Chapter 3

"Whether I have the right or not is not for you to decide," I said calmly. "You're here as a guest for the first time, yet you're already acting like you own the place.

"Have you and Rita even gotten your marriage license yet? Do you even understand where you stand?"

"Why you!" Benny's face flushed crimson with rage.

He was about to explode. But when he saw Rita walk in from the balcony after finishing her call, his expression immediately turned pitiful, like he was the victim here.

His eyes reddened instantly as he rushed over to her.

"Babe…" he whispered a few words in Rita's ear.

I couldn't be bothered to watch his act any longer and turned to head upstairs.

"Ruben." Rita stopped me, her voice tinged with reproach. "It's Benny's first time here. Maybe he didn't express himself clearly, but you don't need to be so sensitive."

I glanced at Benny, who was hiding behind her and shooting me a provocative look, and felt a surge of anger rising in my chest.

"Rita." I looked her straight in the eye and said emphatically, "He called me a burden who can only live here because of you. He also said that after you two get married, I'll have to move out.

"He's already planning that far ahead, so do you honestly think this is just a case of not expressing himself clearly?"

Rita's brow furrowed even deeper. "He was just joking. Why are you making such a big deal out of it? This will always be your home. Benny didn't mean anything by it."

Didn't mean anything by it?

I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling that any further argument was pointless.

If she'd already chosen to believe that Benny had just misspoken, then anything I said would only make me seem unreasonable.

"Fine. Fine." I shook my head and, without another glance at her, headed straight upstairs.

That night, as I lay in bed, I couldn't figure out whether Rita was truly naive or just genuinely blind to Benny's intentions.

The next day, my friend, Jack Huff, noticed I wasn't myself and invited me out for a drink.

We settled into a bar, and he asked cautiously, "Ruben, did something happen?"

I nodded. "Rita brought her boyfriend home."

He hesitated, then said, "Isn't that a good thing? Once she gets married, she'll finally move out. You've had trouble even finding a girlfriend these past few years because of her. Unless…"

I didn't say anything.

Jack pressed further, "So, what's the guy like?"

I gave a slight, humorless smile and replied, "He looks like a million bucks but acts like trash. He's got a lot of hostility toward me."

Jack looked puzzled. "Hostility? Shouldn't he be kissing the ground you walk on? Without you, Rita would be out on the street. It's only because of you that they even get a chance to see one of the finest villas in the city."

I gave a wry smile. "I don't know how Rita's been spinning it to him, but he seems to think I'm some kept man she took in. He even called me shameless."

At this, Jack shot up from his seat. His voice was even more agitated than mine as he exclaimed, "Holy crap! Is he out of his mind? Who the heck does he think he is to talk about you like that?

"Your parents left you that villa. What right does he have? And Rita? Did she just stand there and let her boyfriend walk all over you like that?"

"Rita thinks he was just joking and that I'm being too sensitive," I said weakly.

"You call that a joke? That was straight-up mean. Is Rita blind or something?" Jack fumed with righteous indignation. "That jerk is clearly trying to push you out and take over.

"He's basically warning you not to get in the way of him playing master of the house. What a schemer. It's disgusting. But he's also an idiot.

"Does he really think your family's money belongs to Rita? Why do people like that feel so entitled to other people's money?"