“— Andrij, pack up! — she said quietly, but every syllable was sharp as iron. — Before I decide myself to clear the house of your stuff.”Andrij sat on the couch, hunched over like a student caught red-handed.
He looked exhausted: unbuttoned shirt, messy hair, dark circles under his eyes. He bit his lip, rubbed the bridge of his nose, but didn’t move.“— Vika, why do you always have to throw a fit? — he muttered. — We’re adults. Let’s talk calmly…”
“Calmly?” she laughed, hoarsely. “After your mother called me ‘a stranger’ again this morning, just because… listen… I wasn’t born on her street? Or because you went on a ‘mission’ to the accountant with Sveta for the third time? Someone you ‘barely know,’ of course.”
Andrij stood up and took a step toward her. “You’re making things up again. How long are we going to keep finding reasons to fight?”“Andrij,” she jabbed a finger at his chest, “I wish I didn’t have to. But when your mother shows up at the notary with forged documents in MY NAME, even I start to get suspicious.”
Andrij froze, listening.“You… you’re talking nonsense? — he sighed. — What papers?”“The ones you two tried to play games with—my apartment. MY apartment. The one I bought BEFORE the marriage. I checked at the notary. The signatures are forged. Nice work, Andrijko. Quality job.”
Andrij suddenly turned away, as if trying to hide his face.“All right,” he said without looking back. “I’ll come for my stuff tomorrow. And don’t you dare block my card—the half of your wardrobe I paid for came from that.”
“Too late,” Viktoria smiled. “The card’s already blocked because of the debts. Take your ‘shares’ to the bailiffs.”He slammed the door. But Viktoria just took a deep breath. The air was icy.Alone, the silence felt sticky. For a moment she wanted to sit down, bury her face in her hands, and just… disappear. But she couldn’t even allow herself that.
The phone vibrated.“Larisa Ivanovna.”Perfect. Just the voice missing to complete her misery.Viktoria didn’t want to answer. But the call repeated. On the fourth ring, she finally picked up.
“Well, Viktoria,” her mother-in-law began sweetly, as if offering tea, “are you satisfied? Did your husband end up in the cold? Did you get the apartment for yourself? Do you even see how you look from the outside?”
“Larisa Ivanovna, I don’t want to hear your speeches. Andrij decided. His belongings are his responsibility.”“Oh, really?” Her voice trembled with anger. “You do realize the court doesn’t listen to your little friend chats. Adults work there.
My son has excellent connections! And his lawyer isn’t from your little neighborhood office.”“Let him try,” Viktoria said sarcastically. “I can find people who know about forgery too.”“You’ll regret it. You don’t know who you’re dealing with…”
But she had already ended the call. For the first time in months, she turned off her phone completely.Her hands trembled. But she wasn’t afraid. She was furious. So much that it felt like everything inside her was boiling.
She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts.Yurij Petrovich.The lawyer who had once gotten her out of a work mess. Back then, he had sat beside her, crunching on dry bread, and said: “The most important thing is not to let them push you around.”
Now she needed him again.“Hello, Yurij Petrovich? Viktoria here. Yes… another case. We need to meet urgently.”The coffee at the café next to the courthouse had gone cold, bitter, like the last months of her marriage. Yurij Petrovich organized his papers, adjusted his cuff—his nervous habit.
“Vika,” he began, “honestly: it’s a complicated case. They’ll fight every inch. But you do have a chance.”“I’m not here for chances,” she snapped. “I’m tired of being someone else’s convenient toy. If they want war, let there be war.”The phone rang again. Andrij.
Viktoria closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and answered anyway.“Viktoria Sergeyevna,” he began formally, “let’s try to resolve this peacefully. Half the apartment, and it’s settled.”“Andrij,” she spoke calmly, “your mother forged documents, you were hiding in someone else’s apartment claiming a ‘mission.’ And now… you want half? Seriously?”
Andrij was silent. For a long time. Then quietly:“You’ve changed.”“I became myself, Andrij. Not the person you found convenient.”She ended the call.The court, the evidence, the tension… in the end, the decision was in Viktoria’s favor. The apartment was hers. The air felt different. She was free.
Viktoria smiled for the first time in months when an old friend called: “Coffee? Just talking, support.”She nodded. Yes. A new chapter had begun.The End.
