Chapter 5

The agent's words left my mind completely blank. For a moment, I wondered if I was being scammed. I had personally gone to the land office to collect the property deed for that house. How could Harriet possibly be the owner?

The agent seemed to sense my suspicion and gave a helpless laugh before sending the electronic property transfer agreement to my phone.

I opened the file and scanned the pages, which were packed with tiny lines of text that made my eyes swim. Then, almost immediately, I spotted a familiar signature.

I froze. I racked my brain, searching through every memory I had, but I could not remember ever signing anything like that. Then my eyes landed on the date of the agreement, and suddenly, a memory came rushing back with crystal clarity.

It was the day before Harriet's graduation ceremony. Jim had suddenly handed me a stack of documents.

"Cecilia, I need you to sign these. Don't forget."

I had been busy editing a video and did not bother reading the documents carefully. I assumed they were the purchase papers for the new car he had promised to buy me.

Because it was Jim, I signed without a second thought. I never imagined my trust would be repaid with such complete deception.

At Harriet's graduation ceremony the next day, I was actually surprised. Jim was always so obsessed with spoiling his little sister. Why had he not given her anything?

When I asked him about it, he simply said, "I already gave her something. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours, right?"

At the time, I thought he had listened to me and decided to keep some distance from Harriet. I took his words at face value and assumed whatever I gave her was basically from him too.

I had forgotten one thing.

There was no way Jim would suddenly change his habits. In his heart, Harriet had always mattered more than anyone else. When he said he had already given her something, he really meant it.

He was not saying that my gift counted as his gift too. He had simply handed over something that belonged to me.

I stared blankly at the agreement in front of me, feeling as if every ounce of strength had been drained from my body. I used to admire Jim's ability to handle words so skillfully in the workplace. I had never imagined he would use that same talent to play word games with me.

Over the phone, the agent continued explaining exactly what Jim had done that day, clearly trying to prove that she was telling the truth.

Every word felt like a needle stabbing into my heart. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Okay. I understand. I'll get the homeowner's consent."

After hanging up, I immediately hailed a cab to Jim's company.

I ignored the strange looks from his employees and kicked open the door to his office. I never expected the first thing I would see to be Jim and Harriet locked in a tight embrace.

Jim immediately let go of Harriet. Almost instinctively, he pulled her behind him, shielding her with his body.

My chest tightened when I saw how practiced the movement was, along with the faint wariness in his eyes. Just how terrible of a person did Jim think I was? What had I become in his eyes for him to see me and immediately worry that I might hurt Harriet?

He stood firmly between us, protecting her like I was some kind of threat.

I gave a bitter laugh and looked away. I had no interest in asking questions or arguing. I simply opened the electronic agreement and tossed my phone onto his desk.

"Jim. Explain."

That was clearly not what Jim had expected. A flash of surprise crossed his face as he picked up my phone. The moment he saw the agreement, his expression relaxed. He barely seemed to care.

"So, this is what this is about? Cecilia, I'm Harriet's brother and you're her sister-in-law. We're the only family she has. Does it really matter whose name the house is under?

"And besides, did I not discuss this with you at the time? You signed it too. Harriet's graduation was a big deal. A young woman needs a house of her own to fall back on. Why are you suddenly throwing a fit about it now?"

Jim looked at me with genuine confusion, wearing the same expression he had given me every time I clashed with Harriet over the past eight years.

He never understood why those little things could hurt or anger me, never understood where my tears came from, and never seemed to realize just how much he favored Harriet. Most of all, he never cared how much I had been forced to endure.

My hand hung tightly at my side, my fingers clenched so hard that my nails had already dug bloody crescents into my palm, yet I did not even feel the pain.

He thought a young woman needed a house to fall back on. Had he forgotten that I was a woman too?

Unlike Harriet, I did not even have a big brother looking out for me. I was an orphan with no family to rely on, no one to stand up for me. That house was not just some random piece of property. It was supposed to be our home, the place where we would build our life together after we got married.

I struggled to draw a breath as I stared at Jim, unable to look away. The longer I looked at him, the more unfamiliar he seemed, as if I were seeing him for the first time.

We had not always been like this.

Harriet had been part of our lives from the beginning, but Jim had not always been the person standing in front of me.

Even so, it was true that Harriet had always been the first person he thought of. When we went shopping, he would buy her ice cream before he bought me any. Whenever he opened a sealed bottle of water, she would be the first person he handed it to.

Whenever we entered a haunted house, he would immediately pull her in front of him to protect her.

However, he never forgot me.

He would still stand in the longest line just to buy me the vanilla ice cream I loved. He would only want to share the same bottle of water with me. Whenever I was scared, he would hold my hand tightly and refuse to let go.

I did not know when it happened.

Somewhere along the way, Harriet became the only person Jim could see. As I was the older one, I was apparently expected to give way to her in everything, even if it meant giving up my lover, even if it meant giving up my home.

I let out a bitter, mocking laugh. At this point, I had no desire to argue with him anymore about who the house belonged to.

I only wanted to get away from this disgusting display of sibling affection as quickly as possible.

"Jim, I'm not throwing a fit. Since you think Harriet needs a house to fall back on, then I don't want the house anymore. Just transfer my share into my bank account. It's 960,000 dollars. Please do it as soon as possible."