Lena, don’t you trust my son?” Marina Sergeyevna put her phone down on the table and crossed her arms over her chest.
“What does trust have to do with it? It’s my phone,” Lena tried to keep her voice calm, though she was boiling inside.
“What are you hiding in your phone? Come on, give it here. I just wanted to look up a borscht recipe. You have a recipe, right? Or is there something else?”
Lena mentally counted to ten. Two weeks. Just two weeks to endure in this house until the renovation of their apartment was finished. She could do it—she had to.
“Marina Sergeyevna, you have a laptop. There are plenty of recipes online.”
“There! Exactly the response I expected. This is how someone acts when they have something to hide. If you stay at my house, you should show me your phone! I know what you’re hiding from my son.”
Lena remembered how Vitalik had persuaded her to move in with his mother during the renovation. “Why spend money on a hotel? It’s just for a short while. Mom will be happy.” Happy? Oh, Marina Sergeyevna was thrilled—especially when she could rummage through other people’s things and make remarks.
“I’m not hiding anything. Just respect my boundaries.”
“Boundaries?” Marina Sergeyevna scoffed. “There shouldn’t be any boundaries in a family. We’re relatives! My house, my rules. And here you are with your boundaries!”
“We are only staying here temporarily until the renovation is finished. I appreciate the help, but—”
“Oh, you’re grateful?” Marina Sergeyevna interrupted. “Grateful people don’t hide their phones from family. What’s in there? Messaging someone? Is that why you didn’t want to move in with us?”
Just then, the front door slammed—Vitalik was back. Lena breathed a sigh of relief, but it was premature.
“Vitalik!” Marina Sergeyevna exclaimed, throwing up her hands. “Imagine, your wife won’t give me her phone. She says it’s personal. Are you hiding something from your husband too?”
Vitalik looked tiredly at his mother, then at his wife.
“Mom, let’s not start this. Why does it matter what’s in anyone’s phone?”
“No, son, you don’t get it! If there’s nothing to hide, why lock the phone? I never lock mine.”
“Because it’s normal to protect your privacy,” Lena shot back. “It’s basic personal security.”
“Privacy?” Marina Sergeyevna looked meaningfully at her son. “Hear that? She’s talking about privacy!”
Vitalik frowned. “Lena, maybe you really should just show Mom your phone. What’s the big deal?”
Lena couldn’t believe her ears. Was he seriously siding with her mother-in-law?
“Vit, are you serious? We’ve never snooped in each other’s phones. And now you want me to show it to your mom?”
“There you go!” Marina Sergeyevna exclaimed triumphantly. “She doesn’t even trust her husband! And I told you, son…”
“What did you tell him?” Lena turned sharply to her mother-in-law. “What exactly did you say about me?”
A heavy silence filled the room. Marina Sergeyevna pursed her lips in a show of wounded innocence. Vitalik’s gaze shifted uncertainly between his mother and his wife.
“Son, I’m just worried,” Marina Sergeyevna placed a hand on Vitalik’s shoulder. “You and Lena have been married for three years, and I still feel like she’s hiding something.”
“What are you talking about?” Lena tightened her grip on her phone. “Vitalik, can’t you see what’s happening?”
“Lena, but really, what’s in your phone?” Vitalik stepped toward her. “Just show it, and we’ll end this conversation.”
“No.” Lena stepped back. “That’s not right. First the phone, then what? Are you going to read my messages with friends with your mom? Check who I talk to?”
“And what, is there something to check?” Marina Sergeyevna asked slyly.
“Mom!” Vitalik raised his voice, but his mother just shrugged.
“What, Mom? I see how she acts. She came here and immediately started being secretive. And you, son, are too trusting.”
Lena felt a lump in her throat. Three years of trying to build a relationship with her mother-in-law. Three years of enduring her barbs. And now this.
“Vit, remember how we agreed at the beginning of our relationship? Never snoop in each other’s phones, to respect personal space.”
“I remember,” Vitalik nodded. “But this is different.”
“How is it different? Because your mom decided to interrogate me?”
Marina Sergeyevna sighed dramatically. “The slightest thing, and I’m the villain. And I, by the way, kindly offered you to stay in my home.”
“We can leave for a hotel right now,” Lena cut her off.
“Lena!” Vitalik frowned. “Stop it. Mom just wants what’s best.”
“What’s best?” Lena scoffed bitterly. “We’ve been here two days, and she’s already trying to read my messages. Is that normal to you?”
“I just wanted to look up a recipe!” Marina Sergeyevna protested. “And you’re making a scandal out of nothing.”
“Let’s all calm down,” Vitalik said, raising his hands. “Mom, don’t take someone’s phone without asking. Lena, don’t overreact.”
“So now I’m the problem?” Lena clenched her phone in her hand. “Great. Keep defending your mom.”
“I’m not defending anyone! I just don’t understand why you can’t show the phone and end this discussion.”
“Because it’s wrong! Because it’s an invasion of personal boundaries!”
“There you go again with those boundaries,” Marina Sergeyevna muttered. “I remember, my friend Vera always talked about boundaries. Then it turned out she was having an affair at work. People hide a lot behind ‘boundaries’…”
Lena turned to her mother-in-law. “Are you accusing me of something?”
“Me? God forbid! Just thinking aloud.”
“Finish your thought. Are you accusing me of cheating?”
“Vitalik, don’t believe her!” Marina Sergeyevna cried. “She’s trying to turn you against me.”
“No, Mom,” Vitalik shook his head. “You’ve been trying to turn me against Lena. Just like you did with Katya.”
Marina Sergeyevna paled. “What?”
“Katya told me. And now you’re doing it again.”
Lena exhaled. “Vitalik, let’s go.”
Marina Sergeyevna’s voice rang out: “Ungrateful! Get out of my house!”
As Lena packed, Vitalik called a taxi. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I should have seen this sooner.”
“Yes, you should have.”
Vitalik’s phone vibrated. “Mom.” He hesitated, then declined the call.
“That’s the first step,” he said. “Small, but important.”
Lena gave a sad smile. “There are many more ahead.”
