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Chapter 4

Author: Summer Sway
Ethan pulled his hand out of her grip without raising his voice.

"Miss, we have already chosen Ms. Lane's studio. We are not considering you."

Crystal jabbed a finger at me.

"You're new to this town. You don't know. Annie Lane is a swindler.

"Ask anyone. Half this town has been ripped off by her."

Ethan did not move.

"Our renovation budget is set. We have reviewed Ms. Lane's portfolio. We are satisfied, and we trust her."

The portfolio. He must have meant the posts I had been putting up online. They had been getting quite a bit of attention.

Crystal opened her mouth to continue. I took the contract out of her hand.

"You slandered me in front of the villagers before, wasn't that enough? Now you're coming to my door to steal my business? Leave now, or I call the police."

She shot back, "How am I stealing business? I'm just telling the truth."

I ignored her, picked up a pen, and signed my name.

Ethan nodded, satisfied.

"I'll send over the school's measurements and requirements within the next two days. If anything's unclear, feel free to reach out."

Crystal, seeing the deal fall through, grew angry.

"What's the big deal? I have fifteen renovation projects lined up. I can barely keep up!"

She stormed out.

Two days later, the construction team my mother arranged arrived. They were some of the more experienced designers from the company, working with me on-site.

When the villagers saw the uniforms with Carter Renovations printed on them, they were stunned.

"Isn't that the well-known company from the city?"

"Yeah, I see them on TV all the time!"

"I don't know much, but my son said they're a listed company!"

"But… why are they all working with Annie Lane?"

Crystal sneered.

"She must have hired them herself. You don't know this, she charged that school five hundred thousand!

"If she doesn't make it look decent, she'll lose everything!"

Just as she finished speaking, the assistant who came with the team spotted me and called out warmly.

"Ms. Lane, Mr. Carter has been asking about you!"

That one line, Ms. Lane, Mr. Carter, sent a ripple through the crowd.

"She called her Ms. Lane? President Carter… that's the CEO of Carter Renovations, right?"

The assistant rolled her eyes slightly and raised her voice.

"She's the daughter of Carter Renovations. You really didn't know?"

Mrs. Walters froze, stammering.

"What? How… how is that possible?"

"Such a big company! How could the renovation cost only eighty thousand? You must all be working together to fool us!"

"Annie Lane! Tell us the truth—did you hire people to act this out?"

I let out a cold laugh.

"What? Do you want me to prove who I am?

"The reason I offered low prices before was because this is my hometown. I didn't want to forget where I came from."

The other villagers fell silent, regret flashing across their faces.

With a company like that, the quality would have been guaranteed.

However, now, it was too late.

Just then, Mrs. Walters's son, Wesley, came running over, shouting, "Something's wrong! Something's wrong! We're in trouble!"
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  • The Price of a Cheap House   Chapter 8

    Days went by. The chat group went quiet. I stopped checking it.Then one afternoon, Ethan came up to my desk and let out a long breath.I looked up. "What is it?"He held his phone out."This is awful. Old Mr. Stone, from your town, he and his grandson have been diagnosed with leukemia."I read his screen.Mr. Stone… how could this happen?He had once stopped me on a rushed morning and pressed a hot bun into my hand when he saw I had not eaten.I did not even grab anything else. I went straight to his house.The moment I stepped inside, I felt it.Formaldehyde. The air was wrong. I knew it immediately.I pulled the air-quality meter out of my bag. The numbers started climbing rapidly, then stopped at a level that was alarming, dangerously above standard.I immediately got Mr. Stone and his grandson out of the house."It's not your fault," I said. "Your daughter-in-law insisted on using that contractor."He shook his head. "No… it's my fault. I shouldn't have gone for some

  • The Price of a Cheap House   Chapter 7

    Two weeks later, the city building department's report came back.Mrs. Walters's apartment had a load-bearing wall removed.The police called Crystal in.In the interview room, Crystal stuck to one line. "I didn't draw the plans. The crew did. It's not on me.""Where are the plans?"Where are your communication records with the crew?"She had nothing. She had been pointing things out on site, telling the workers where to tear things down.The crew that handled the demolition had already fled overnight when the building started cracking.The case went to court.The court ruled that responsibility would be shared among four parties: Crystal, the property management, the construction crew, and Mrs. Walters.The construction crew bore seventy percent of the liability, and the crew boss was charged criminally.Crystal was ordered to make corrections and pay a one hundred thousand fine.For her, that was nothing.She came out of court complaining. "This is completely unfair! Why

  • The Price of a Cheap House   Chapter 6

    "Police?" Crystal's face went pale, her lips trembling slightly. "Why call the police? This... this really isn't necessary.""This is an old building. Cracks in old buildings are normal.""Normal?" A neighbor cut her off. "A load-bearing wall is cracked, and you call that normal? You move in and see how normal it feels."The crowd quickly took my side. Voices overlapped as more people insisted on calling the police.Two officers arrived shortly after. They inspected the cracks and damage carefully, then asked Crystal, me, and the other residents a series of questions.One of the officers took out his phone, called the city building department, briefly explained the situation, and requested a professional inspection team.After hanging up, he turned to the group with a serious expression."We'll need a full inspection and assessment before we can determine the exact situation. The city will send specialists. The process will take about two weeks."The entire building fell silent

  • The Price of a Cheap House   Chapter 5

    Mrs. Walters caught his arm. "Wesley, slow down. Tell me."Wesley was barely able to get the words out."The building… it's… there's a crack.""A crack?!" Mrs. Walters's voice shot up. "Where?"The other neighbors from the same building heard him, and the noise level immediately doubled."Where is it cracked?! The whole building?! Are you sure?!"Wesley waved his hands, trying to show how wide it was. His face was pale."In the wall… a big one… from here to here…"My stomach dropped.Mrs. Walters's unit was on the second floor of an old building. If there was a crack, it was very likely a load-bearing wall.Buildings like this were already fragile. If a load-bearing wall on a lower floor was damaged, the risk of cracks, or even collapse, would increase dramatically.Mrs. Walters turned and grabbed Crystal by the wrist."Crystal! Now. Come with me."Crystal was startled by the sudden movement. She followed, flustered."How would I know what happened? Could it be an earthqu

  • The Price of a Cheap House   Chapter 4

    Ethan pulled his hand out of her grip without raising his voice."Miss, we have already chosen Ms. Lane's studio. We are not considering you."Crystal jabbed a finger at me."You're new to this town. You don't know. Annie Lane is a swindler."Ask anyone. Half this town has been ripped off by her."Ethan did not move."Our renovation budget is set. We have reviewed Ms. Lane's portfolio. We are satisfied, and we trust her."The portfolio. He must have meant the posts I had been putting up online. They had been getting quite a bit of attention.Crystal opened her mouth to continue. I took the contract out of her hand."You slandered me in front of the villagers before, wasn't that enough? Now you're coming to my door to steal my business? Leave now, or I call the police."She shot back, "How am I stealing business? I'm just telling the truth."I ignored her, picked up a pen, and signed my name.Ethan nodded, satisfied."I'll send over the school's measurements and requirement

  • The Price of a Cheap House   Chapter 3

    When they were gone, I called my mother. I told her everything.The line went quiet for a moment."Annie. Stop. Stop helping people who don't want help. Come back to the city. Help me run the firm."I held the phone tight."Mom, I sourced everything from your factory at cost for these people. I gave them the design for free. I caused you losses. You aren't angry?"You and your father are the same kind of person. You give until your hands hurt. Cost-only is fine. Whatever makes you happy. I just didn't think it would land you in something like this."Look, after the refund, any soft furnishings that are still usable—send them to me. I know a few resale dealers. We won't have to absorb the entire loss."I had been bracing for an 'I told you so.' What I got instead felt like a tired hand on my shoulder.The next morning, I drove out with my crew, going house to house according to the sign-in list, dismantling everything.Every layout I had carefully designed was torn down under m

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