andreyevna said reproachfully. “You too?”
“Yes! Me too!” her son didn’t back down. “Because Oksana is right!”
“Ksyusha!”
“Oksana!” Vitya said firmly. “O-k-sa-na!”
Marina Andreyevna looked at her son in confusion.
“You… you’re against me?”
“I’m for fairness!” he replied. “And for common sense!”
“But I’m your mother!”
“So what? That doesn’t give you the right to be rude!”
“I’m not being rude!”
“Yes you are! Calling someone by the wrong name—it’s disrespectful!”
Marina Andreyevna felt like the ground was slipping away from under her feet. Her husband was against her, her son was against her, and the neighbors were tired of her whims…
But she wasn’t going to give up.
“Everyone’s against me!” she exclaimed. “But I’m still right! And I’ll sit here until Ksyusha apologizes!”
“Oksana won’t apologize!” Vitya said tiredly. “She has nothing to apologize for!”
“How could she not?” his mother objected.
“And what exactly for? Tell me specifically!”
Marina Andreyevna thought about it. Really, what should her daughter-in-law apologize for? For not wanting to live with people who don’t respect her? For wanting to be called by her real name?
But the mother-in-law just couldn’t admit she was wrong.
“For disrespecting her elders!” she finally blurted out.
“Disrespect?” her son didn’t understand.
“Well… she argues with me!”
“And you don’t argue with her?”
“I’m older! I’m allowed!”
“No, Mom,” Vitya shook his head. “No one is allowed to be rude!”
“I’m not being rude!”
“You are!”
The conversation went absolutely nowhere again.
A week later, something unexpected happened. Marina Andreyevna’s old friend Zinaida Petrovna, who was visiting her daughter in the neighboring village, approached her.
“Marina!” she exclaimed when she saw her exhausted friend sitting on the bench. “What happened to you?”
Marina Andreyevna was overjoyed—finally, someone who would understand her!
“Zina!” she rushed to her friend. “You can’t imagine what I’ve been through! My daughter-in-law kicked me out of the house!”
Zinaida Petrovna listened carefully to her friend’s story, then, unexpectedly, shook her head.
“Marina, but how did you behave yourself?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, puzzled. “I behaved normally!”
“Normally? What does that mean? Tell me more details.”
Marina Andreyevna started retelling the events, but the more she talked, the stranger Zinaida Petrovna’s expression became.
“Hold on,” she interrupted her friend. “Are you telling me you just showed up at their place without warning?”
“Well, yeah! What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is—it’s rude! They have their own life!”
“Zina!” Marina Andreevna exclaimed indignantly. “Not you too!”
“And besides,” her friend went on, “you’re calling the little girl by the wrong name?”
“Ksyusha is a perfectly normal name!”
“It’s normal for Ksenia, not for Oksana!” Zinaida Petrovna said sternly. “Marina, have you completely lost your mind?”
“Lost my mind? How?”
“Like this! You’re acting like a cranky old woman! At my age, it’s ridiculous to behave this way!”
Marina Andreevna blinked in confusion. She thought she’d get support, but instead, she got another scolding.
“But I’m right…”
“Right about what?” Zinaida Petrovna couldn’t understand. “About calling someone by the wrong name? Or about taking over someone else’s house?”
“But I’m the elder!”
“And so what? Age doesn’t give you a free pass!” her friend snapped. “Marina, get a grip! You’ve turned into a bitter old lady!”
“I am not bitter!”
“You are! And stubborn! And rude!” Zinaida Petrovna wouldn’t let up. “In our time, elders were taught to respect the younger ones, too!”
“Respect the younger ones? How?”
“Like this! Don’t meddle in their life, don’t boss them around, and don’t be rude!” her friend explained. “Marina, you used to be a sensible woman! What happened to you?”
Marina Andreevna felt something inside her break. Even her old friend was against her…
“Everyone’s against me,” she muttered.
“Not everyone is against you—you’re against everyone!” Zinaida Petrovna corrected her. “Wake up before it’s too late!”
“Too late for what?”
“Too late to save your family! You’re going to lose your son!”
“I won’t lose him!” Marina Andreevna insisted stubbornly.
“You will! You’re already losing him! Don’t you see the way he looks at you?”
Almost involuntarily, Marina Andreevna glanced at Vitya, who was standing by the porch. It was true—his eyes didn’t hold love or respect, but rather fatigue and irritation.
“He won’t leave me,” the mother-in-law said, her voice uncertain.
“He will!” Zinaida Petrovna replied harshly. “Because your whims are driving him away!”
“These aren’t whims!”
“Yes, they are! Real, honest-to-goodness whims!” her friend insisted. “Marina, look at yourself! Sitting on the bench like a crazy old woman! The whole village is laughing at you!”
“No, they’re not!”
“They are! And they should!” Zinaida Petrovna snapped. “Is this really something worth fighting over? A name?! Really!”
“It’s a matter of principle to me!”
“What principles?” her friend snorted. “Pure stubbornness, that’s what it is!”
“No, it’s not!”
“Yes, it is!” Zinaida Petrovna cut her off. “And you know what? I wash my hands of you! If you don’t want to listen, that’s your problem! I can’t call you my friend anymore!”
With those words, she turned and left, leaving Marina Andreevna completely alone.
The mother-in-law sat on the bench, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Even Zinaida, who had always supported her, had turned away…
“Mom,” Vitya approached her. “Did you hear what Aunt Zina said?”
“I heard,” Marina Andreevna replied gloomily.
“And what do you think?”
“I think everyone is against me!”
“Mom,” her son said tiredly, “maybe it’s not that everyone’s against you—maybe you’re just wrong?”
“I am NOT wrong!”
“Right?” Vitya was surprised. “What are you right about?”
Marina Andreevna paused to think. Was she truly right? Was she right for calling someone by the wrong name? For bossing around in someone else’s house? For refusing to admit her mistakes?
But she just couldn’t admit defeat.
“I’m right that elders deserve respect!” she finally declared.
“And younger people don’t?” her son asked.
“Of course they do, but…”
“No buts!” Vitya interrupted her. “Everyone deserves respect! And you don’t even respect Oksana!”
“Ksyusha!”
“Oksana!” her son said firmly. “And if you don’t start respecting her, I won’t talk to you anymore!”
“Vitya!” his mother gasped.
“I’m serious!” her son insisted. “I’m tired of watching this circus!”
“But I’m your mother!”
“So what?” Vitya asked, weary. “That doesn’t give you the right to act like a spoiled child!”
Marina Andreevna realized that even her son was turning away from her. But even this didn’t break her stubbornness.
“Fine!” she declared. “I’ll just sit here alone! Without all of you!”
“Suit yourself,” Vitya replied indifferently and walked into the house.
Marina Andreevna was completely alone. The neighbors had stopped speaking to her, her husband visited less and less, and her son ignored all her complaints…
But she still sat stubbornly on the bench, waiting for Oksana to apologize.
Another month passed. Marina Andreevna looked more tired and aged, but she refused to give in. Roman Romanovich had practically stopped coming—he was worn out by her endless complaints.
“Marina,” he’d tell her during his rare visits, “stop torturing yourself!”
“Let Ksyusha apologize!”
“She won’t! And she’s right not to! You are the one who’s wrong!”
“I’m right!”
“You’re wrong!” her husband said, anger rising. “Completely wrong!”
“Then go stay with her!” Marina Andreevna snapped back.
“I will!” Roman Romanovich agreed unexpectedly. “It’s better to be with reasonable people than with a stubborn old woman!”
These words hurt the mother-in-law’s pride deeply, but she didn’t let it show.
“Go on then!” she repeated. “I’m fine without you anyway!”
Roman Romanovich shook his head and left.
Vitya had also stopped talking much with his mother. He would come into the yard, nod at her silently, and then head inside to his wife.
“Vitya!” Marina Andreevna called out to him.
“What?” her son answered dryly.
“When will that stubborn woman apologize?”
“Never!” he answered. “And she’s right!”
“Vitya!”
“Mom, I have nothing to talk to you about!” her son cut off and disappeared into the house.
Marina Andreevna was left alone with her stubbornness and pride.
The neighbors had long stopped paying her any mind. Only sometimes would one of the new summer residents ask:
“Why is that old lady sitting on the bench?”
“That’s just how she is,” the old-timers would reply. “She argued with her daughter-in-law and now she’s waiting for an apology.”
“And how long is she going to wait?”
“Probably until winter,” the neighbors would laugh.
Oksana calmly went about her life. She arranged the dacha to her liking, made friends with the sensible neighbors, and set up her home. Her mother-in-law’s presence in the yard didn’t bother her anymore—she simply ignored it.
“Don’t you feel sorry for her?” Vitya would occasionally ask.
“No,” his wife would honestly reply. “It’s her choice.”
“But she’s suffering!”
“She’s making herself suffer,” Oksana shrugged. “I’m not forcing her to do anything.”
“Maybe you should just apologize?” her husband pleaded.
“Why?” his wife looked surprised. “Because I ask her to call me by my name?”
“Well… for the sake of family peace…”
“How can you have peace with someone who doesn’t respect you?” Oksana asked, clearly not understanding.
Vitya knew his wife was right, but it still hurt to see his mother in such a state.
Autumn was coming to an end. Marina Andreevna was still sitting on the bench, wrapped in a blanket, stubbornly waiting for an apology. But Oksana wasn’t about to apologize.
“Winter’s coming soon,” Vitya remarked one day. “Mom can’t spend the winter outside.”
“She can go home,” his wife suggested.
“She won’t go. She’s just too stubborn.”
“That’s her problem,” Oksana shrugged.
“But she’ll freeze!”
“Then let her apologize herself,” his wife said. “For being rude.”
“She won’t apologize,” Vitya sighed. “I know her!”
“Then let her freeze,” Oksana answered indifferently.
But Marina Andreevna didn’t have to spend the winter on the bench. In November, when the first frosts hit, Roman Romanovich arrived looking determined.
“That’s it!” he told his wife. “Get your things! We’re going home!”
“I’m not going!” she insisted stubbornly.
“Yes, you are!” her husband said firmly. “I’ll take you by force if I have to!”
“Roman Romanovich!”
“No more talk!” her father-in-law cut her off. “I’m tired of being a laughing stock! The whole town knows my wife’s sitting on that bench!”
“Let them know!”
“No, they won’t!” her husband snapped. “I’m embarrassed! My wife is acting crazy!”
“I am not crazy!”
“You are!” Roman Romanovich said sharply. “Absolutely! Now get ready!”
Marina Andreevna saw how serious he was. But she didn’t want to back down.
“What about principles?” she weakly protested.
“What principles?” Roman Romanovich snorted. “Your stubbornness? To hell with those principles!”
“But Ksyusha didn’t apologize!”
“And she won’t!” her husband cut her off. “Because she’s right!”
“Roman Romanovich!” his wife objected. “You too now!”
“Me too!” her father-in-law agreed. “Because common sense is more important than your stubbornness!”
Marina Andreevna realized she was defeated. Everyone was against her—her husband, her son, the neighbors, even her old friend…
“Fine,” she finally said. “I’ll go. But know this—I am right! And I always was!”
“Of course, you’re right,” Roman Romanovich agreed wearily. “Just get your things ready.”
An hour later, the couple left. Marina Andreevna never apologized to Oksana, never admitted to her mistakes, and never changed her opinion. As she left, she pointedly didn’t say farewell to her daughter-in-law and kept thinking of herself as the wronged party.
“Ksyusha still should have apologized,” she muttered in the car. “One should respect their elders!”
“Enough already,” her husband asked tiredly.
“No, I won’t be quiet! I’m right! And let everyone know I’m right!”
Roman Romanovich just sighed and pressed the gas pedal harder.
Oksana watched her mother-in-law leave and breathed a sigh of relief. Peace had finally returned to her home.
“Do you have any regrets?” Vitya asked.
“About what?” his wife said, surprised.
“About not making up…”
“What’s there to make up?” Oksana replied, not understanding. “Your mother still thinks she’s right. She didn’t apologize, didn’t admit her mistakes…”
But she’s old…
“Age doesn’t excuse rudeness,” his wife said firmly. “And I was willing to forgive her if she apologized. But she didn’t even try!”
Vitya understood that his wife was right. His mother really hadn’t made any attempt to meet them halfway or admit to any of her mistakes.
“So what happens now?” he asked.
“What should happen?” Oksana shrugged. “We’ll just live our lives in peace. Your mother can decide for herself whether she wants a normal relationship or would rather be stubborn.”
“And what if she chooses not to?”
“Then she chooses not to,” his wife replied indifferently. “It’s her choice.”
Vitya realized the family conflict hadn’t been resolved at all. His mother stuck to her opinion, and so did his wife. Nobody backed down, nobody changed.
Marina Andreevna continued to see herself as right and wronged. She told all her friends about her ‘ungrateful daughter-in-law’ who ‘threw her husband’s parents out of the house.’ She still called Oksana ‘Ksyusha’ and couldn’t understand why everyone was turning away from her.
“Young people have absolutely no respect anymore,” she complained to her neighbors in the building. “No one respects their elders!”
“And how did you behave yourself?” one of them asked.
“I acted normally! The way you’re supposed to! It’s Ksyusha who’s so spoiled!” Marina Andreevna would insist.
“Maybe she had a point?”
“A point about what?” the mother-in-law didn’t understand. “That she doesn’t listen to her elders?”
The neighbors exchanged glances and tried to change the subject.
At home, Roman Romanovich barely spoke to his wife. He was tired of all her complaints and accusations.
“Enough whining already,” he told her. “This is your own fault!”
“How is it my fault?” protested Marina Andreevna.
“That’s how! You were rude, you bossed everyone around, and now you’re offended!”
“I wasn’t rude!”
“You were rude!” her husband retorted. “And you were stubborn! You’re still being stubborn!”
“I’m principled!”
“You’re just being foolish!” Roman Romanovich snapped. “You’ve ruined family over nonsense!”
“It’s not nonsense! It’s about principles!”
“It’s your stupidity!” her husband wouldn’t back down.
Family life turned into constant arguments and mutual accusations.
Vitya visited his parents less and less. He was tired of his mother always complaining.
“So when is Ksyusha going to apologize?” Marina Andreevna would ask.
“Never,” her son replied. “And she’s right not to!”
“Vitya!”
“Mom, that’s enough!” he finally snapped. “This is all your fault!”
“I’m not at fault!”
“You are!” her son retorted. “And until you understand that, there’s no point talking to you!”
Little by little, Marina Andreevna was left completely alone with her self-righteousness and principles. Her husband avoided her, her son rarely visited, and even the neighbors turned away…
But she wouldn’t give up. She continued to believe she was right, continued to complain about her ‘ungrateful daughter-in-law,’ and continued to call her ‘Ksyusha.’
“Everyone is against me,” she muttered to herself. “But I know I’m right! And time will show who was truly right!”
Only time proved something else. It showed that stubbornness and the refusal to admit your mistakes can ruin a family and leave a person in complete loneliness.
But Marina Andreevna never understood this. Until the end of her days, she saw herself as the wronged party and kept waiting for apologies that never came.
Meanwhile, Oksana lived peacefully, confident that she had done the right thing by standing up for her dignity and the right to be called by her own name.
