Chapter 1 The Home That Was Never Mine

When we came out, there were only two seats left on the shuttle. Justin naturally took Maria by the hand and led her onto it.

"Jessica, you can walk over. We'll go ahead and take possession of the apartment. Since Maria is wearing heels, it would be hard for her to walk."

He remembered Maria's heels, which were not even three centimetres high. Yet somehow, he forgot that I had injured my back while rushing to finish one of his projects. The injury had flared up again, and even standing for too long made it ache.

I no longer expected him to remember as I turned toward the exit.

"I'm not going," I replied.

Justin did not think much of it as he simply called after me, "You can stop by the rental agency and renew the lease. Today's the deadline."

There would be no renewal. The lease termination agreement had already been sent to me, and I signed it without hesitation.

…

When I got home, I happened to see Maria's latest post on social media. She was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, making a heart sign with her hands.

"I finally have a home of my own in this city," she wrote.

I had spent more than six months studying that apartment and had stayed up countless nights drawing the entire interior design plan.

Just last week, I had excitedly called my mom and said, "Mom, I'll finally be able to show you our new home next month."

At that time, my mother choked on her sobs as she replied, "Okay. Your dad and I will be waiting. Justin had finally done something right by you."

However, someone else's name had been added to the deed now.

I liked Maria's post and left a comment. "I'm so jealous of you. Your company's benefits are amazing."

Then, I started packing.

The rental apartment was barely thirty square meters, and I owned so little that I could not even fill a single suitcase.

My clothes were bought on sale. My makeup was all drugstore brands. Every cent I managed to save had gone into that bank account.

Five years of saving was enough to buy that huge river-view apartment. Yet, Justin had handed it over to Maria.

…

When Justin came home, his expression was grim.

"What was that comment supposed to mean? Our coworkers and your parents can see it. What are they going to think about it?"

Hearing his words, I almost laughed.

"When you used the money we spent five years saving for our home to buy her an apartment in the name of company benefits, why weren't you worried about what people would think then?"

Justin frowned and retorted, "Maria is your best friend. She came to work at my company, so shouldn't I be responsible for taking care of her? Why can't you learn to be a little more understanding like Maria?"

In that split second, the resentment I had endured for five years suddenly fell apart.

…

Five years ago, my mother had cried as she tried to talk me out of leaving. "He doesn't even have a proper place to stay. What kind of future can he give you?"

My father had locked my citizen identification papers away in a cabinet and said, "No house, no marriage!"

However, I did not listen to them. Instead, I gave up on the stable job I had worked so hard to earn. Then, with one train ticket and one suitcase, I traveled thousands of miles to be with Justin.

Back then, Justin worked himself half to death chasing projects. He would drink so much to entertain the clients that he once ended up with a bleeding stomach.

The thing he said most often was, "Once the company succeeds, the first thing I'll do is give you a home. When I go back with the property deed in my hands, your parents will finally have to accept me."

Now, five years had passed.

The company had succeeded, and we had the money to buy the apartment. However, I was not the one moving into it.

"Learn from Maria?" My voice was strangely calm as I spoke.

"Shouldn't you?" His voice rose. "It's just an apartment. Besides, doing it this way makes the company accounts easier."

Realizing that Justin thought it was a natural thing for him to compare Maria and me together, I suddenly felt that this whole thing was pointless.

"The company's financing is at a critical stage right now. I can't believe I still have to listen to you complain about this after dealing with all that—"

"Then, don't."

Justin was startled momentarily before he took his car keys. "I can't be bothered arguing with you. You should calm yourself down."

Then, he slammed the door shut.

It was always like this. Ever since Maria came into our lives, he stopped seeing how much I was hurting. He always thought I was making a fuss and creating problems out of nothing. After that, he would leave, leaving me alone to swallow my own feelings.

But this time, I did not want to convince myself anymore. I opened the ticket-booking app.

Five years ago, I bought a one-way ticket to come here. Now, I bought another one-way ticket to go home.