Novel & Cerita Sans House

**Broken Promises** The atmosphere in the Hayes household was tense and fraught with unresolved emotions. The revelation of the town council’s corruption had given Claire a fleeting sense of hope, but with the developers pulling out and Mr. Allen’s smug threats, it felt like the walls were closing in faster than ever. The video that Samuel had found was their last weapon, but without the backing of the developers, the lawsuit loomed over them like a dark cloud.

I hurriedly said, “I just moved in. I live in 302.” “Oh?” The old woman hurried past me. “Ma’am, do you know about the couple living in 303?” The old woman immediately froze. Then, she stared at me in puzzlement. “303 has been empty for two years. No one has lived there since the fire. What on earth are you talking about?”

“I have a place. No one knows about it. We’ll stay there until I figure out what to do next.” She wanted to protest—wanted to ask why he always had a plan like he expected the world to fall apart. But instead, she nodded. “Okay.” The safehouse was a modern, minimalist apartment buried deep in an anonymous high-rise with no concierge, no cameras, and no nameplate. The elevator opened straight into the living room. It was too clean. Too quiet. Anaïs wrapped a throw blanket around herself and curled into a chair by the window. Below, the city blinked on like nothing had changed. She hated that. How the world just kept turning after something so bloody and real.

Eric is telling the truth, not joking with these people. Outside is a brick wall, on the wall, there is a long line of words inscribed with the name of this house of two people "Heinus", named after Henry's initials. Eric and Henry decided to move into a new house three days later, after cleaning, they were housewarming and invited everyone in the Village to come and celebrate with them. Hanas has begun his trip to the Royal Capital, accompanied by Nathan to protect. So the construction of Nathan's house is also in charge of Henry in his place.

Now I knew he'd been bleeding me dry for Riley Anderson, his childhood sweetheart. "I want to refinance the house, too," he added. I stopped what I was doing, my hands frozen in the sink, and turned to stare straight at him. "You really want your four three-year-old sons to end up homeless?" This house wasn't much, just a small three-bedroom, but it was ours—the one we'd fought for, saved for, and sacrificed for. The mortgage wasn't even close to being paid off. His name was on the deed because when we first bought it, I had been out of town on business. He'd told me it would be easier that way, with him making the payments.

The house was so old that I feared it would fall apart with is in it. There were 4 rooms upstairs and then an antic. I got into my own room and sighed in relief,no one to bother me anymore. It was getting dark already so we got settled in as Aunt Lora prepared dinner with mum's help. I could hear them laughing from upstairs,that's why I hated this house,it was in the middle of nowhere where you would see only farmlands and cows. Gosh. My door opened as my Rebecca walked in with a scowl on her face.

Mom chimed in quickly, "Yeah, Suzy, don't pick a fight with her. She hardly ever comes home, just for New Year's. They can crash in the guest room, and you guys take the master." Our place did not have any fancy floor heating, and out of all three rooms, the guest room was the only one without a heater. With the mercury dipping below freezing, how could Mom stand for that? Suzy snorted, "Doesn't she have her own place? Dragging her kid back to her parents' for the holidays, isn't she worried about the gossip?" I shot up from my seat, fuming, "Since when do I need your okay to come back to my own house?"

That was when I saw the wish list. From a house to a manicure, she'd assigned a price tag to eighteen years of care. The final line, bolded in red, cut into my eyes like a knife: "After this property is purchased, it will be for Chloe Collins's exclusive use. No one else will be permitted inside!" Back then, I'd still been naive enough to knock on her bedroom door and speak to her gently. "Chloe, we truly can't come up with the $90,000 down payment for the new house right now. Could we wait until after you graduate from college..."

I could almost hear something inside me shatter. Seeing the disbelief written all over my face, Maeve grew impatient. She pressed her lips together and said, "Johnny's parents were both national war heroes. I have a responsibility to look after him. Besides, he just wanted to experience what it felt like to propose—it's not like he did anything wrong. Can you stop being so petty and jealous over every little thing?"

Marilyn hated how much she wanted to throw something at him. Almost forty minutes later, the bustling city slowly gave way to one of Crystal City’s most exclusive residential districts. The houses grew larger, the security stricter, and the landscaping more extravagant. Every property looked like it belonged in an architecture magazine. Marilyn found herself staring out the window in awe. “This place is insane.” Raymond didn’t even glance outside. “It’s quiet.” “Quiet?” She pointed toward a massive mansion they had just passed. “That house is bigger than my entire apartment building.”