I stopped shopping when I realized I was crying and everyone else was eating. That same evening, a car pulled up to the entrance… and within two minutes, the woman was in shock.

Tatiana Viktorovna was still sitting on the sofa, crying. Vladimir Petrovich patted her back and glared at Olga.

Antonina nervously packed her things.

“What a viper,” she muttered. “First she let us live here, and now she’s throwing us out.”

Olga didn’t react. She brought more bags and set them by the door.

– You have an hour. Then I’m calling the police.

“Go to hell!” Antonina exclaimed.

“Tonia, that’s enough,” said her father. “Get ready. We’re leaving this cursed place.”

He helped his wife stand. Tatiana Viktorovna wiped away her tears and looked at Olga with hatred.

“You’ll regret this,” she hissed. “You’ll be alone, and then you’ll regret it.”

– We’ll see.

Olga opened the door.

Denis’s parents put on their coats and gathered their luggage. Antonina was the last to leave.

“I hope you die alone,” she said over her shoulder.

Olga closed the door and turned the key.

Denis also had to make a choice

Denis stood in the hall, looking at the closed door and the empty living room.

– Ola, what did you do?

– What I should have done three weeks ago.

She went to the kitchen.

“They’re my parents! How am I supposed to look them in the eye now?”

– I don’t know. That’s your problem.

– My problem? You threw my family out on the street!

“I asked people who had been living off my dime for three weeks to leave. They ate food I bought with my money, occupied my apartment, and didn’t even say thank you.”

– Their house was flooded!

“I know. But that doesn’t give them the right to behave this way. Your mother cooked with my ingredients without asking. Your sister spent entire days eating what I bought. Your father demanded respect, but he showed me none.”

– They are older!

“That doesn’t change anything. I spent thirty thousand on them in three weeks. Half my salary. You didn’t even notice.”

Denis couldn’t answer.

– I thought it didn’t bother you.

– Of course. I remained silent, so you assumed I agreed.

Olga shook her head.

– I disagree. I’ve had enough.

“What should I do now? My parents are mad at me, you’re angry, and I’m caught between two sides.”

“You are not between them. You made a choice when you remained silent. When you failed to defend me. When you offered a compromise even though your mother insulted me.”

Denis lowered his gaze.

Olga took a deep breath.

– Pack your things.

– Where should I go?

– To your parents. Since they are more important to you.

– Are you kicking me out too?

– Yes. I don’t want to live with a man who can’t stand by me and who puts his mother’s desires above his wife’s feelings.

Olga took his bag out of the closet.

– Wait. Let’s talk!

“I don’t want to talk anymore. For three weeks I remained silent, patiently enduring everything, and waiting for you to see the problem for yourself. You didn’t see it because you didn’t want to.”

– That’s not true. I care about you.

“So why didn’t you stop your mother when she called me stingy? Why didn’t you react when your sister insulted me?”

Denis took the packed bag and lowered his head.

– I didn’t want to argue.

“You can argue with me. You’re only afraid to disobey your own mother. That’s why you should go to her.”

Olga opened the door.

– Goodbye, Denis.

He stepped out into the stairwell and turned as if to say something. But Olga closed the door.

The first quiet evening in my own home
There was silence in the apartment.

Olga leaned her back against the door and closed her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

It hurt, but beneath the pain there was also a previously unknown sense of freedom.

She wiped her face and went into the living room.

She looked around.

There were no longer any other people’s suitcases, clothes, parcels or things scattered across the furniture.

It was her apartment again.

Her space.

Her life.

She sat on the couch and thought that she had probably lost her husband. She wondered how her friends would react and what she would say to people who asked why her marriage had broken up.

But she knew the answer.

You can’t build a life with a man who ignores his wife. Someone who constantly puts the interests of others before her needs and fears conflict with his mother more than losing his marriage.

For three weeks, Olga fed adults, spent her own money and devoted her time and energy to them.

She waited for Denis to notice her effort, show gratitude, or at least support her.

He only proposed a compromise.

Then she realized that she no longer wanted to sacrifice herself for people who considered it their duty to help her.

She went to the window.

The rain had stopped, and the sun was beginning to peek out from behind the clouds. People were hurrying about their jobs in the streets, and cars were driving by on the wet road.

It was an ordinary day.

For Olga, however, it meant the beginning of a new life.

A life where she could say “no” without guilt. A life where she decided who she would open her doors to and how she would spend her own money.

She smiled through her tears.

She was scared and still felt pain, but she knew she had made the right decision.

This time she had no doubts.