Chapter 4 The Last Tie

I was halfway through cleaning out the house when a real estate agent suddenly arrived with several people.

"This property has already been sold. Unauthorized personnel need to leave."

I stared at them in confusion. "You have no right to sell this house. It was left to me by my father as an inheritance."

Still, they forcibly drove me out.

Just as I stumbled onto the street, Justine's car pulled up beside me. "Elias had more than ten stitches in his calf. He won't be able to walk for three months. This time, I have to teach you a lesson for your unreasonable behavior."

My ears felt stuffed with cotton—all of a sudden, I couldn't hear anything.

Before my father died, he had been afraid that others would look down on me. So he had transferred the house my mother had left him to Justine, repeatedly reminding her to treat me well.

Justine had knelt beside his hospital bed and promised him over and over that she would. And now, she had sold the only inheritance my father had ever left me for a fraction of its value.

"No!"

My voice was firm, but Justine only grew more impatient.

"Your father transferred the house to me, so I have every right to decide what to do with it. I'll say this one last time—Elias has been like a younger brother to me since we were children. He even saved me from drowning in a lake once. I have to protect him."

I suddenly remembered when Justine had accidentally fallen into the lake. I had jumped in without hesitation to save her, but when she woke up afterward, the first person she saw was Elias. So, all this while, she believed that Elias had saved her.

I was about to explain when her phone suddenly rang.

His sobbing voice came through the call, sounding utterly devastated. "I'll never be able to compete in street dance competitions again! The organizers just kicked me out. Justine, I'm never getting involved in your stupid messes again!"

The call ended immediately, and Justine spiraled into complete panic.

The real estate agent approached hesitantly and gave her the offer. "The buyer wants to purchase it as a burial site. They're only offering 50 thousand…"

"Sell it!" She stared at me the entire time, her eyes bloodshot. "You ruined the biggest dream of Elias' life. A lousy old house means nothing compared to that. When you finally admit you were wrong and apologize to me, I'll buy it back for you."

With that, she quickly got into her car and drove away.

I watched helplessly as a construction crew arrived with a bulldozer and scrambled to block their path. "Stop! This is mine."

The foreman impatiently kicked me aside. "This isn't a place for you to cause trouble. Get lost!"

I crashed hard onto a pile of broken stones. The next second, a sudden warmth spread from the back of my head, and blood began streaming down.

A kind passerby took me to the hospital, where the doctors performed brain surgery on me. The doctors and nurses were all frantic, but I was totally calm, for the final tie between Justine and me had finally been severed.

…

Meanwhile, Justine was sitting outside Elias' hospital room, texting me. "Henry, come to the hospital and apologize to Elias now. I might consider giving the house back to you."

To her dismay, the message did not go through, leaving her stumped.

She got up, about to head to my old home, when a young nurse came running after her, breathless. "Ms. Severin, I finally caught up with you. Mr. Banks has a surgical document that needs your signature."

Justine impatiently took it from her. But after just one glance, all the color drained from her face.