He Gave Her a Million-Dollar House, He Gave Me a 5000 Monthly Allowance Chapter 03

He Gave Her a Million-Dollar House, He Gave Me a 5000 Monthly Allowance Chapter 03

I’d barely changed out of my soaked clothes at the hotel when someone knocked at my door.

I opened it to find Pierce and Melissa.

When I was younger and ran away from home after fighting with my parents, they were always the two people who tracked me down first. But now, I felt no relief at all.

I tried to shut the door, yet Melissa blocked it. Her hand got caught in the doorway. She cried out in pain, red welts rising on her arm.

Pierce shoved the door open hard, sending me stumbling backward.

He cradled Melissa’s hand, checking for injuries before glaring furiously at me. “Nicole, how long are you going to keep this up? Melissa came here to beg for forgiveness. Why do you keep tormenting her?”

Melissa tugged at Pierce’s sleeve. “Pierce, don’t yell at her. This is my fault.”

“Nicole, please don’t misunderstand. That marriage was just a formality for Julian’s sake. I never meant to take your place.”

“He hid his full salary from you because six years ago, I got tricked into massive loan debt. I was too ashamed to tell you. Pierce picked up endless extra shifts to pay it off.”

“Once the debt cleared, he got promoted to manager. He didn’t know how to explain the new income to you, so we kept it a secret all these years.”

I remembered how, six years ago, Pierce had started working himself to exhaustion. I’d believed he was sacrificing everything for our future. On his worst days, he finished his regular shift at ten p.m., then picked up freelance work until three or four in the morning.

I’d worked side jobs to cover household costs, aching for him, yet bursting with hope.

He hadn’t been building our future at all—he’d been paying off her debts. And even after they were cleared, he couldn’t stop. Bile rose in my throat as I told them to leave.

Melissa grabbed onto me, refusing to let me close the door. “Nicole, please come home with us. I’m scared to leave you alone like this.”

She was invoking what happened seven years ago. My ex-boyfriend cheated on me on the exact same day my father cheated on my mother. Crushed by double betrayal, I’d lost all hope and tried to take my own life.

Pierce and Melissa had found me, talking me down, swearing they would never betray me.

I ripped her hands off me. “How dare you say that? You’re the one who caused all this. Stop putting on this act.”

Melissa’s eyes welled up instantly. Pierce stepped in front of her protectively, his voice icy. “Nicole. Every mistake here is mine. I made the first move all those years ago. Leave Melissa out of this; she couldn’t cope.”

Pierce’s fierce defense only made me more nauseous. I fought to push them out.

Melissa didn’t tell the staff about my past. Instead, she broke down sobbing in the lobby, begging me not to “hurt myself again” where everyone could hear. The manager, fearing a scene and liability, asked me to “resolve this privately.” Cornered by public pity and private shame, I had no choice but to follow them.

When Melissa manipulated me back to their house, I finally understood her plan.