What do you mean, ‘let them live there’?!” the daughter-in-law asked with surprise. “Who decided this?”
In Tatiana’s palm, the keys to their new apartment burned like searing embers.
It was no mere keychain; it embodied their dream come true after enduring five arduous years of endless rental payments, constant repairs paid out of their own pockets, and a perpetual feeling of being strangers in their own lives. The apartment smelled of freshness — the subtle scent of newly whitewashed walls, pristine linoleum, untouched surfaces. Everything was a blank slate, eagerly awaiting their dreams, comfort, and love. This was their fortress, their nest — a place where they could finally declare, “This is our home.”
Just seven days earlier, Tatiana’s parents, beaming with pride and joy, handed them the deed.
“Here is your very first real home, Tanya,” her mother said warmly, embracing her. Her father shook her husband Georgiy’s hand firmly and with fatherly gravity. “May only light, love, and warmth dwell within these walls.”
At that moment, it sounded like a blessing. Like the dawn of a new chapter. Like a promise of happiness earned through honest labor and perseverance.
But happiness proved to be fragile — as delicate as a crystal vase shattered falling into an abyss.
Only three days later, on an ordinary evening, the phone rang. That call marked the onset of a nightmare. On the other end was Nina Arturovna, the mother-in-law, whose usually restrained and slightly haughty tone shifted into a rehearsed, false cheerfulness.
“Dear Tanya!” she sang out. “I have a little tragedy here. Lena and Ivan… Oh, these youngsters! My nerves are shot! Arguments, noise, music till dawn! I simply can’t handle it anymore! Then I thought — you have the apartment standing empty, right? Let them move in with you, just temporarily! Perfect solution, isn’t it? So convenient!”
Tatiana’s face went pale.
“Nina Arturovna… what are you saying? We only got the keys yesterday! We haven’t even moved in! We’re still renting…”
“Wonderful!” she interrupted. “So the apartment’s free! I already told Lena they’ll come over with their stuff tomorrow. Georgiy will give them the keys or you will meet them yourself?”
Tatiana tried to argue, but the call had ended.
Georgiy, standing beside her, noticed her ashen face and trembling hands. He understood that something had broken. Something had just begun — and already ended.
“Gosha…” she whispered. “Your mother decided that Lena and Ivan will live with us. Starting tomorrow. Without asking. This is our apartment! Our gift! Our home! And they… just move in like it’s a hotel?!”
Georgiy looked down, knowing that game all too well. He knew how his mother manipulated, pressured, and transformed ‘requests’ into commands.
“Mom said they’re struggling… It’s just temporary. What can we do? She’s… Mom…”
“Mom?!” Tatiana erupted. “She’s not a mother! She’s someone who thinks she can control my life, my home, my fate like it’s her property! Without permission! Without a word! She said, ‘let them live there’ as if it were her decision! And what about us? Should we now stay in a rental while your sister and her boyfriend turn our home into their hotel? It’s absurd! It’s a mockery!”
Georgiy remained silent, staring at the floor as one who has surrendered long ago.
At that moment, Tatiana sensed a chilling rift forming between them.
The next day, they arrived at their apartment.
Lena and Ivan were already by the door — luggage and boxes in hand, bearing the brazen certainty of those who believe everything is permitted.
“Hey, guys!” Lena greeted cheerfully. “Thanks for helping out! You can’t imagine how unbearable it’s become for mom! Ivan’s a musician; he needs to work, and she keeps interfering…”
Ivan, a tall young man in a stretched band t-shirt, didn’t look at them. He was absorbed in his phone, immersed in his own world.
Tatiana entered silently.
Her eyes swept across the bare walls — where she had dreamt of hanging paintings, curtains chosen over a month. Where she had intended to place a bookshelf and set flowers on the windowsill. But now — foreign belongings, unfamiliar scents, strange voices filled the space.
“Lena, Ivan,” she spoke quietly but resolutely, “we are not ready to accommodate you. We ourselves plan to move in here. Our lease on the rental ends in ten days. We need to move into our own place.”
“Oh, don’t worry!” Lena laughed. “You can stay at mom’s place! Let’s just swap! Ivan will get a job soon — and we’ll move out right away. I promise! Right, Vanya?”
“Yeah,” he muttered without looking up.
Tatiana glanced at her husband. He stood frozen, not uttering a word. No defense, no support.
A lump of pain, hurt, and helplessness rose in her throat.
“No.” “You will not live here. I didn’t give permission. I don’t understand why Nina Arturovna sent you here. This is my apartment. Legally, mine. My parents gifted it to me. I am the owner. I have the right to decide who comes in and when. You have your own places to live. This is not an emergency. It’s manipulation. And I won’t allow my home to be a staging ground for someone else’s games.”
“What?!” Lena shrieked. “You’re kicking us out?! We already came! We planned everything! We counted on you!”
“You came uninvited,” Tatiana replied coldly. “This is not your home. Not your apartment. Not your life. Leave. Now.”
“Gosha!” Lena turned to her brother. “Say something! Mom gave permission! We’re family!”
Georgiy raised his head slowly. He saw not a sister but a selfish girl used to getting her way. He saw Tatiana — strong, crushed, but standing firm.
For the first time in a long while, he made a choice.
“Tanya is right, Lena,” he said quietly but firmly. “It’s her apartment. Mom had no right to decide otherwise. You can’t stay here. Leave.”
Ivan finally lifted his eyes from the phone.
“This sucks. We just got here and now we’re moving out…”
“Shut up!” Lena snapped. Her eyes flashed with fury. She grabbed a suitcase and threw it toward the door with a clatter. “They gave you this box and you already think you’re a queen? Throwing out your own family? May everything here crack and shatter! May you never find happiness within these walls! Greedy! Selfish! Vanya, let’s go! We don’t need their charity!”
The suitcase struck the doorframe hard, narrowly missing Georgiy. Ivan lazily picked up a box.
“Good luck with your mom,” Lena spat as she walked out. “She’ll really make life miserable for you… You’ll regret this…”
The door slammed with such force that the walls seemed to tremble.
Silence followed — heavy as a fog.
Georgiy ran his hand over his face.
“Tan… I’m sorry… I should have…”
“Too late, Gosha,” she interrupted. “Now we wait for your mother.”
And they were right.
Twenty minutes later, brakes squealed outside. The taxi door slammed, and a piercing, hysterical scream echoed up the stairwell:
“Where are they?! Where’s Lena?! Where’s Ivan?! Open up! Immediately!”
Nina Arturovna stormed into the entrance like a hurricane. Her face was flushed, eyes blazing with fury.
She burst into the hallway, oblivious to her son, shaking her fists as she shouted:
“What have you done to them?! I put them here! Me! How dare you kick them out?! They’re calling me crying! Ungrateful wretches! You got a gifted apartment and immediately put on airs?!”
Tatiana stood before her — icy and calm, like a mountain before a storm.
“Nina Arturovna,” she spoke clearly, coldly, with steely confidence, “You had no right to settle anyone in my apartment — legally or morally. It is my property. I am the owner. I expelled them. And if you, Lena, or Ivan attempt to appear here again without my invitation, I will call the police for trespassing and violation of property rights. Understand?”
The mother-in-law gasped.
Her face twisted with shock. She was used to commanding, pressing, breaking others. But no one had ever issued her an ultimatum.
She turned to Georgiy, hoping for support.
But he stood facing the window, silent, backing his wife with quiet strength.
“You… You…” she stammered, pointing her finger at Tatiana. “You’ll pay for this! Threatening with police?! Fine! I’ll make sure your parents hear about your insolence!”
Then she spun sharply and stormed out, slamming the door so forcefully that a porcelain cat figurine fell from the windowsill and shattered — the last remnant of the former owners.
Tatiana approached, carefully gathering the shards.
She looked at them thoughtfully, then discarded the broken pieces into the trash.
This was a symbol of a shattered past. Of unwanted interference.
From now on, everything would be different.
Since that day, Lena and Nina Arturovna never spoke to Tatiana again.
However, Georgiy continued to be pressured relentlessly.
- Daily, dozens of messages flooded him.
- “You have to divorce her!” his mother wrote. “It’s disrespect to me and your sister. She humiliated us and made fools of us! As a son, you should stand with us!”
- “Mom,” he replied, “where would we live? With you? In a rental, while my sister stays in my wife’s house?”
- “You still have time!” she answered. “We’ll talk later! You must do something!”
- “Yes, I will,” he sent back. “I will stop communicating with you.”
And he kept his word.
He blocked them. Maintained silence. Protected his family.
Tatiana and Georgiy ceased contact with his relatives altogether.
But at last, they moved into their own home.
Their nest.
Their fortress.
Their world, where no one would dare to overstep boundaries again.
This story highlights the importance of respecting personal boundaries and the right to privacy within one’s own home. Property ownership carries not only legal rights but also the right to determine who shares your space. Family relationships can become complicated, but assertiveness and mutual respect are crucial to maintaining harmony. True peace begins at home, fortified by clear limits and understanding.