I Was The Temporary Guest In The Home I Helped Buy Chapter 07

I Was The Temporary Guest In The Home I Helped Buy Chapter 07

The rain in Seattle felt gentler than the rain in the city I had left behind.

On the day of my second interview, I wore a crisp white blouse.

After reviewing my portfolio, the interviewer looked at me.

“You’re very talented, but since you’ve relocated, we’re concerned that you might not stay.”

I considered my answer.

“I came here because I intend to stay and start over.”

She did not press me further. Instead, she carefully reviewed my previous project proposals.

“All right. You can start next Monday.”

When I walked out of the office building, sunlight reflected from the glass facade, bright enough to make me

squint.

I stood on an unfamiliar street and read the job-offer message twice.

There were still many unread messages on my phone. Most of them were from Graham.

Graham: [I went to your place.]

Graham: [I’ll explain everything to your parents.]

Graham: [Nora, we were together for three years. It shouldn’t end like this.]

I blocked his number, then blocked him on Instagram too.

Owen, a mutual friend of ours, had also sent me a message.

Owen: [Nora, I’m sorry.]

Owen: [We took the jokes way too far.]

Owen: [But the Mercers really crossed a line this time.]

I did not respond.

Those people and everything connected to them belonged in the past.

That evening, my new coworker Tessa Monroe sent me a follow request on Instagram. She sat beside me at the office, had short hair, and smiled with an easy confidence.

Tessa: [Don’t be late on your first day tomorrow. The breakfast burritos downstairs are great. My treat.]

A faint smile touched my lips as I read the message.

Life felt so much lighter when no one expected me to be the one who always gave in.

Back in the city I had left, Graham sat in the middle of the living room at the house we were supposed to

share.

The place was empty.

My clothes were gone from the closet. My toothbrush was gone from the bathroom counter, and the yogurt !

had bought was gone from the refrigerator.

Only a few scraps of paper remained beside the trash can, pieces he had failed to notice.

He bent down and picked one up.

A fragment of my name was still visible.

He remembered the first day we had toured the house.

I had stood on the balcony with my eyes shining.

“We could put two chairs out here and watch the stars at night.”

He had barely been listening.

“Whatever you want.”

Two chairs had eventually been placed on the balcony.

But he had never once sat there with me.

His mother called.

The moment he answered, she began shouting.

“Just look at the woman you chose. She’s humiliated our entire family!”

Graham stood in the empty living room, his voice low.

“Did you have someone prepare that agreement?”

The other end of the call went silent for a second.

Then his mother raised her voice.

“I did it for you. Women today are so materialistic. How could I not protect you?”

“Once her family’s $50,000 entered our account, it became our money. What was wrong with putting that in

writing?”

Graham closed his eyes.

“What about the signature?”

His mother hesitated.

“It was only a template. We never actually used it.”

He ended the call and opened the building management portal.

[Permanent vehicle access removed: Nora Bennett.]

[Permanent vehicle access added: Sabrina Cole.]

The request had not come from Sabrina.

It had come from Graham’s mother.

The note read:

[Do not grant permanent access before the wedding. Frequent visits by the fiancée would be inappropriate.]

Graham stared at those words for a long time.

Every access problem he had casually blamed on the system had been deliberate.

The truth was that his family had never made room for Nora.

The real fight inside the Mercer family broke out the day after the demand letter arrived.

Graham’s mother summoned Sabrina to the house. The moment Sabrina walked in, Graham’s mother

slammed the demand letter onto the coffee table.

“Weren’t you the one who said Nora would be easy to push around?”

“Now she’s posted everything in the family group chat. How am I supposed to show my face after this?”

The color drained from Sabrina’s face.

“Mrs. Mercer, I didn’t think she’d go this far.”

Graham’s mother gave a derisive laugh.

“You didn’t? Weren’t you the one who said she was softhearted and Graham could smooth everything over

with a few words?”

Tears filled Sabrina’s eyes.

“Mrs. Mercer, why is everything suddenly my fault?”

“Weren’t you the one who told me to find a prenup template? You also told me to sign her name in advance

because she would sign it sooner or later.”

Graham had just opened the front door.

He heard Sabrina’s last remark.