\u201cWhy are you so quiet?\u201d Maxim finally noticed.
\u201cAre you tired?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What could she say?
That her own birthday had turned into a party for his family?
That she had paid a fortune to be ignored all night?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The car stopped in front of their building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vera got out first and hurried inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At home, she kicked off her shoes and walked into the living room.
The two-room apartment\u2014her property from before the marriage\u2014welcomed her with its familiar silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maxim followed, still cheerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVera, why are you sulking?\u201d he asked, taking off his jacket.
\u201cEverything went great!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She spun around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her eyes were blazing with tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGreat? For who, Maxim?\u201d her voice shook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell\u2026 for everyone\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t invite your family to MY birthday!\u201d Vera shouted.
\u201cI wanted the evening to be just you and me! And they showed up without being invited!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He tried to speak, but she cut him off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwenty-five thousand, Maxim!\u201d her voice broke.
\u201cThey ate and drank for twenty-five thousand! And no one even offered to split the bill!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey just wanted to congratulate you\u2026\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCongratulate me?\u201d Vera laughed bitterly.
\u201cYour mother didn\u2019t even look at me! You spent the whole evening talking to your parents and your sister! I\u2019m the one whose birthday it was\u2014and you didn\u2019t give me five minutes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVera, you\u2019re exaggerating\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExaggerating?\u201d
She stepped closer.
\u201cName one moment when any of them spoke to me. Just one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maxim fell silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vera shook her head and walked past him into the bathroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She needed to wash this day off her body.
The humiliation.
The pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hot water poured over her skin, mixing with her tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou promised,\u201d Vera whispered.
\u201cA dinner just for the two of us. And now a table full of strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat strangers?\u201d her mother-in-law cut in, having stepped closer.
\u201cWe\u2019re family! And you\u2019re behaving selfishly, Vera. You don\u2019t cut yourself off from your own people!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vera stared at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that moment, something inside her finally broke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vera sat in the corner of the caf\u00e9, watching her \u201cnew family.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Maxim\u2019s parents were loudly debating the latest neighborhood gossip. His sister Alina flipped through the menu, circling the most expensive dishes with a satisfied smirk. Maxim leaned toward his father, laughing about some work deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one looked at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVera, what are you having?\u201d her mother-in-law asked without lifting her eyes. Her fingers clenched the edge of her napkin until it wrinkled in her hands. Even Maxim\u2019s toast was short and distracted. When the bill arrived\u2014twenty-five thousand rubles\u2014no one reached for it. Vera paid. In silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At home, everything finally burst open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMaxim, I paid for your entire family!\u201d she shouted, her voice cracking. \u201cCongratulate me?\u201d Vera laughed bitterly. The weeks that followed were cold and heavy. \u201cI\u2019ll change,\u201d he said. On their sixth anniversary, Maxim announced a romantic dinner for two. For one fragile moment, Vera believed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then she walked into the restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His entire family was already there. \u201cSurprise! We\u2019re celebrating together!\u201d his mother chirped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something inside Vera finally snapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That night, she slid her wedding ring off her finger. Their anniversary became the first day of their separation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vera collapsed onto the hallway floor and cried until her chest hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But beneath the pain, she knew the truth:
\u201cI already chose,\u201d Vera whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five years of marriage\u2026 and every single anniversary she turned into furniture. Background noise. A decoration no one noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd\u2026 yeah, happy anniversary, babe,\u201d he muttered, already glancing at his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one offered to split it.
No one even pretended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey just wanted to congratulate you\u2026\u201d he shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t even look at me all evening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every visit to his family drained her.
Every promise Maxim made dissolved into the same old patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He never did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just us, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smiling.
Waving.
Pulling out chairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quietly packed Maxim\u2019s clothes into suitcases.
And told him to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some people never grow up.
And she was done living as an afterthought in her own marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n