“What are you doing here?” Nina asked, spatula in hand, without looking down.

“We need to talk. Without mom.”

He leaned on the shaky railing beside her.

“Nina… you upset my mother. Her blood pressure was twenty over ten yesterday.”

“And?” Nina shrugged. “She should take her pills. Your request is insolent.”

“Insolent?!” Marat bellowed above the wind. “It’s helping the family! You have two apartments! Two! And my brother lives in a dump. You know how lucky he is that Larissa even looked at him? If there’s no wedding, she’ll leave. You want to ruin his life?”

Nina smoothed excess mortar.

“Marat… why don’t you earn the money for his wedding yourself? Aren’t you a man?”

“Don’t touch my money!” he growled. “The apartment… your father gave it to you.”

“My father worked his whole life to give me security,” Nina said, ice in her voice. “Not to spend it on your brother’s wedding.”

“Fine,” Marat said, closing in. “Mom’s already spoken to the realtor. They’ll come tomorrow to take pictures. Give them the keys.”

“And if I refuse? You hit me? Force the door?”

“Don’t provoke me. We are family. If you don’t sell, your life will become a hell. I don’t need a greedy wife.”

He spat into the courtyard.

“Tonight. Papers. On the table.”

Part 3: Valerian and Musty Air

Galina Petrovna’s apartment greeted Nina with the scent of fried potatoes, old shoes, and corvalol. Cardboard boxes cluttered the entry.

In the living room sat everyone involved. Victor’s lame leg stretched across a chair. Larissa, overdone with garish makeup, perched on the armrest. Galina Petrovna sorted receipts with sharp precision.

“Ah, here’s the benefactor,” Victor sneered. “So… when do we get the money? We’ve already paid a deposit.”

“I’m here to make it clear,” Nina said, voice steady. “I will not sell the apartment. I will not give money for the wedding. Not fifty thousand, not a penny more.”

“How dare you?” Larissa shrieked. “Marat said everything was settled!”

“Marat lied to you.”

“You want to shame us?” Galina Petrovna roared. “I’ve already taken out a loan! You’ve put us in debt!”

“You brought it on yourselves,” Nina replied calmly. “Victor… why should your wife pay for your wedding?”

“Go to hell!” Victor shouted. “You have two apartments!”

Title: The Crumbling Facade

Nina, a restorer of old buildings, had built a quiet, stable life with her husband, Marat. She owned a small apartment inherited from her father, which she rented out to fund her projects and dreams.

One day, her mother-in-law demanded that she sell it—to pay for the wedding of Marat’s disabled brother. The pressure was suffocating. Nina refused. That’s when she realized her husband secretly supported the plan.

Slowly, Marat’s demeanor changed. He grew aggressive, threatening, relentless. Calm and clear-headed, Nina consulted a lawyer and ended their life together. She changed the locks, and Marat found himself locked out of the life he thought he owned.

Two weeks later, chaos consumed Marat’s family—quarrels, unpaid debts, and eventually, his brother’s fiancée walked away.

Then came Nina’s message: she had sold the apartment a month earlier, investing the money into her business. Legally untouchable.

Marat realized too late that greed and blind obedience had cost him his wife.

Nina, on the other hand, had reclaimed her freedom and her dignity. Like the old facades she restored, she had learned to recognize what was worth saving… and what was meant to collapse.