YOU FUCKING LYING BITCH...

Meanwhile just as Ivy had remembered, the moment Maya had the signed divorce agreement in her hands, she couldn't drag Adrian and Jack out the door fast enough.

"We have to go to the notary's office RIGHT NOW!" she said, eyes glittering with barely concealed greed, as if the money were already sitting in her palm. "Before Ivy changes her mind ....we need to get this notarized IMMEDIATELY!"

Adrian frowned, his steps lagging.

"Maya... I just feel like this went too smoothly. Half a million dollars is no small amount. Can we actually pull that together?"

"DADDY!" Jack rounded on him, small face flushing red with indignation. "Do you actually WANT to stay married to her?! Are you trying to go back to her?! Don't you want to marry MY mom?!"

The sight of his son's furious little face made Adrian's chest clench. He shook his head quickly.

"Of course not, Jack. Dad is just worried...."

"Worried about WHAT?" Maya cut him off, her voice sharp as a blade. "I'll take out the loan. All you have to do is co-sign."

Jack chimed in eagerly, his small eyes glinting.

"Yeah, Dad! Mom's right! Ivy and her daughters are SO annoying. She wants to leave on her own .... why would we say no?"

Faced with his son's expectant gaze, Adrian sighed and gave a reluctant nod. He had never been able to refuse Jack anything.

Under Maya's relentless pushing, the three of them went first to the government notary office.

The notary reviewed the divorce agreement, expression faintly surprised.

"This document... the wife is waiving ALL property rights and only requesting custody? That's quite unusual."

"Yes," Maya answered before anyone else could, barely able to contain her excitement. "It was entirely her idea."

Her naked eagerness all but announced her status as the other woman to everyone in the room. The civil servants present exchanged sidelong glances and quiet looks of disdain. They'd seen this kind of thing before ....they said nothing. But privately, every one of them thought the same thing: Good riddance. That poor woman is better off. Congratulations to her.

The notarization was completed quickly. Maya walked out clutching the stamped divorce agreement, eyes bright with triumphant tears.

Then she hauled Adrian straight to the bank for the loan.

The more excited she was, the more unsettled he felt. He tried once more.

"Maya... a five-hundred-thousand-dollar loan isn't something to take lightly. Are you absolutely sure? What if...."

"I AM ABSOLUTELY SURE!" she snapped. "This is a ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME opportunity! Do you want to miss it?! The house is worth more than a MILLION DOLLARS. Once it's ours, we pay off every single one of your debts AND we still come out ahead!"

Adrian thought of the debt collectors who had been hounding him. He glanced at Jack. And he said nothing more.

At the bank, the loan officer walked them through the process carefully, asking about the purpose of the loan and their repayment plan.

"A property purchase loan requires supporting documentation. We'll also need to assess your repayment capacity..."

The divorce notarization hadn't technically gone into effect yet but Maya pointed to Adrian without blinking and lied smoothly:

"We have stable income. He's my guarantor. He owns a property in his name, and the house itself serves as collateral."

The bank officer reviewed the property records carefully. Several times over. Then, after what felt like endless paperwork and an agonizing wait....

The loan was approved.

The very next second as if someone had been watching .... Adrian's phone buzzed.

A text from Ivy.

A photo of the property transfer agreement, and beneath it, three short words:

[Transfer the funds. Offer expires soon.]

Maya saw the message and her eyes lit up instantly.

"Transfer it NOW. RIGHT NOW."

"But...." Adrian opened his mouth. Something still felt wrong. He couldn't place it.

"NO 'BUTS'!" Maya snapped, snatching up her phone. Her fingers flew across the banking app as she transferred the full five hundred thousand dollars to the account Ivy had specified.

The moment the confirmation screen appeared, Maya burst into tears.

"WE DID IT! Adrian ..... we finally have our own home! We can get MARRIED now!"

Jack leapt into the air, face flushed with delight.

"YES! Those horrible women are FINALLY gone! I never have to look at their disgusting faces AGAIN!"

Maya scooped her son up and kissed his cheek, then immediately started pushing toward the door.

"We have to go back RIGHT NOW. First thing tomorrow morning, we file for the property transfer!"

The three of them rushed home. By the time they arrived, it was the dead of night.

Maya shoved the key into the lock, still chattering breathlessly.

"Jack, starting now, this is OUR home. Whatever you want your room to look like, Mama will make it happen...."

The door swung open.

All three of them froze.

The house was EMPTY.

Completely, breathtakingly, impossibly EMPTY.

Not only was there no sign of Ivy or the two girls.... every single piece of furniture had vanished without a trace.

In the living room, where the sofa, coffee table, and television had stood nothing but bare floor.

In the kitchen, the refrigerator, microwave, dining table, chairs.... ALL GONE. Even the curtains had been stripped from the windows.

The entire house looked as though a moving crew had swept through and taken everything that wasn't bolted down. One had to wonder if the floors had been tile, those would've been gone too.

"WHAT... WHAT IS THIS?!" Maya's voice cracked into a shriek, raw and disbelieving. "WHERE'S IVY?! WHERE IS THE FURNITURE?! WHERE DID ALL OF OUR THINGS GO?! THIS IS ROBBERY! THIS IS FRAUD!"

She tore through every room like a woman possessed despite being pregnant, her screams echoing off the bare walls.

Adrian stood in the doorway, completely blank.

Ivy did this? In this short a time? Pregnant, her body heavy ..... how was that even POSSIBLE? Where could this much furniture have even GONE?

Jack, still a child at the end of the day, could only cry.

"Mama... where are we going to sleep tonight? There's not even a BED... I'm scared..."

Maya pulled her son close with trembling arms, trying to soothe him while her other hand fumbled for her phone. Her fingers were shaking so badly from rage she could barely dial.

The line rang.

Once. Twice. Three times.

"IVY!" Maya screamed into the phone, her voice breaking apart at the seams. "YOU FUCKING LYING, BITCH...."