— It’s a good thing you became the heir to that apartment downtown. I’ll be living in it—since I gave mine to my daughter,” her mother-in-law announced, stirring her tea as if she were talking about the weather.

Maria froze with the cup in her hand. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

“Anna Petrovna, but that’s my grandmother’s apartment. Sergey and I were planning—”

“Planning what?” her mother-in-law cut in. “To sell it? Rent it out? At least let that inheritance be useful. You’re already doing just fine in your three-room place. And I, by the way, gave my apartment to Lena. My daughter. Your sister-in-law, in case you forgot.”

Maria’s husband, Sergey, walked into the room. From the lost look on his face, it was clear—he’d heard everything.

“Mom, we haven’t decided anything about Grandma’s apartment yet.”

Anna Petrovna pursed her lips.

“What’s there to decide? A lonely older woman has nowhere to live. Your sister and the kids are in my apartment now. It’s only logical.”

“But that’s not true,” Maria said, setting her cup on the table. “You do have somewhere to live. You gave your apartment to Elena yourself.”

“Exactly!” her mother-in-law exclaimed triumphantly. “I sacrificed my comfort for my grandchildren. And now you have to take care of me.”

That evening Maria sat in the kitchen, staring at the wall. Sergey hovered nearby, shifting from foot to foot.

“Mash… maybe she really could stay for a little while? She’s got nowhere else to go.”

“Sergey,” Maria said slowly. “Let’s spell out what just happened. Your mother, on her own initiative, gave her three-room apartment to your sister. And now she’s declaring she’ll live in the apartment my grandmother left me. She isn’t asking, she isn’t checking—she’s informing us.”

“Well… Mom has always been… decisive.”

“Decisive?” Maria gave a bitter little laugh. “There’s another word for it. And I’m curious—why can’t Lena take her in? She has a three-room apartment now.”

“Lena has kids…”

“And we won’t?” Maria shot up from her chair. “We were planning to renovate Grandma’s apartment and move in. To start our life. Our family. Or did you forget?”

Sergey rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“I didn’t forget. I just don’t know what to do. Maybe temporarily? For six months?”

“And then what? You’ll kick her out?” Maria shook her head. “Sergey, if your mother moves in there, it’ll be forever. You know that.”

The next morning Anna Petrovna called early.

“Sergey, my dear, I found a sofa for that little apartment. Will you help with delivery?”

Maria snatched the phone from her husband’s hand.

“Anna Petrovna, we did not agree to you living in my apartment.”

“What do you mean you didn’t agree?” Her voice turned steely. “Sergey, take the phone from her. That’s disrespectful to your elders!”

Maria put it on speaker.

“This isn’t about respect. It’s my property. Sergey and I plan to live there ourselves.”

“What an ungrateful girl you are! I gave my whole life to my son, and you—”

“Mom,” Sergey cut in. “Masha’s right. We really do want to move there.”

“Oh, is that how it is?” Anna Petrovna’s voice went icy. “So your mother is out on the street? After everything I’ve done for you? After I gave Lena the apartment?”

“No one said anything about the street,” Sergey said wearily. “But the decision to give Lena the apartment was yours, not ours. Why should we pay for it?”

Silence hung on the line.

“I’ll talk to your father,” Anna Petrovna finally said. “He’ll be shocked by your ingratitude.”

Sergey’s father, Viktor Andreyevich, rarely interfered in family matters. He had lived separately from Anna Petrovna for about ten years, in a small one-room apartment on the edge of the city.

“Son, you surprise me,” he said when Sergey came to see him. “Did you really think your mother would just give that apartment to Lenka for nothing? She always calculates five steps ahead.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. When she decided to give the apartment to Lena, she was already planning to move in with you. Or into the apartment that was supposed to go to your wife.”

“How do you know?”

“She talked to me about it. Said you’re young, you’ll need help with the kids. And she’d be right there.”

“But we didn’t ask for that kind of help.”

“My boy,” Viktor Andreyevich smirked, “your mother never waits to be asked. She decides for herself what everyone needs.”

Maria was sitting with her friend Olga in a café.

“I don’t understand why I’m supposed to give the apartment my grandmother left me to my mother-in-law. Why is this even up for discussion?”

“Because she’s playing her own game,” Olga shrugged. “It’s pure manipulation. She creates a problem—gives her housing to her daughter—then comes to you with that problem as if you’re obligated to solve it. And in the end she gets what she wanted: control over your life.”

“Sergey keeps wavering,” Maria said quietly. “He knows it’s wrong, but he can’t stand up to his mother. He says maybe we should let her live there at least temporarily.”

“And how do you plan to get her out after that?” Olga shook her head. “No, Mash—either you hold your ground now, or you say goodbye to that apartment forever.”

That evening Sergey came home looking defeated.

“Lena called. She said Mom has been crying for two days. Says you and I are traitors, that we’re throwing her out onto the street.”

“But that’s not true!” Maria burst out. “She has money—she can rent a place. Or Lena can take her in. In the end, Lena got a three-room apartment for free!”

“Lena says she has no space. Three kids—you know.”

“And we’ll have space?” Maria crossed her arms. “Sergey, I can feel you’ve already decided.”

He dropped his gaze.

“I think maybe… temporarily… for half a year…”

“And I think we need a serious talk about our future,” Maria said softly. “Because I’m not giving my grandmother’s apartment to your mother. Not for six months, not for one. That’s our future home, Sergey. Our chance to actually start an independent life.”

“You don’t understand how much pressure I’m under…”

“I do. But the question is: who matters more—you or your mother? Whose side are you going to take in this conflict?”

Anna Petrovna didn’t wait for permission. A week later she simply showed up at the grandmother’s apartment with a suitcase. Sergey and Maria were there, talking about the upcoming renovation.

“Here I am!” her mother-in-law announced cheerfully when Maria opened the door. “Help me with my things.”

Maria blocked the doorway.

“Anna Petrovna, we didn’t agree that you’d be moving in here.”

“How inhospitable you are,” her mother-in-law tried to squeeze past her. “Sergey! Help your mother!”

Sergey stood behind Maria. He looked exhausted—but resolute.

“Mom, we already discussed this. You can’t live here.”

“What?” Anna Petrovna’s gaze flicked from her son to her daughter-in-law. “What are you saying?”

“You decided to gift your apartment to Lena,” Sergey said firmly. “That was your decision. And now you have to decide where you’ll live yourself. But not here. Maria and I will live here.”

“You’re choosing her over your own mother?” Anna Petrovna’s lips trembled.

“I’m choosing our family, Mom. Maria and me. And our future children.”

“You’ll regret this,” she hissed, turning away. “Both of you will regret it.”

Two months passed. Maria and Sergey finished renovating the grandmother’s apartment and were getting ready to move. Anna Petrovna temporarily moved in with Lena—turning life into a living hell for Sergey’s sister and her family.

“Lena called,” Sergey said, walking into the room. “Says she can’t take it anymore. Mom bosses everyone around, criticizes how the kids are raised, forces everything to be done her way.”

“And?” Maria raised an eyebrow. “What did you tell her?”

“That life is complicated,” Sergey smirked. “And choices have consequences.”

Maria hugged her husband.

“I know how hard this is for you. But you did the right thing. We couldn’t let her manipulate us.”

“I think Dad was right,” Sergey sighed. “Mom calculated it all in advance. She just didn’t factor in that I could say ‘no.’”

“What happens next? She won’t leave us alone.”

“She won’t,” Sergey agreed. “But now I understand—if we give in on this, she’ll never stop. She’ll always decide for us how we’re supposed to live.”

The doorbell rang. Sergey’s father, Viktor Andreyevich, stood on the threshold.

“Hello, youngsters! May I come in?”

“Of course, Dad,” Sergey said, brightening. “You’re just in time—we’re almost done with the renovation.”

“Looks great,” Viktor Andreyevich nodded approvingly, looking around. “Listen, I have news. I offered your mother to move in with me.”

“What?” Sergey stared at his father. “But you two—”

“Haven’t lived together for ten years, yes,” Viktor Andreyevich chuckled. “But you know, sometimes people need time to understand something. Your mother always wanted to control everyone. And now that no one lets her, she’s lost. Maybe it’s time to try a different way.”

“And she agreed?” Maria asked skeptically.

“She’s thinking,” Viktor Andreyevich smiled. “But Lena’s been calling her every day, complaining she can’t live like this anymore. So Anna doesn’t have many options.”

A week after Maria and Sergey moved into their new apartment, the doorbell rang. Maria’s mother-in-law stood there.

“May I come in?” she asked in an unusually quiet voice.

Maria glanced at Sergey, and he nodded.

“Come in.”

Anna Petrovna sat carefully on the edge of the sofa.

“I… I came to apologize,” she said, looking at the floor. “I behaved… wrongly.”

Sergey lifted an eyebrow in surprise.

“Viktor convinced me,” she went on. “He said I’d end up alone if I didn’t learn to respect other people’s boundaries. Even my own children’s.”

She raised her eyes to Maria.

“I had no right to lay claim to your inheritance. And… I’m sorry.”

Maria stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Anna Petrovna had never apologized to anyone before.

“I moved in with your father,” she told Sergey. “For now, temporarily. We’ll see how it goes.”

“That’s… unexpected,” Sergey said. “But I’m glad, Mom.”

“I understand I haven’t earned your trust,” Anna Petrovna sighed. “But I’d like to try to make things right—if you’ll let me.”

Maria finally found her words.

“Of course, Anna Petrovna. We’ll be happy if things work out for you and Viktor Andreyevich. And… you can always come visit us. Just visit.”

Her mother-in-law nodded, and for the first time managed a strained smile.

“Thank you, Maria.”

When she left, Sergey wrapped his arms around his wife.

“Do you think she’s changed?”

“I don’t know,” Maria answered honestly. “But at least she’s trying. And you know what? That’s already progress.”

“Who would’ve thought Dad would be our saving grace,” Sergey smirked. “He was always so quiet, so unnoticed.”

“Sometimes the quietest people turn out to be the wisest,” Maria said. “The main thing is—we made it. Together.”

Sergey hugged her tighter.

“Together. The way it should be