Chapter 3

I ignored Benjamin. Instead, I replied to my parents, "Mom, Dad… Benjamin and I are over. I'll take your advice this time and come home for blind dates."

Mom and Dad had never approved of Benjamin in the first place, but I had insisted on staying with him, even leaving my hometown behind for him. Now, it seemed they had been right all along.

"Good! We'll start arranging blind dates for you right away!"

After hanging up, I bought a bus ticket for the next day, then took a cab home to pack my things. The moment I reached the door, I heard bursts of laughter coming from inside.

I pushed the door open and saw three pairs of shoes by the entrance—matching family shoes. Immediately, I recognized one pair as Benjamin's.

Chelsea had given them to him as a birthday present, though they were probably cheap street-stall sneakers that cost less than ten bucks.

The workmanship was terrible, and the material looked flimsy and cheap. Yet, Benjamin treasured them like gold. Meanwhile, the custom leather shoes I had bought him—worth thousands—had been left untouched until they gathered dust.

He had even criticized my taste, saying the shoes were embarrassing and impossible to wear outside. Back then, I had genuinely believed there was something wrong with my sense of style.

Foolish as I had been, I had even humbly asked Chelsea for advice on improving my taste. Looking back, I realized Benjamin simply hated anything I gave him.

I kicked the three pairs of shoes aside and walked into the house. The moment I looked up, I saw Chelsea lounging lazily on the couch in my nightgown, watching TV like she owned the place.

Her daughter, Sadie Miller, was running barefoot all over my white carpet.

Mom had stayed up night after night making that carpet for me, her eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. Now, it was covered in dirty black footprints from Sadie's feet.

What made my blood boil was seeing my carefully collected figurines scattered all over the floor. Several of them had their arms and legs snapped off.

Furious, I snatched one of the figurines back from Sadie's hands and questioned, "What are you people doing in my house?"

She lifted her chin stubbornly. "Daddy said we could!"

The next second, Benjamin came out of the kitchen after hearing the commotion. He never cooked, yet he was standing there holding a spatula, making dinner for Chelsea and Sadie.

"Sadie, what is it?" he called out lovingly. "Why are you calling for Daddy?"

He was just about to pull Sadie into his arms to comfort her when he finally noticed me and froze.

"Wow. I didn't know you're a dad now, Benjamin," I said.

Benjamin only froze for a split second before shrugging it off like it was nothing. "Sadie's never had a father's love growing up. Letting her call me 'Daddy' isn't going to kill anyone. Besides, why are you suddenly back?"

I almost laughed. "This is my home. Do I need a reason to be back? And more importantly, who gave you permission to bring them here?"

He looked justified in his actions. "Chelsea's place is too far from Sadie's kindergarten. The daily commute is just exhausting, and eventually, it'll affect her studies.

"Our place happens to be close to the kindergarten, so I brought them over. The place is big enough anyway. They can stay here until they find somewhere suitable."

"And what if they never find it?" I asked.

He looked at them with obvious affection in his eyes. "Then, they'll stay here. It's just cooking two more portions of food every day."

Previously, when I wanted my parents to stay with us for a while, Benjamin had flatly refused. He said he wasn't used to having outsiders in the house and that he was a light sleeper, emphasizing he didn't want to be disturbed.

Yet, he personally invited Chelsea and Sadie over to stay. It appeared that only my parents were the outsiders.

At that thought, my voice turned cold. "I don't agree to them staying here."

Benjamin's expression darkened instantly.