Lena sat at the kitchen table, a blank résumé in front of her. Three months of failed applications weighed on her. Her husband Andrey worked nights, carrying all the bills. He reminded her often, though never directly, that he was the only provider.
One morning the call finally came. A construction company wanted to see her. The interview was tough, but she impressed them. By the end, they offered her seventy thousand rubles a month plus commission—more than Andrey earned.
She rushed home with the news. Andrey hugged her, proud and relieved. For the first time in months, things looked brighter.
Work suited Lena. She closed deals, hit targets, even won employee of the month. By her third month, her pay topped a hundred thousand. She started covering groceries and utilities, lightening the burden.
But six months later Andrey raised a new topic. He reminded her that during her unemployment he had carried them alone, spending more than four hundred thousand rubles. Now that she earned more, he wanted her to contribute seventy percent of her salary, while he would add fifty percent of his, to make things “square.”
Lena froze. She asked if he had also counted the hours she cooked, cleaned, and ran the house. He brushed it aside. To him, this was about fairness.
A week later Lena placed a folder in front of him at breakfast. Inside was a rental agreement. She explained that since the apartment was hers, inherited from her parents, he owed rent—twenty-five thousand rubles a month. She also added that if he valued fairness, he should pay for cleaning and cooking too. At market prices, that totaled thirty thousand more.
Andrey’s jaw dropped. Together it came to fifty-five thousand a month, nearly his entire salary.
“This is where your logic leads,” Lena said. “If you want fairness like business partners, then let’s count everything.”
Andrey fell silent. The truth hit him hard. He had been treating their marriage like a balance sheet, forgetting the meaning of family.
Finally, he apologized. “I acted like an idiot. We’re a team. No more counting who owes who.”
Lena agreed—on one condition. If she ever lost her job or went on maternity leave, he would never again calculate her “debt.” He promised.
They reconciled. The tension lifted. But Lena quietly kept the contract. Not as revenge, but as a reminder that fairness in a family is not about numbers. It is about respect.
