Chapter 5

"Chloe! You're here, come on in!"

Eleanor poked her head out of the kitchen, her apron covered in flour, her smile warm and welcoming.

I had scheduled with Justin to come by at 2:00 PM to pick up the rest of my legal documents. He assured me no one would be home.

Yet, sitting on the living room sofa was his aunt, Clara. On the coffee table were plates of fruit and pastries. And Vivian was curled up in an armchair, holding a mug of hot cocoa.

Clara saw me and let out a dry laugh. "Oh, is this..."

"Justin's old roommate," Eleanor cut in smoothly, guiding me inside. "They shared an apartment for a while. Chloe, dear, have a mandarin orange."

Roommate.

Shared an apartment for a while.

Four years of my life were reduced to those two sentences.

Vivian smiled softly at me. "Hi, Chloe."

She was wearing a pastel yellow sweater today. And on her wrist, there was something new.

I looked closely.

It was a vintage emerald bracelet. Highly polished and clearly an antique.

I recognized that bracelet.

Three years ago, during Thanksgiving dinner at Eleanor's, she had pulled it out of her jewelry box to show me. *This was Justin's grandmother's. It's meant for his future wife.*

Three years ago, she only let me "look at it."

Now, it was sitting on Vivian's wrist.

"Vivian has such delicate wrists, it fits her perfectly," Clara piped up with a smile. "You have great taste, Eleanor."

Eleanor smirked. "Oh, they aren't even officially engaged yet. Don't start calling her your niece-in-law."

Vivian looked down at her wrist, her ears flushing red, but she didn't say a word.

And she didn't take it off.

"Eleanor, I'm just here to grab some documents. I won't stay to bother you."

"What's the rush? Stay a while. We're making homemade lasagna today. We have plenty of food."

She tried to shove a plate of sliced fruit into my hands.

"Chloe, don't be a stranger. Even though you aren't living with Justin anymore, you'll always be like family to me."

"Not living with Justin anymore."

Not "broken up." Just "not living together."

Just like our four years weren't a relationship, but a "roommate arrangement."

I set the fruit plate down and walked into the study.

When I pushed the door open, I thought I was in the wrong room.

All my books on the shelves were gone. The desk was covered in a lavender tablecloth, and a row of succulents lined the windowsill. My yoga mat in the corner was gone, replaced by a full-length mirror.

Two of Vivian's coats hung behind the door.

I knelt down to search the desk drawers. My passport and bank statements had been shoved to the very bottom, buried under a stack of papers.

As I pulled them out, my fingers brushed against another document.

An official form. The bold heading read:

*Real Property Transfer Deed Application*

Grantor: Justin Harris.

Grantee: Vivian Wen.

My fingers froze on those two names.

The down payment on this apartment was $38,000. My hard-earned savings. The monthly mortgage was $2,200, paid from a joint account for three years, with over seventy percent of the deposits coming from my paycheck.

He was preparing to transfer the deed of the apartment—bought with my money—to Vivian.

From the living room, Eleanor’s laughter drifted in. "Vivian, sweetie, tell me what you want to eat tomorrow and I'll make it."

Vivian replied sweetly, "I love anything you cook, Eleanor."

Clara joined in, "Look at her, Eleanor, she's so sweet. No wonder Justin has been crazy about her for all these years."

I pulled out my phone.

I took photos of every single page of the transfer deed. Front and back. I didn't miss a single line.

Then, I placed it back exactly as I found it. I grabbed my passport and bank statements and walked out of the study.

As I put on my shoes at the door, Eleanor called out from behind me, "Chloe, you really won't stay for dinner?"

"No, Eleanor. I have things to take care of."

"Alright then. Come visit whenever you're free. Don't be a stranger now."

Vivian leaned forward slightly from the sofa. "Goodbye, Chloe."

The emerald bracelet caught the light as she waved.

I walked out of the building, got into my car, and immediately dialed Maya's number.

"Maya, find me a lawyer. Right now."

"What happened?"

"He's transferring the deed of the apartment to Vivian."

There was a dead silence on the line.

"The down payment was your money, right?"

"Thirty-eight thousand dollars. And I paid the majority of the mortgage. I have every single bank transfer record."

"Chloe, do you have proof of the transfer deed?"

I looked at the photos stored in my phone gallery.

"I do now."