“To be honest…” her friend hesitated, as if afraid to say too much. “I still don’t understand how you dared to do that. It’s… beyond the pale, Liza!”

“Beyond what?” Liza raised an eyebrow. “Good or evil?”

“Well, you know… it depends how you look at it.”

“No matter how you look at it, dear,” Liza smiled, “the result is what matters. And my result? Excellent. I got exactly what I wanted.”

“Even so,” her neighbor frowned, “there will definitely be consequences…”

“Don’t jinx it!” Liza snapped. “If they come, I’ll deal with them. Right now, I’m celebrating. So don’t spoil my victory.”

The neighbor shrugged, offended, and turned toward the window, pretending to be fascinated by the view.

It had all started on a perfectly ordinary evening. Liza’s husband, Igor, came home from work with a strange stiffness in his posture. He hovered near the kitchen doorway, clearly uncomfortable.

“We need to talk,” he said, voice tight.

Liza didn’t flinch. She’d been waiting for this moment. She flipped the cutlets sizzling in the pan.

“Talk,” she said coolly.

“Could you sit down and actually listen?” Igor’s voice sharpened. “Or am I supposed to talk to your back?”

“No time to sit, dear,” Liza replied, still calm. “Any minute now, Olezha will start yelling ‘Mom, this! Mom, that!’ So let’s not waste time. What is it?”

“I…” Igor hesitated. “I’ve met someone else.”

“And?” Liza didn’t even turn around.

“I love her,” he said, louder now. “I’m serious.”

“I hear you,” Liza finally turned to face him. “Congratulations.”

Igor blinked. That was not the reaction he’d expected.

“You knew?”

“No,” she said. “But I suspected.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well,” Liza narrowed her eyes, “you were the one who proposed to me. You get to be the one who breaks the family.”

Igor stared at her, confused. She wasn’t crying. She wasn’t yelling. She was composed. Too composed.

“I have a proposal,” he said, trying to regain control.

“Now that’s interesting.” Liza sat down, folding her hands.

“I did the math. We’ve got the mortgage. You won’t manage the payments, even with child support…”

“And we’re not discussing the divorce itself?” Her voice had a steel edge.

“What’s there to discuss?” Igor shrugged. “You won’t forgive me.”

“Right,” Liza said. “You know me so well.”

“So,” Igor continued, “you’ll move to your one-room apartment. I’ll stay here.”

“And the kids?”

“They’ll go with you, of course.”

“So I’ll live with two children in eighteen square meters, and you’ll live here with your new love in our three-room apartment?”

“Well, yeah. You can’t afford the mortgage.”

“I see,” Liza stood. “I need to think.”

She stepped out onto the balcony.

Igor smirked. “She’ll think, all right. Oh, these women…”

While she was gone, he helped himself to cutlets and mashed potatoes.

He didn’t finish his meal.

“I agree,” Liza said, returning. “But on one condition.”

“What now?” Igor asked, chewing.

“You’ll stay in this apartment with your lady — and with our son. Our daughter and I will move out.”

Igor choked.

“You want to… split the kids?!”

“Yes,” Liza said evenly. “Why not? We made them together. We raise them together. You get the son you always wanted. I get our daughter.”

“You’re insane! They’re not furniture!”

“No,” Liza said. “But I’m not dragging both kids into a cramped apartment while you play house in comfort.”

“I’ll pay child support!”

“Of course. And I’ll pay you child support too. Fair’s fair.”

“You’re using the kids to get back at me!”

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not worth revenge. I just want balance.”

Igor sputtered. “You’re heartless.”

“I’m practical.”

Igor left.

He consulted his girlfriend, his mother, his sister. All of them said Liza was bluffing. No mother would give up a child over square footage.

Oksana, his new flame, was thrilled. A three-room apartment in the city center? Jackpot.

The fact that it came with a four-year-old boy didn’t register.

Igor agreed to Liza’s terms.

“Excellent,” she said. “File for divorce tomorrow.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re the man. And you can afford it.”

Igor filed.

They waited three months. Igor moved in with Oksana. Liza packed her things and braced herself.

Igor told everyone Liza was giving up her son for an apartment.

“How could you?”

“What kind of mother are you?”

“You have no heart!”

Even her daughter Katya confronted her.

“I thought you loved us…”

Liza said nothing. She waited.

The divorce went through.

“You want to leave your son with his father?” the judge asked.

“Yes,” Liza said. “We share responsibility. And Igor is happy to take him. Right?”

Igor nodded.

It was done.

Liza packed essentials. She left cheat sheets for Igor:

• What Olezha likes and hates
• Preschool details
• Allergies
• Favorite cartoons
• Clinic address

Igor skimmed the list and scoffed.

“We’ll manage just fine. Right, son?” He tossed the boy in the air.

“All right,” Liza said. “Call if you need anything.”

She left.

Igor called Oksana: “The coast is clear!”

That night, Oksana posted: “New beginnings!” with a photo of her and Igor over the sleeping boy.

And then… reality hit.

Olezha threw tantrums. Refused to eat. Screamed for his mother.

Preschool drop-offs were a nightmare. Igor was late for work. His boss noticed.

Then the boy got sick. Fever. Rash. Igor panicked.

Oksana left on a business trip. Then ghosted him.

His mother refused to help.

Liza visited once a week. After she left, Olezha cried for hours.

Igor was drowning. He hated his life. He hated the noise. He hated the exhaustion.

He caught himself thinking he hated his own son.

Three months later, Igor called Liza.

“Liza, we need to talk.”

She came over.

“Please,” he said. “Take him.”

“Do what?”

“Take Olezha. I can’t do this. Oksana’s gone. Work’s a mess. I’m falling apart.”

“I understand,” Liza said. “But…”

“No ‘but.’ Take the boy. And the apartment.”

“What do you mean?”

“Move back. I’ll leave. I’ll pay child support. I’ll pay the mortgage.”

“And you won’t come back with claims?”

“No claims. I’ll transfer the apartment to you. Just help me.”

“Is it really that hard to raise a four-year-old?” Liza asked.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. So… do you agree?”

“On the condition everything is done legally.”

Igor sighed. “I didn’t know you were so mercenary.”

“I had good teachers,” Liza said.

Igor kept his word.

He transferred the apartment.

He pays the mortgage.

He pays child support — for both kids.

He visits on weekends.

He brings flowers for Liza.

As a thank-you.

For “meeting him halfway.”

And for letting him live in her one-room apartment — until he finds his own place.

Now, everyone pities Igor.

They call Liza a viper. A heartless mother.

But she doesn’t care.

She’s enjoying her victory.

She regrets nothing.

And she doesn’t believe in “negative consequences.”

Not anymore.

---