Anton came home exhausted.
“Ira, I’m tired of running to my mother all the time,” he sighed. “This week I’ve already been there three times.”
Ira listened patiently. His elderly mother constantly needed help — leaking pipes, medicines, groceries. Ira even spent two hours crossing the city to get her fresh farmers’ cheese, without ever being reimbursed. But when she suggested paying expenses, Anton shook his head:
“You can’t take money from my mother. We should take care of her.”
The next months were full of endless requests, calls, and errands. Then Anton brought news:
“Mom wants us to move in with her. It’ll be cheaper.”
Ira froze. She imagined the constant control, the lack of privacy. But after a long argument, Anton insisted — and they moved.
Life in the mother-in-law’s house quickly turned into daily pressure. She ordered Ira around, never paid for anything, cooked terrible food, and bragged to neighbors about her “perfect daughter-in-law.” Then money began disappearing from Ira’s wallet: first 5,000 rubles, then 1,000, then more.
One evening Ira quietly stepped into the hallway — and saw her mother-in-law holding her wallet, slipping out a 5,000-ruble bill.
“What are you doing?” Ira demanded.
The older woman jumped, then lied, then became angry:
“You live in my house! What’s wrong with helping with the household?”
“So that’s why you wanted us here,” Ira said. “Not because you were lonely — because you wanted our money.”
Ira packed her suitcase. The mother-in-law screamed that Anton would never let her go.
Anton arrived home in the middle of the fight.
“She’s accusing me of stealing!” his mother cried.
“Ira, what is going on?” Anton asked.
“She’s been taking money from my wallet for a month,” Ira said. “Nearly twenty thousand.”
Anton paled — then hesitated. “Mom didn’t mean any harm… We live in her house. Maybe she… had a right…”
“A right to steal?” Ira stared at him. Realizing he’d already chosen a side.
She lifted the suitcase.
“You can come with me,” she said quietly. “Or I go alone.”
Anton stood frozen between his mother and his wife. Ira didn’t wait for his decision.
She left.
The cool evening air hit her face as she stepped outside with her suitcase. Tears finally came — but along with them came relief. She knew she’d made the right choice.
