
08/31/2025
"— You bought the car, Svetlana, no one disputes that. But you’re married. And in marriage, sorry, everything is shared. Even if you need it more than Vera needs it for the photo zone.
— Then sell your kidneys, Andrey. You have two. And I need just one car. And it’s not even new.
The kitchen, morning, the coffee maker bubbles like an old gossip. Andrey sits in a tank top he once wore while painting walls and has since deemed ""comfortable."" Svetlana, neat and collected in a smooth shirt and trousers, spreads avocado on toast—not for show, but because her blood pressure spiked.
— Svet, sit down, — Andrey yawns. — We need to discuss something important.
— Just don’t talk about Valya’s worms or the fact that chicken got more expensive. — Svetlana puts down her coffee cup. — Something more serious, yeah?
— Vera is getting married, you know.
— Oh, seriously? Has she already found a new sponsor?
— Svet… — Andrey scratched the back of his head. — We need to help.
— She’s the one helping you — with her wedding. At least for one day it’ll distract your mother from her eternal sadness.
Andrey coughed, then suddenly stood and walked to the window, like in a movie. Svetlana felt nonsense was coming.
— Vera dreamed of a “Golden Beemer.”
— Let her keep dreaming. I dreamed of a husband with a backbone.
He sighed with such tragedy, as if she had suggested selling his PlayStation.
— Svet, you have a car. A decent one. We can sell it. Buy Vera a present from the whole family.
— From the whole family? Are you serious? My car — and for her? Why all of a sudden?
Andrey blushed. Started to fumble.
— Well… you understand. Vera is the youngest. She never had anything.
— She did have: dad — your father, mom — your mom, and then you. And all of you sang her praises since kindergarten. One more doll and Vera’s psyche will completely collapse.
He sat down, looking down.
— Mom says you’re too selfish. That you never shared.
— Your mom says a lot. Especially when no one shoves a teapot in her mouth. — Svetlana stood up. — I worked hard for three years to buy this car. Without your “lend me until payday.” It’s mine. Like my decision: no.
Andrey fell silent. His face became wooden.
— Then you’re forcing me to choose.
— Oh, go ahead, choose. Between your wife and the person who begged mom for Botox.
Then he stood up, slammed his hand on the table:
— Vera is family. Real family. And you’re just…
— Finish the sentence, Andrey. I really want to hear you say I’m “just a woman with a car.” Just say it outright.
He turned away, as if realizing something. Svetlana looked at him with the same expression a doctor would have for a patient who stuck a fork into an outlet three times.
— So how do you imagine this? I sell my car to show off a golden BMW at the wedding, then ride the bus home with a bag of potatoes?
Andrey was silent. Uncomfortably scratched his belly.
— You don’t understand. This is important for Vera. She’s hurt no one helps her.
— And I’m not hurt? That my husband has no backbone. That your mom, Nina Petrovna, calls me “that woman” even after eight years of marriage?
Silence. The coffee maker sputtered its last drops. Svetlana grabbed her keys.
— You know what, Andrey? Since you’re not a husband, at least work as a taxi driver. Drive me to work.
— Svet, don’t start…
— I didn’t start. I’m finishing.
That evening, Svetlana came home late. Andrey sat in the living room. The silence was so deep you could hear the neighbor’s wardrobe falling again.
— So? — she asked passing by. — Already ordered the banquet? Or waiting for me to transfer money from the sale?
He didn’t answer. Just handed her a sheet of paper. A letter from his mother. It said everything: “You must,” “She deserves,” “Svetlana is not the woman who understands you.”
— Are you serious? — Svetlana went to the kitchen, unfolded the letter, read aloud:
— “A car is just metal. But a sister is blood. Let Svetlana understand that marriage involves sacrifices.”
She hung the letter on the fridge, pinned with a magnet from Kislovodsk.
— Great. Let Vera read it. While she feasts on caviar in her new BMW.
— You leave me no choice, Svet. — Andrey looked at the floor.
— And I don’t want to. I made the choice for you.
Svetlana went to the bedroom, grabbed a bag. A packet of documents. Took out one — a copy of the car registration certificate.
— The car is registered to me. Period. Case closed. Want to give Vera something valuable — give her yourself. Whole. With your mother’s opinion and your eternal “but we’re family.”
He turned pale.
— Svet…
— Tomorrow I’ll move out. Your mother will be delighted. One less daughter-in-law — one more golden BMW.
That night, Svetlana didn’t sleep. She listened as Andrey typed something on the phone in the next room.
— Yes, mom… No, she’s gone completely mad…
— I don’t know where to find the money…
— Yes, if she sells — she’ll file for divorce…
And then she realized: he won’t lose her. He will lose the only woman who had pulled him out his whole life — morally, financially, emotionally. But he still won’t realize it.
In the morning, she filed for divorce.
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