The Price of Greed: Why the Wife Laughed When Her Husband and Mother-in-Law Ran Off to Claim Her "Capital"

A typical evening in a young family's life was interrupted by a piercing shriek from the bedroom.

— Son! She hid seven hundred thousand!

The mother-in-law, rummaging through someone else's belongings, discovered a large sum of money in her daughter-in-law's old bag. Without understanding the situation, the husband burst into the kitchen with accusations.

— You sold your mom's house and hid the money!

The mother and son, rejoicing at their find, rushed to the bank to open a deposit account, not suspecting the surprise that awaited them.

Lyudmila Sergeevna was making Olivier salad for her husband's birthday. A typical evening in a typical three-room apartment on the outskirts of the city. Except she wasn't cooking alone.

Her mother-in-law, Zinaida Ivanovna, had been living with them for three months after her own one-room apartment started to crack. Literally. The building was declared unsafe, and residents were being resettled, but the process dragged on.

— It's temporary, Lyudochka. We're not strangers, are we? — the mother-in-law lamented as she moved in with three suitcases and a box of ficus plants. — A month or two, and I'll be gone with the wind.

Fourteen weeks had passed. Zinaida Ivanovna had settled into the bedroom, evicting Lyudmila and Oleg to the sofa in the living room. She explained it was due to her age and a bad back that required an orthopedic mattress.