“Don’t you understand? Kostya has been sleeping with her for two years. Two whole years! And that poor fool, Marinka, is still cooking borscht for him as if he were the best husband in the world.”
Lera’s voice echoed softly through the spa lounge, yet every word reached Marina clearly.
Marina froze in the doorway of the shower room.
The wet towel slipped from her hands and landed with a dull thud on the slippery tiles.
She didn’t move.
Behind the bamboo screen, Lera was comfortably stretched out on a rattan lounge chair. She held her phone against her shoulder, casually scrolling through the screen. The room was filled with the scent of eucalyptus and hot steam.
“How many times do I have to tell him to be careful with the transfers?” Lera continued. “Last week he bought perfume for Inna for forty thousand. Forty thousand! From their joint account. And he told Marina he had taken the car to the repair shop. And that woman actually believed him. Can you imagine?”
The plastic cup cracked in Marina’s hand.
Warm herbal tea trickled down her wrist.
She didn’t feel it.
“And what breakup are you talking about?” Lera laughed. “Kostya isn’t going to leave her. Why would he? Marinka is perfectly convenient for him. She has her own apartment, and her mortgage is almost completely paid off.”
A brief pause.
“And Inna? She’s just a bit of fun. She works at my salon. I introduced them. Kostya needed something to blow off steam while Marinka was having another breakdown over IVF.”
Marina closed her eyes.
Two years.
Twenty-four months.
Twenty-four months of hormone injections. Blood tests. Ultrasounds. Medical appointments. Ovulation dates marked on calendars. Hopes that fell apart in exactly the same way every month.
And every time Marina cried herself to sleep against her husband’s shoulder, Kostya stroked her hair.
Then he left.
To go to Inna.
The manicurist who worked at her best friend’s salon.
Marina did not step out from behind the screen.
She didn’t ask any questions.
She didn’t scream.
She simply turned around, slipped her bare feet into her sneakers, and walked out onto the street.
The cold air hit her almost like a slap.
Just thirty minutes earlier, they had been lying side by side on massage tables.
Lera had been complaining about her husband, the wealthy and strict Oleg, who, according to her, had once again tightened the family budget too much.
Marina had comforted her.
Sincerely.
She had even told her:
“Don’t worry, Lera. Oleg loves you. He’s just a difficult man.”
Now the same woman’s voice was echoing inside her head:
“Marinka is still cooking borscht for him.”
When Marina got home, the smell of fried onions greeted her.
Kostya was standing in the kitchen in worn-out sweatpants, stirring pasta in a frying pan with a spatula.
When he saw his wife, he turned around with a smile.
“You’re home already? How was the spa? Did you and Lera have a good time?”
Marina took off her coat.
“Give me your phone.”
Kostya’s hand stopped in midair.
“Why?”
“Mine is dead. I need to make a call.”
The man studied her for several seconds.
Then he calmly wiped his hands, picked up the phone, unlocked it with facial recognition, and handed it to her.
No nervousness.
No suspicion.
As if he truly had nothing to be afraid of.
Marina opened the banking app.
She knew the password.
His birth year and hers.
Transactions.
Tuesday.
–41,500 rubles. Perfume shop.
Marina slowly looked up.
“You bought perfume for forty thousand.”
Kostya’s face tightened.
“For Mom. For her birthday.”
“Your mother’s birthday was last year.”
“Marin, I…”
Marina opened the next app.
Messages.
She typed:
Inna.
Nothing.
She deleted it.
Lera.
The conversation appeared.
The last message had arrived the previous evening.
23:15.
Marina opened it.
> “Lera, send her another fifteen thousand for the taxi and the hotel. Tell Marina we were discussing the restaurant budget together. Thanks.”
The kitchen suddenly became unbearably quiet.
Kostya lunged forward.
“Give it to me!”
He tried to snatch the phone from her hand.
Marina pulled it away.
The next moment, she struck him in the chest with her palm.
Not hard.
But hard enough to make him step backward.
“Two years, Kostya.”
The man went pale.
“Marin, listen to me…”
“For two years I injected myself with hormones. For two years I went through examinations. For two years I thought we were trying to have a child together.”
Her voice was strangely calm.
“And all that time, you were sleeping with a manicurist.”
Kostya sat down on the stool and buried his face in his hands.
“It’s not what you think.”
Marina smiled bitterly.
“Then tell me what it is.”
“We were going through a difficult period!” the man snapped. “You completely lost yourself because of IVF. Nothing but tests, hormones, calendars, charts! Everything revolved around having a baby. There was no spontaneity. No normal married life. And I… I’m a man!”
“And that’s why you needed Inna?”
“Lera said I needed something to take my mind off things.”
Marina slowly nodded.
“Lera.”
“Yes. She saw how badly I was doing. She said that if I didn’t do something, I would leave the marriage. She was only trying to save us.”
Marina stared at him for a moment.
“Save us?”
“I love you, Marin. Inna was only physical. I never wanted to leave you.”
That was when Marina truly understood how sick the whole situation was.
She hadn’t merely been cheated on.
They had explained to her why the betrayal was justified.
“Pack your things,” she said.
Kostya looked up.
“What?”
Marina pulled a suitcase out of the closet and threw it onto his lap.
“Tomorrow, you’ll change the locks.”
The next day, Lera was waiting for her at a café.
She was drinking matcha, and a thick Cartier bracelet glittered on her wrist—the one she claimed Oleg had given her for their anniversary.
“At least that’s what she told everyone.”
“Hi!” she smiled when Marina sat down across from her. “Why did you disappear so suddenly yesterday? The administrator said you didn’t even have time to change.”
Marina looked at her.
“I heard what you said.”
Lera’s smile froze.
“What?”
“About Kostya. And Inna.”
The straw tapped against the rim of the glass.
Lera was silent for a few seconds.
Then she sighed.
“Fine. And what now? Are you getting divorced? Taking back your maiden name? Playing the victim?”
Marina didn’t answer.
Lera leaned closer.
“Think, Marin! You shouldn’t be making decisions with your emotions.”
“My best friend covered up my husband’s affair for two years.”
“I saved your marriage!” Lera hissed.
Someone at a nearby table looked up.
“Have you seen yourself over the past two years?” she continued. “You were hysterical. Kostya wanted to leave you back in the spring.”
Marina simply stared at her.
“You make fifty thousand rubles a month as a copywriter. The mortgage is in your name. Who pays it? Kostya. Who paid for your surgery? Kostya. Who supported you?”
Lera became more confident with every word.
“If it weren’t for me, you’d have been alone a long time ago.”
Marina’s eyes moved to the bracelet.
“And in return, you arranged for my husband to cheat on me?”
“He’s a man. He needed it.”
“How generous of you.”
Lera crossed her arms.
“I made him promise he would never leave you. I told him: if you cheat, do it quietly. Lie, but don’t destroy the family.”
Marina slowly smiled.
“The family?”
Lera said nothing.
Marina looked at the bracelet.
“Did Kostya give you that too?”
Lera’s hand instinctively tightened around the jewelry.
“What’s it to you?”
“Nothing. I was just curious.”
“Marin, if you leave Kostya, you’ll have nothing.”
Marina stood up.
“I’m divorcing Kostya.”
Lera leaned back with satisfaction.
“That’s exactly what I told you.”
Marina picked up her coat.
“But I’m not finished with you.”
The apartment was empty.
Kostya had left.
He had left his keys on the dresser beside the mirror.
Marina stared at them for a long time.
Then she turned on her husband’s old laptop.
Kostya designed commercial interiors. For the past six months, he had been working on a huge countryside restaurant project.
The client:
Oleg.
Lera’s husband.
Marina knew the password to Kostya’s cloud account.
She opened the folder called “Oleg_Restaurant.”
And then she remembered something.
Oleg hated two things.
Lies.
And being robbed.
Marina opened the folder.
The project files were there.
But not for long.
With a few clicks, she deleted the original plans.
Then emptied the recycle bin.
Six months of work disappeared.
After that, she opened the messages.
She wasn’t interested in the mistress.
Not in the sex.
She didn’t want to prove to Oleg that Kostya had cheated on her.
That wouldn’t have been enough for him.
Marina needed something more.
And she found it.
> “Oleg complained about the budget again. He’s cutting the amount allocated for materials.”
Lera’s reply:
> “Ignore the old fool. Put marble in the documents, but order porcelain tiles instead. We’ll split the difference. We just need fake invoices.”
Marina took a screenshot.
The next message:
> “Is yours freaking out about the deadlines again?”
Lera:
> “Yes. He’s driving me insane with all his constant checking. I only put up with that impotent man because of his card and the salon. Once there’s enough money in the salon account, I’ll send this loser straight to hell.”
Marina took another screenshot.
And another.
And another.
Thirteen pages.
Thirteen pages of evidence.
This wasn’t the story of a cheated-on husband.
It was fraud.
Fake invoices.
Stolen money.
And a woman who valued her own husband only as long as she could get money out of him.
Marina then opened the joint savings account.
850,000 rubles.
They had been saving that money for IVF.
And for their future child’s nursery.
Marina stared at the amount for a long time.
Then she transferred all of it to her mother’s account.
The screen displayed:
Transaction successful.
Balance:
0 rubles.
For the first time, Marina felt a strange sense of calm.
Lera had said she would have nothing left?
She was wrong.
Oleg’s office was in a glass-walled business center.
Marina arrived without an appointment.
The secretary tried to stop her, but at that moment the office door opened.
Oleg stepped out.
When he saw Marina, he stopped.
“Marina? Couldn’t Kostya come?”
“Kostya doesn’t work for you anymore.”
Oleg’s expression changed.
“What happened?”
Marina placed a gray folder in front of him.
“Look at this.”
Oleg opened it.
The first page.
The second.
The third.
His expression didn’t change.
Only his jaw tightened.
Then he saw the message in which Lera had called him an “old fool” and “impotent.”
Oleg closed the folder.
“Are these real?”
“Yes.”
“Do you understand what this means?”
“Yes.”
“The salon belongs to my company. The apartment is mine too. If I report this fraud, Kostya could be in serious trouble.”
Marina nodded.
“Do whatever you think is right.”
Oleg studied her for a long moment.
“Why did you bring this to me?”
Marina walked toward the door.
Then she turned back.
“Lera said I should be grateful to her.”
Oleg remained silent.
“Grateful because she lied to me for years. So I decided to return the favor.”
“How?”
Marina answered calmly:
“From now on, I’m not hiding anything.”
In the parking lot, Marina took out her phone.
She removed the SIM card.
Broke it in half.
Then she got into a taxi.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
Marina looked out the window.
“To the train station.”
The city slowly blurred before her eyes.
Her phone no longer rang.
She didn’t care who was calling.
She didn’t care what Kostya would say.
She didn’t care how Lera would react.
Only one thought remained in her mind.
For two years, everyone had thought Marina was the weak one.
Because she endured.
Because she trusted.
Because she forgave again and again.
Because she believed that one day they would have a child and everything would turn out all right.
But now she understood:
her weakness had never been that she loved.
Her mistake was giving the wrong people too much of her time.
And now she had taken it back from them.
The money.
The safety of their lies.
Their comfortable lives.
And most of all, the opportunity to keep treating her like a fool.
But had Marina crossed a line?
Did she have the right to take Kostya’s money?
Did she have the right to destroy Lera’s life?
Or should she simply have walked away from that toxic marriage and let the others face the consequences of their own actions?
What would you have done in Marina’s place?
