Chapter 2

"Noah, does your wife think she's better than the rest of us?" Matthew had asked.

At the time, I didn't want to make things hard for Noah, so I stayed quiet.

And yet, less than three months after Noah died in that car accident, they were already trying to kick me out and even wanted to take over my apartment.

Only now did I understand that they already treated this place as if it were theirs.

I stared at my name on the property deed and recalled Matthew and Pamela's conversation from earlier.

Without missing a beat, I took out my phone and carefully photographed every page of the deed. Then, I uploaded the files to the cloud as backup.

Once I finished, I hid the deed in an even safer spot.

…

The next evening, at the dinner table, I had barely taken two bites when Pamela sighed dramatically.

"Business at the factory has been terrible lately. They still haven't paid our wages this month. We can barely keep up with the household expenses."

Matthew added with a frown, "I haven't had much work lately either. A couple of contractors still haven't paid me. I don't have a single spare dollar, and we can barely scrape together the tuition for Holly's extracurricular classes."

Pamela glanced at Lily before continuing, "Mom, you do the grocery shopping. Have you noticed how expensive everything has gotten?

"I stopped by the store after work today. A single bunch of greens costs nearly four dollars! The cost of living just keeps going up. For families like ours, it's getting really hard."

Lily muttered, "Things have gotten a little more expensive. Life's getting harder and harder."

With Lily backing her up, Pamela immediately changed the subject and turned to me with a fake smile. "Vera, you can see how hard things are for the family right now. There are so many of us living in this apartment, and expenses add up.

"How about you contribute some rent starting next month? Just 3,500 dollars a month. That should cover it."

Before I could answer, she quickly added, "I know things aren't easy for you either, but you don't have kids. You've got a lot less to worry about than we do.

"3,500 dollars shouldn't be too much for you, right? Think of it as doing your part for the family. Right, Mom?"

"Yes, Vera. Maybe you should go along with Pamela and pay a little rent," said Lily.

I set my fork down, confused. "Pamela, how does it make sense to pay rent in your own apartment? Besides, I've been covering the utilities and HOA fees every month. I've never asked any of you to pay a dime."

Then, I turned to Lily, my voice thick with emotion as I continued, "Mom, every month when I get paid, I give you 2,000 dollars to help with the household.

"The rest of my salary has to cover my own expenses. I really don't have anything left to pay rent. It's not that I don't want to help. I just can't afford it right now.

"You all know what happened when Noah had that car accident. We spent all our savings on his medical bills. The driver who hit him couldn't pay anything, so he's been stalling. I really have no money left."

As I spoke, tears streamed down my face.

In an instant, the dinner table went completely silent. Pamela's face flushed, then slowly drained of color, while Matthew frowned and said nothing.

Lily's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she lowered her head.

I had lost my appetite and quickly retreated to my room. In fact, what I had said at the dinner table had been half true.

Back then, after Noah was hit by a drunk driver, we spent most of our savings on his medical treatment. But later, the insurance covered a large portion. I hadn't been nearly as broke as I had made it sound.

…

That night, drowsy and half-awake, I heard Pamela and Matthew arguing, with Holly crying in the background.

"Didn't you say she'd listen to Mom?" Pamela's voice was sharp with anger, breaking with sobs. "What I said earlier just made me look like the bad guy, like I'm the one picking on her!"