My Boyfriend Gave My House to His Three Childhood Friends Chapter 08

My Boyfriend Gave My House to His Three Childhood Friends Chapter 08

The house found a buyer quickly.

They were prepared to pay in full, but they wanted the property cleared out and handed over within ten days.

I gave all four of them formal notice to move out.

Sophia was the first to panic.

All of her livestreaming equipment, product samples, and stock were still in the house.

Renting another space would mean higher costs, and she would also have to change her company’s registered address and have the business registration documents reviewed again.

She went straight to Ethan and demanded that he sort it out.

“You told us we could keep using this house. Now Erin’s sold it. Who’s supposed to cover my losses?”

Ethan sounded exhausted.

“I’m already trying to talk to her.”

“You’ve been talking to her for ages. And what exactly has that got us?”

Claire started complaining too.

“I haven’t even found anywhere to store the furniture from my studio.”

Megan went a step further and flatly told Ethan he should pay their moving costs.

—

On the living room security feed, the argument between the four of them grew louder and uglier.

Sophia slammed her hand against the table.

“If you hadn’t been so useless at getting your name on the title, would any of this be happening now?”

Ethan stared at her as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You lot were the ones who said Erin never says no to me. You said we might as well use the place.”

“We trusted you.”

Claire’s voice turned cold.

“It’s your girlfriend’s house. Of course it’s on you to sort this mess out.”

They used to say the four of them were practically family.

Now that there were consequences, every one of them was scrambling to prove they had only ever been a temporary guest.

That night, Ethan called me more than a dozen times.

I ignored every one.

So he waited outside my office building instead.

When I came out, his eyes were red and swollen, exhaustion written all over his face.

“Erin, can we talk? I’ll pay back everything I owe you from the renovation. I’ll pull out of the competition too. Just don’t sell the

—

house.”

I stopped.

He hurriedly pulled out his phone and opened the smart-lock management page.

“Look. I’ve removed their access.”

Only two names remained on the screen.

His and mine.

“We can redo the hall cupboard too. Five pairs of slippers this time. No, forget that. If you don’t want them coming round, we’ll have just two pairs. Yours and mine.”

He rushed on.

“The study’s yours again. I’ll redo the terrace exactly how you wanted it in the first place. We can start again, yeah?”

I looked at him.

He was finally willing to give me a place in the home that was supposed to be ours.

But only because the house was about to be sold, not because he had finally understood that I needed a home that actually felt like mine.

“It’s too late.”

He caught hold of my sleeve.

“I’ve known them for over twenty years. Looking after them became

—

second nature. I couldn’t just switch that off overnight. But you’re the one I love.”

I asked him, “When’s my birthday?”

He froze.

His lips parted, but no answer came.

Until yesterday, he could at least have claimed he’d simply forgotten.

But this entire fight had started because he locked me out of my own house on my birthday.

And even now, he still couldn’t tell me the date.

I gave him the answer myself.

“It’s the day after Sophia’s.”

All the colour drained from his face.

That night, they had celebrated Sophia’s birthday early, while I, the one whose birthday it actually was, spent the night alone in a hotel.