Róma announced with a serious and ceremonial expression on that pleasant, warm May evening that the time for strict saving had finally arrived.
He chose that exact evening to make his announcement, right when I had finally decided to use my own savings, which I had carefully collected over many months for my maternity leave, to pay for my long-delayed dental treatment.
My husband stood in the middle of the kitchen, looking at me with a serious expression, as if he were about to deliver an important speech about the economic situation of an entire country.
He slowly crossed his arms, sighed deeply, and declared that the world was entering uncertain times, that the signs of a crisis could be felt everywhere, and that we needed to become especially careful with our finances.
According to him, the only sensible decision was to create a shared family reserve fund that neither of us should touch unnecessarily.
In his opinion, the dentist could wait, the design course I had been preparing for a long time was no longer important, and buying new shoes was nothing more than a meaningless luxury expense.
Strangely enough, this strict saving policy only seemed to become important whenever I wanted to spend money on something.
Our family finances worked in a very unusual way: both of us worked, both of us contributed to our life together, but whenever someone wanted to help his own relatives, somehow his wishes always came first.
I am naturally a calm person. I do not like unnecessary arguments, so I simply nodded quietly. I did not ask questions, I did not argue, I just returned to the kitchen and continued preparing dinner.
I took the carefully prepared homemade roasted meat out of the oven, generously stuffed with garlic, filling the entire apartment with its incredible aroma.
The surface was beautifully golden and the scent of the spices was so tempting that it could have made even the neighbors jealous. Beside it, I placed fresh young potatoes on the table, sprinkled them with dill and covered them with melted butter.
Róma sat down happily to eat. He enjoyed every bite, smiled with satisfaction, and clearly believed that everything would happen exactly the way he had planned.
But while I watched him, more and more questions started appearing in my mind. If we were truly trying to save money together, why had he recently started secretly talking so often with his younger sister, Lida?
Why did he always look away whenever I asked about those phone calls? Why had he suddenly become so protective of his tablet and his phone?
I did not accuse him immediately. Instead, I created a detailed list of our expenses. I wrote down every amount, checked every small cost, because I wanted to understand the truth clearly.
I quickly noticed something.
My savings were still untouched in my account, exactly as I had planned. They were my safety reserve, something I had created through my own hard work and determination.
Meanwhile, Róma suddenly started saving on every little thing. He wanted to spend less on groceries, questioned every purchase, and acted as if some enormous danger was approaching.
However, I discovered the answer completely by accident one week later.
That evening, Róma went to take a shower and carelessly left his unlocked tablet on the sofa. The screen suddenly lit up, and a new notification appeared from the family group chat, which had a very affectionate name: “My Dear Ones.”
I did not want to investigate. I was not interested in other people’s secrets. But when I saw the first lines of the message, I simply could not close it.
I opened the conversation.
The message had been written by Nina Pavlovna, my mother-in-law.
Her words felt like a sudden shock.
She wrote that I was not planning to have a child yet anyway, that my teeth could wait a little longer, and that it was much more important for Lida to finally start her own beauty salon.
She also wrote that Róma needed to transfer four hundred thousand rubles to her by Friday, otherwise the deposit for the salon space would be lost because Lida had already signed the agreement.
For a long time, I simply stared at the screen.
I read it again.
Then one more time.
Those four hundred thousand rubles were my money.
I had not received them as a gift, I had not inherited them, and they had not simply appeared in my hands. I had saved them over years from my salary and bonuses, whenever I managed to put something aside for my future.
I had saved that money for my own security. For the period after having a child, for my health, and for unexpected situations that life might bring.
But they had already spent it in their minds.
They were already talking about it as if it no longer belonged to me.
As if the results of my own work automatically belonged to their family.
They made one single mistake.
They believed that my patience meant weakness.
They believed that because I did not scream and did not fight over every small thing, they could do whatever they wanted with me.
They also believed that someone else’s money could be used just like their own.
However, they did not realize that Lida had made another mistake: she had already signed a rental agreement that included serious consequences before the money was actually available.
At that moment, I decided that the time had come when I could no longer remain silent.
The following Sunday, Nina Pavlovna and Lida came to our home for dinner. My mother-in-law entered the apartment as if she was already certain of her victory.
She did not ask how I was. She was not interested in how my day had been. She simply acted as if she had come only to take something she already considered hers.
In her hands, she carried a cheap bag of pastries that she brought as a gift, while in reality she wanted to take something far more valuable from me.
But I did not show anything.
I calmly prepared the table. I placed homemade pickles, herring with onions, and sliced the beautifully roasted meat.
Everyone ate quietly.
Only the soft sounds of cutlery could be heard.
Then, when there was almost no roasted meat left, Lida put down her fork, wiped her lips with a napkin, and looked at Róma with a happy smile.
She thanked him for his help and proudly announced that the “Lida Beauty” salon would soon become a reality because her brother was providing the four hundred thousand rubles needed to start the business.
Róma’s face immediately filled with pride.
He sat there like someone who had made an enormous sacrifice for the family.
But I calmly asked only one question:
— Exactly what kind of help are you talking about, Lida?
My voice was so calm that everyone was surprised.
Lida looked at me in confusion and then explained that Róma had promised to support her because “we had already saved the money anyway.”
Slowly, I turned my eyes toward Róma.
— You saved it?
I smiled.
— That is truly impressive. Especially considering it came from your own salary.
The entire atmosphere around the table suddenly froze.
Nina Pavlovna was the first one to speak.
She said that we were family, and money was useless if it simply stayed untouched in an account. According to her, Lida deserved this opportunity, and later she would repay me by giving me beauty treatments for free.
But I simply took out a notebook and a pen.
I did not shout.
I did not insult anyone.
I simply started calculating.
I asked how much the total starting investment would be.
When it turned out to be five hundred thousand rubles, I calmly said:
— The four hundred thousand would be my investment, which means eighty percent of the total amount. If you use this money, then I want eighty percent ownership of the business.
Lida’s face immediately became pale.
She could not understand why I wanted a share of the business in exchange for my own money.
She said it was her dream, her salon, and she wanted to be the only person making decisions there.
I simply smiled.
— Dreams are free — I said — but rental spaces, equipment, and bills are not.
If you do not want to give me a share, then take a loan from the bank.
The bank takes interest.
I take ownership.
Family should not mean that one person works hard to finance another person’s dreams.
By that point, Nina Pavlovna had completely lost her patience. She said I should be ashamed of myself because Lida would have to pay a penalty because of the contract.
I only looked at Róma and calmly replied:
— Family love is not proven by giving someone access to another person’s bank account.
Then I stood up and announced that the family discussion was over.
A few minutes later, the door slammed behind them.
As they left, I could still hear them calling me greedy.
But for the first time in a very long time, I felt that I had finally stood up for myself.
