Elena woke up to a persistent knocking at the door. The clock was just before a quarter to seven in the morning — the time when normal people are still deeply asleep, especially on weekends.
“Who could it be at this hour?” muttered Szergej, while grabbing his robe.
“Maybe the neighbors…” Elena yawned, still half-asleep. “Or maybe something happened…”
Szergej stepped into the hallway, and a minute later Elena heard her mother-in-law’s voice:
“Szergej, my son! Where is your wife? We’re here on business!”
Elena furrowed her brow. “What?” Who else could come this early with Tamara Nikolaevna?
She quickly grabbed her robe, stepped into the hallway, and saw her mother-in-law accompanied by a short man carrying a briefcase.
“Lenocska!” Tamara Nikolaevna exclaimed falsely joyfully, a calculating smile glinting at the corners of her eyes. “We just came to see you! Meet him: this is Arkadij Lvovics, a property appraiser.”
Elena’s heart sank.
“An appraiser?” she asked, looking around at her husband. “Why?”
“Just like that,” her mother-in-law shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Szergej needs to know what your little apartment is worth. You can never know what life will bring!”
Arkadij Lvovics fidgeted, clearly feeling the tension in the air.
“Excuse me,” Elena turned to the appraiser, “but who requested your services?”
“Szergej Viktorovics,” the man replied, pointing to her husband. “He called yesterday evening and asked me to come early.”
Elena slowly turned to Szergej. He hung his head and remained silent.
“Szergej,” Elena spoke softly, “we need to talk. Just the two of us.”
“What do we need to talk about!” Tamara Nikolaevna interrupted. “Arkadij Lvovics needs to be paid! Let’s quickly go over everything and get started!”
“Tamara Nikolaevna,” Elena tried to speak calmly, a note of tension vibrating in her voice, “please explain why there is a need for an appraisal of our apartment?”
Her mother-in-law’s lips pressed tightly together.
“Well, why! Szergej needs to know what he owns! It’s his house!”
“Excuse me,” Arkadij Lvovics said, “but are you the owner of the apartment?”
“I am,” Elena replied firmly. “The apartment is in my name.”
“Then I need your authorization or written consent for the appraisal,” the appraiser said.
“What authorization?” Tamara Nikolaevna got upset. “After all, you’re a married couple!”
“That doesn’t give one spouse the right to dispose of the other’s personal property,” the professional explained patiently.
Elena pulled a file from the cabinet.
“Here’s the title deed,” she showed Arkadij Lvovics. “As you can see, the apartment was purchased before marriage. It is my personal property.”
The appraiser reviewed the documents and nodded.
“I understand. Then I cannot proceed without your consent.”
“And I do not give consent,” Elena said firmly.
“Lena!” Szergej shouted. “What are you doing?”
“I’m just protecting my rights,” Elena replied calmly. “Arkadij Lvovics, I’m sorry for wasting your time. The order was made without my knowledge.”
The man sighed with relief.
“No problem. It happens. Goodbye.”
When the door closed behind the appraiser, Tamara Nikolaevna turned on her daughter-in-law:
“What have you done, foolish girl?! Why did you send the expert away?”
“Tamara Nikolaevna,” Elena sat down in the armchair, “please explain to me what’s going on. Why was an appraisal of my apartment ordered secretly with my husband?”
“Yours?!” her mother-in-law huffed. “Szergej lives there, so it belongs to our family!”
“No,” Elena shook her head. “It would be a family apartment if we had purchased it together during marriage. But this apartment is my personal property.”
“But Szergej has rights!” Tamara Nikolaevna insisted.
“What rights?”
“The husband’s rights! He is the head of the family!”
Elena rubbed her temple tiredly.
“Tamara Nikolaevna, being the head of the family and being the owner of property are two different things. Szergej lives in my apartment because he is my husband and I love him. But that does not give him ownership rights.”
“And if you get divorced?” her mother-in-law asked challengingly.
“Are you planning to divorce me?” Elena looked at her husband.
Szergej remained silent, sitting on the edge of the couch.
“Szergej,” Elena said, “are you planning to divorce me?”
“No… I mean… I don’t know…” he muttered.
“How can you not know?” Elena was surprised. “Last night you went to bed thinking about divorce?”
“No, of course not…”
“Then why the appraisal of my apartment?”
“My mother said you need to know…”
“Know what?”
“How much… in case…”
Elena felt her insides freeze.
“In case?” she asked.
“Well… if our relationship doesn’t work out…” Szergej didn’t raise his eyes.
“Szergej,” Elena said softly, “look at me.”
He looked up. His eyes reflected guilt and fear.
“Be honest: is our relationship going well?”
“Yes… Actually, yes…”
“Am I treating you badly?”
“No…”
“Have I asked the impossible from you?”
“No…”
“Then explain, where does this fear about our future come from?”
Szergej glanced at his mother.
“She said women are capricious… That you could change your mind…”
“And you trusted your mother more than your own wife?”
“I just wanted to be sure…”
Elena stood and walked to the window. Outside, the usual Saturday morning was unfolding. People went about their business, living their own lives. But in their home, trust had collapsed.
“Tamara Nikolaevna,” Elena finally spoke, “what exactly worries you about our future?”
“It’s my son’s future!” her mother-in-law snapped sharply.
“What exactly worries you about his future?”
“That he completely depends on you! Completely!”
“And that’s bad?”
“Of course! A man must be independent!”
Elena turned to face her.
“I agree. A man must be independent. Tamara Nikolaevna, is your son independent?”
“He’s… still young…”
“Twenty-eight years old. Does he work?”
“Yes… at a friend’s office…”
“What salary?”
Tamara Nikolaevna fell silent, embarrassed.
“Well… just starting out…”
“So he doesn’t get paid,” Elena concluded. “Who pays the bills?”
“You do…”
“Who bought the car Szergej drives?”
“You…”
“Who pays for fuel, insurance, maintenance?”
“You… but only temporarily!” her mother-in-law added.
“Temporary for two years,” Elena noted. “Tamara Nikolaevna, in your opinion, is your son independent and entitled to my apartment?”
“He’s a husband! A husband has rights!”
“He didn’t participate in buying the apartment. He didn’t pay for renovations. He doesn’t pay the utilities. On what basis would he have rights?”
“Because he’s a man!” her mother-in-law shouted.
“That is not a basis for ownership,” Elena said calmly.
“And love?” Szergej suddenly spoke. “Doesn’t love count?”
Elena looked at her husband.
“Love means a lot,” she said. “Out of love, I share everything I own with you. You live in my apartment, drive my car, wear my clothes, eat my food. Isn’t that enough?”
“It’s enough…” he replied softly.
“Then why did you want to know the apartment’s value?”
“My mother said it’s my right…”
“Szergej,” Elena sat beside him, “you have the right to live in the apartment as my husband. You can use everything here. But you do not have ownership rights. Do you understand the difference?”
“I understand…”
“And you don’t like it?”
“I like it… It’s just that my mother says it’s uncertain…”
“What’s uncertain?”
“Living in someone else’s place…”
“Where is it safe?”
“In your own place…”
“Do you have your own apartment?”
“No…”
“Do you have money to buy one?”
“No…”
“Then what are we talking about?”
Szergej shrugged helplessly.
“Exactly,” Elena nodded. “Szergej, my apartment can be your home for the rest of your life. I won’t throw you out. But you will not be the owner.”
“And if you die?” Tamara Nikolaevna asked suddenly.
“Excuse me?” Elena was shocked.
“If you die, what will happen to the apartment? Will Szergej end up on the street?”
Elena looked at her mother-in-law for a long moment, not believing what she had heard.
“Tamara Nikolaevna,” she finally spoke, “are you planning my death?”
“What are you talking about!” the woman got upset. “It just happens in life!”
“It happens,” Elena nodded. “If anything happens to me, according to the will, the apartment goes to Szergej. Does that satisfy you?”
“You have a will?” her mother-in-law became excited.
“I do. The apartment goes to my husband.”
“Ohhh…” Tamara Nikolaevna stretched. “Then it’s fine…”
“Tamara Nikolaevna,” Elena said wearily, “explain to me, what do you want from me?”
“I want my son to be protected!”
“Protected from whom? From me?”
“From… surprises!”
“What kind of surprises?”
“Various things!” her mother-in-law waved her hand.
Elena stood and slowly walked across the room.
“I see,” she said. “So according to you, I am a threat to your son?”
“Not a threat… But a risk…”
“What kind of risk?”
“You could leave him!”
“How do you conclude that?”
“You’re independent… Free… You don’t need him!”
Elena stopped in front of her mother-in-law.
“If I don’t need him, why did I marry a man?”
“I don’t know!” Tamara Nikolaevna admitted honestly. “Maybe because of loneliness!”
“And according to you, what could make me live with a man I don’t need?”
“Obligation!”
“What kind of obligation?”
“Family! You became a wife!”
“And what does that mean?”
“That you have to stay with him your whole life!”
“Regardless of how the relationship develops?”
“Regardless!”
“And if he hurts me?”
“He doesn’t hurt you!”
“And if he cheats?”
“He won’t!”
“And if he falls into drinking?”
“He doesn’t drink!”
“And if he simply becomes indifferent?”
Tamara Nikolaevna fell silent.
“That’s not a reason for divorce,” she finally said.
“And what is it then?”
“Infidelity, violence… serious things.”
“And incompatible personalities?”
“Nonsense! They’ll get used to each other!”
“And different life goals?”
“They’ll adapt!”
“Who adapts?”
“Well… the wife…”
Elena shook her head.
“Tamara Nikolaevna, you live in the last century. Nowadays, a family is built on equality and mutual respect.”
“Nonsense!” her mother-in-law waved her hand. “Someone has to lead!”
“I agree. And in our family, I am the boss. Because I earn the money and make the decisions.”
“That’s wrong!”
“Why?”
“The man should lead!”
“Then let your son be a man. Find a job, start earning, take responsibility.”
“He is already a man!”
“Biologically, yes. Socially, no.”
Tamara Nikolaevna went pale.
“How dare you!” she screamed. “He is my son!”
“So what? Being born doesn’t automatically make him independent.”
“He’s a good man!”
“I agree. Good, kind, loving. But not independent.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Szergej spoke up.
“It’s wrong that you are an adult man yet behave like a teenager.”
“I’m not a teenager!”
“Prove it!”
“How?”
“Find a job. Start earning. Contribute to household expenses.”
“And if I fail?”
“You will succeed if you take it seriously.” Elena took a deep breath and continued in a softer voice. “Szergej, love does not replace responsibility. If you want our relationship to be strong, you have to take responsibility for your own life decisions.”
Szergej remained silent, slowly nodding his head. His gaze met Elena’s, and something intangible but deeply sincere passed between them.
Tamara Nikolaevna still wore a tense expression in the background.
“Lena…” she began uncertainly, “but he’s my son…”
“I understand, Tamara Nikolaevna,” Elena replied calmly. “And if your son is not ready for his own life, then you must help him grow up, not control my decisions for him.”
Her mother-in-law slowly stepped back, as if the weight of Elena’s words had finally pierced her rigidity. Arkadij Lvovics had long gone, leaving only the tension in the apartment and the slowly awakening Saturday morning noises.
Szergej finally stood and stepped toward Elena.
“All right,” he said quietly but firmly, “I… will try. I promise I will start taking responsibility for my own life.”
Elena took his hand, and a fleeting smile appeared on her face.
“That’s all I asked. There’s no need for wealth, an apartment, or an appraisal. Just for us to grow up together as equals.”
Tamara Nikolaevna still looked at them but had no words to protest. She stood quietly, and perhaps for the first time truly reflected on the relationship between her son and her daughter-in-law.
Elena and Szergej looked at each other, and the tension slowly dissolved. The true test was not the apartment or money, but trust and responsibility. And now, finally, they were both ready to face it together.
