![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ezzuye.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/492203615_637882952397953_2387781782510121844_n-300x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Olga and Nikolai\u2019s wedding was exactly the kind most girls dream of\u2014grand and unforgettable. Guests danced to lively music, showered the newly\u2011weds with congratulations and wished them happiness. The bride shone in her white dress, gently holding her husband\u2019s hand as he brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.<\/p>\n
Yet Olga couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that her day of triumph was gradually turning into someone else\u2019s celebration. Angela Viktorovna, Nikolai\u2019s mother, strode between the tables like a field marshal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlga dear, could you check whether everyone has enough champagne?\u201d Angela Viktorovna frowned. \u201cAnd why is your Aunt Marina sitting so far away? Move her closer to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olga blinked in bewilderment.
\n\u201cBut Kolya and I drew up the seating plan together \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dear, surely you understand I know best. Your relatives must feel comfortable,\u201d Angela Viktorovna cut her off and turned to fuss over other guests.<\/p>\n
Nikolai, standing nearby, only shrugged and gave an apologetic smile.
\n\u201cMother just wants everything perfect. Let\u2019s not argue today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The honeymoon ended, and married life took an unexpected shape for Olga. Every Saturday the doorbell rang insistently. On the doorstep stood the ever\u2011smiling Angela Viktorovna\u2014often with people Olga barely knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cKolya, my son!\u201d She hugged him, hardly noticing her daughter\u2011in\u2011law. \u201cMeet Irina, my cousin from Voronezh!\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikolai would nod, mumble a greeting and disappear into his study, leaving his wife to cope.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlga, do you have tea for our guests? And perhaps something to go with it?\u201d Angela Viktorovna was already leading her cousin to the living room. \u201cIrina was so eager to meet my son\u2019s wife!\u201d<\/p>\n
Standing in the kitchen, Olga prepared treats for the unexpected visitors, hands trembling. She felt less like the lady of the house and more like the help.<\/p>\n
\u201cKolya, you can\u2019t keep doing this,\u201d she whispered to her husband that evening. \u201cWhy do you always run off?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop exaggerating,\u201d Nikolai frowned. \u201cMother just loves company. She wants everyone to see what a wonderful wife I have.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Nikolai\u2019s birthday Olga was up at dawn, planning a special evening\u2014candles, his favorite dessert, and the gift he\u2019d longed for.<\/p>\n
One phone call ruined everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlga dear! I\u2019ve called all the relatives\u2014we\u2019ll come at six. I hope you\u2019ll make something special? Kolya loves your Napoleon cake,\u201d Angela Viktorovna\u2019s tone allowed no objections.<\/p>\n
Olga spent the whole day in the kitchen, cooking for fifteen people, decorating the flat and laying the table, fighting rising irritation. Luckily she freelanced; juggling an office job with constant guests would have been impossible.<\/p>\n
By evening the apartment was full. Nikolai accepted congratulations and gifts while Olga rushed between kitchen and living room, serving dishes, changing plates, refilling glasses.<\/p>\n
Angela Viktorovna handed her a camera.
\n\u201cOlga, be a dear and photograph us. Then print the pictures, will you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThat night, after clearing the last traces of the feast, Olga looked at her sleeping husband. Before bed he had hugged her and thanked her for the wonderful party.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re a magician\u2014it was perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was three in the morning. Olga\u2019s hands smelled of detergent and her eyes stung with fatigue. Perfect\u2014for whom?<\/p>\n
Sighing, she cast one last glance at the gleaming kitchen and crept to bed. Nikolai slept sprawled across the mattress, utterly content. Olga lay on the edge, careful not to wake him. Tomorrow there were clients\u2019 orders to handle; she needed at least a little rest.<\/p>\n
The phone rang before her alarm.
\n\u201cGood morning, Olga!\u201d Angela Viktorovna sounded fresh, as though she hadn\u2019t left Olga cleaning half the night. \u201cThank you for yesterday\u2014my friends were delighted! Have you started planning the Easter kulichi yet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKulichi? But Easter\u2019s a month away \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPrecisely! There\u2019s barely time. I need twelve\u2014one for Kolya, one for me, one for Aunt Vera and Uncle Misha, for \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Sitting in the kitchen with coffee, Olga jotted down the list of people who \u201cneeded\u201d kulichi. The pen shook in her fingers; she had never baked them before.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrange that Mum asked you,\u201d Nikolai yawned, pouring coffee. \u201cShe usually likes to cook.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said a daughter\u2011in\u2011law must bake for her husband\u2019s whole family. Tradition,\u201d Olga replied, eyes tired.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Mum knows best.\u201d Nikolai shrugged. \u201cDon\u2019t worry\u2014you\u2019ll manage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kulichi were only the beginning. During the May holidays their small flat turned into a hotel for three second cousins from Saratov.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlga, Petya\u2019s allergic to laundry detergent,\u201d announced Angela Viktorovna, escorting the relatives inside. \u201cWash his things with baby soap, please.\u201d<\/p>\n
For three days Olga cooked breakfasts and dinners, washed clothes, cleaned and planned sightseeing routes\u2014while Nikolai was seldom home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to show the guys our new office,\u201d he said on the last day. \u201cThen we\u2019ll take them to football. They\u2019re not interested in women\u2019s chatter anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Saratov guests finally left, Olga thought things couldn\u2019t get worse. She was wrong. In June Uncle Boris\u2014Angela Viktorovna\u2019s cousin\u2014arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has a special diet,\u201d the mother\u2011in\u2011law warned. \u201cNo salt, sugar or dairy, and everything steamed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGirl, this fish is overcooked!\u201d Uncle Boris boomed at lunch. \u201cAnd where did you get this swill? I asked for green tea with jasmine, not this muck!\u201d<\/p>\n
Olga scoured specialty shops, wasting hours hunting for his dietary needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cKolya, I can\u2019t take this anymore,\u201d she confessed after Uncle Boris left. \u201cYour relatives act like I\u2019m the hired help.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop dramatizing,\u201d Nikolai scowled. \u201cYou\u2019re just not used to a big family. At your age Mother worked, kept a home and still found time for clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final straw came with Angela Viktorovna\u2019s October call.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlga, this weekend we\u2019re celebrating Mum\u2019s friendship anniversary with Galina Sergeyevna,\u201d Nikolai announced after hanging up. \u201cThey\u2019re coming with their husbands. Mum said you\u2019ll organise everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olga froze, plate in hand; something snapped inside her.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she said softly, then louder. \u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, \u2018no\u2019?\u201d Nikolai sank onto a chair in shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means I won\u2019t cater for your mother and her friends!\u201d Olga slammed the plate on the table. \u201cFor two years I\u2019ve cooked, cleaned and washed for your relatives! I\u2019ve become a servant in my own home, and you don\u2019t even notice!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re exaggerating,\u201d he tried to soothe her. \u201cMother just wants \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care what your mother wants!\u201d Tears filled Olga\u2019s eyes. \u201cI\u2019m your wife, not a cook! Why can\u2019t we relax on weekends? Why must I always wait on your family?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikolai stared, genuinely bewildered\u2014he had never seen her like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlga, what\u2019s got into you? You\u2019ve never behaved this way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I always kept silent! Why is it my duty to feed, serve and entertain your guests?\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression hardened.
\n\u201cBecause you\u2019re the wife!\u201d he raised his voice. \u201cIt\u2019s a woman\u2019s duty to keep a cosy home and host guests. My mother always did and never complained!\u201d<\/p>\n
Olga stepped back as if struck.
\n\u201cSo that\u2019s how you see our marriage? I\u2019m free help for you and your mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t twist my words!\u201d Nikolai slammed his fist on the table; a cup toppled, coffee pooling over the cloth. \u201cYou\u2019re ungrateful! You have a roof over your head and a husband who earns well. What more do you need?\u201d<\/p>\n
Olga stared, recognising nothing of the man she\u2019d married.
\n\u201cRespect,\u201d she whispered. \u201cI need respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is your gratitude for all I do?\u201d Nikolai grabbed his jacket. \u201cI\u2019m going to Mum\u2019s. We\u2019ll all be here at six tomorrow. I hope you\u2019ve come to your senses and behave like a proper wife!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKolya, listen \u2026\u201d Olga tried to stop him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave everything ready for our arrival,\u201d he snapped and slammed the door so hard the windows rattled.<\/p>\n
Alone in the living room she dusted every weekend, Olga suddenly knew she couldn\u2019t go on. The decision was swift and final. She fetched a suitcase and packed only essentials\u2014documents, a few clothes, her laptop. There was some cash; enough for now.<\/p>\n
At the door she hesitated, then slipped off her wedding ring and left it on the hall table.<\/p>\n
On the way to the metro she bought a new SIM card and tossed the old one in a bin\u2014she didn\u2019t want calls from Nikolai or Angela Viktorovna. She needed somewhere to stay and dialled an old friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarina? It\u2019s Olga,\u201d her voice sounded surprisingly calm. \u201cSorry to bother you, but I need help.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOlga? What\u2019s happened?\u201d Marina asked anxiously.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve left Nikolai,\u201d Olga said simply. \u201cCan I stay with you for a few days?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course! Come right away,\u201d the friend answered without hesitation.<\/p>\n
Monday morning Olga met a lawyer about divorce; he promised the process would be quick. On Tuesday she sent out her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and by evening had an interview lined up at a marketing agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucky timing\u2014we\u2019ve just had a vacancy,\u201d the HR manager smiled. \u201cWith your experience, you\u2019re a perfect fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
By month\u2019s end Olga had rented a small but cosy flat across town. Nikolai didn\u2019t try to win her back; he seemed more upset about who would cook for his mother\u2019s guests than losing a wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you realise Mum was upset?\u201d he complained at the notary\u2019s office. \u201cThey had to celebrate the friendship anniversary in a restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olga merely smiled without reply.<\/p>\n
A year passed. Olga marvelled at how her life had changed\u2014an engaging job, new friends and the freedom to manage her own time. She\u2019d learned that true happiness comes when you\u2019re valued and respected, not used as unpaid help.<\/p>\n
So when her colleagues invited her to the office party, she gladly accepted, knowing a completely different life now awaited her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Olga and Nikolai\u2019s wedding was exactly the kind most girls dream of\u2014grand and unforgettable. Guests danced to lively music, showered the newly\u2011weds with congratulations and wished them… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n