— Anechka, just don’t get scared — Aunt Toma’s voice from apartment forty-four sounded muffled, as if she were pressing the phone right to her lips.
— Your mother-in-law is here with her daughter and some man, and they’re breaking your door down.
I told them, what are you doing, and Nina Pavlovna says she lost the keys and they urgently need to take the furniture for Maksim while you’re at work. That man is already standing there with a crowbar!
Anna’s fingers tightened around the plastic body of the phone. Her own two-room apartment, inherited from her grandmother. Maksim had moved in three years ago with a single suitcase.
Since then, Nina Pavlovna had never missed a chance to call this place “our Maksimik’s little nest.”
Anna had endured it all in silence to preserve the illusion of a normal marriage, smiling at family gatherings when her mother-in-law rearranged dishes in her kitchen like it was her own or criticized the curtains.
But to break the door? To steal furniture?
— Aunt Toma, don’t go anywhere. Keep watching them, see what they carry out — Anna’s voice was cold and calculated.
She hung up. Someone else in her place might have run home crying and screaming, begging or fighting to reclaim what was hers. But Anna didn’t.
She opened the dialer and firmly entered the police number.
— Dispatch, I’m listening.
— Hello. At Stroiteley Street, building fifteen, apartment forty-two, an illegal entry is happening right now.
Several people are breaking the lock. I am the owner, currently at work. A neighbor sees everything. Please send a patrol.
The dispatcher quickly уточнила the details and instructed Anna to go home but not to engage in conflict.
Anna grabbed her coat, gave her boss a brief explanation about family matters, and ordered a car. As the car crawled through traffic, her thoughts spun. Who were they taking the furniture for?
Oksana? She had recently bought an empty apartment and complained she had nothing to sleep on. And Maksim? Did he know? If he knew and allowed his mother to rob his own wife — then it was over.
When the car turned into the courtyard, Anna saw a police car with flashing lights and an old truck parked nearby. At the entrance stood Oksana’s husband, Oleg, nervously smoking. When he saw Anna, he choked on the smoke and stepped back.
Anna walked past him without a word. The apartment door stood wide open. The top lock hung torn out, the wood splintered. The hallway smelled of чужого sweat and her mother-in-law’s cheap perfume.
The scene inside was grotesque. In the middle of the living room stood the huge, expensive beige sofa Anna had bought with her own money. Nina Pavlovna clung to it desperately, trying to move it.
Next to her stood a middle-aged police officer with a tired face, writing something down. A young sergeant blocked Oksana’s path, who was clutching someone else’s coffee machine.
— Let me go! — the mother-in-law shouted. — This is my son’s apartment! I have every right to take his things! Oksana needs them more, and this little mouse can buy new ones!
— Good afternoon — Anna said loudly. — I called the police. This is my apartment.
Nina Pavlovna turned, her face twisted with anger.
— You showed up! You rob your husband and call the police on us?! Maksim bought everything! Take the box, Oksana!
— Do you have ownership documents? — the officer asked Anna.
Anna showed the documents on her phone. The officer nodded.
— The apartment belongs solely to Anna Nikolaevna Smirnova. You entered illegally.
At that moment, Nina Pavlovna lost control and lunged at Anna. The sergeant immediately restrained her. The click of handcuffs echoed.
— Assault and disorderly conduct — the officer said.
The next minutes passed in a blur. Oksana cried, the mother-in-law screamed, and eventually all three were taken away. Anna followed them to the station.
It was cold there, smelling of paper and disinfectant. Anna listed the damages. Half an hour later, Maksim rushed in.
— Mom! What happened?!
— Your wife is trying to put us in prison!
Maksim stepped toward Anna.
— Have you lost your mind?! This was just a surprise!
Anna looked at him coldly.
— With a crowbar?
— Withdraw the complaint!
— No. You’ll pay for the damage.
— We are a family!
— Not anymore.
They returned home. Maksim packed. He raged, Anna just watched.
Then a young woman appeared with a baby stroller.
— Maksim? They said we’re moving here today… Where’s the sofa?
Maksim went pale.
Anna looked at him, then suddenly laughed.
— Come in. Take him with you. But the sofa is now evidence.
