Anna spoke those words almost in a whisper, but they carried all the sleepless nights, all the bottled-up tension, and the feeling of having lost her own space. A heavy silence filled the kitchen. Marc stood leaning against the table, avoiding her eyes.
“You’re exaggerating,” he repeated, though his voice no longer had the same confidence as before.
“No, Marc,” Anna said calmly, surprising even herself. “For the first time, I’m not exaggerating. I’m telling you exactly how I feel. In my own home I no longer have peace, I no longer have the right to decide anything. Everything happens without me.”
Katarina, who until then had pretended not to listen, walked into the kitchen.
“What are these conversations?” she asked coldly. “Why are you raising your voice?”
“I’m not raising my voice,” Anna replied. “I’m just trying to explain that this situation can’t continue.”
“We are Marc’s family,” Katarina said firmly. “And family must be helped.”
“I agree,” Anna answered. “But helping doesn’t mean taking over someone else’s home and behaving as if it were your own.”
Katarina pressed her lips together.
“So you want to throw us out?”
“No,” Anna said. “I want boundaries. And I want to be asked. This is my apartment. I inherited it, I maintain it, and I pay for it.”
Marc finally looked up.
“Anna, this isn’t the right time for this kind of conversation…”
“Now is exactly the time,” she interrupted. “Because if we don’t talk now, we’ll never talk later.”
That night Anna didn’t stay in the apartment. She grabbed her laptop, some clothes, and went to a friend’s place. She didn’t slam the door. She didn’t make a scene. She left quietly, but with determination.
Two days later, Marc called her.
“Can we meet?” he asked.
They met at a small café near Anna’s office. Marc looked exhausted, with deep dark circles under his eyes.
“My mother is furious,” he said. “She says you humiliated her.”
“I didn’t humiliate anyone,” Anna replied. “I told the truth.”
“The situation is complicated…”
“No, Marc. It’s very simple. Either we’re a family where decisions are made together, or we’re not.”
Marc stayed silent for a long moment.
“I talked to them,” he finally said. “They’re going to look for an apartment. We set a deadline. Two weeks.”
Anna watched him carefully.
“And after that?”
“After that…” Marc sighed. “I’ll have to learn to set boundaries. Even with my mother.”
Anna nodded.
“Then I have another condition,” she said. “If in the future there’s any decision that affects my home or our life, I want to be part of it. Otherwise, there’s no point in continuing.”
Two weeks later, the apartment was empty. The noise was gone. The air felt breathable again. Katarina left coldly, without saying goodbye. Elsa thanked her briefly. Lucas closed the door behind him without looking back.
Anna stood in the middle of the empty living room and, for the first time in a long while, felt she could breathe again.
Her marriage didn’t become perfect overnight. But something had changed. Marc started asking. Listening. Not deciding alone.
And Anna understood something very important: love isn’t about staying silent so you won’t bother anyone. Love is about telling the truth and seeing whether the other person is capable of accepting it.
For the first time in a long time, the apartment wasn’t just quiet. It was home again.