Chapter 3

With that, Alison burst into tears and ran out.

Jordan and Margot didn't even look at Sid. They just said they were very disappointed in him, then followed her out.

Sid stamped his feet in frustration. Part of him wanted to lay into me, but he was more afraid of not catching up to Alison, so he only shot me a glare, said I'd better be ready to apologize, and chased after them.

Over the next few days, my apology never came, so they came back to find me.

Alison pulled out a new floor plan.

The dog's name had been crossed off, and under it, grudgingly, my name had been written in.

"There, happy now? You can move in too."

I let out a couple of dry laughs.

"Well, then, I should thank you."

Alison didn't catch the sarcasm in my voice. Or maybe she caught it and simply didn't care. Either way, she took it as a yes, took it that I'd agreed.

So she immediately produced the renovation plan.

"Sid and I don't have jobs right now, but we're planning to enjoy our life as a couple, so you'll have to oversee the renovation."

"Every material you use has to be the best, the most eco-friendly."

Sid nodded along.

"Renovation's a lot of work, so you have to be here twenty-four hours a day watching it. You don't have a place anyway, so just give up your rental, buy a tent, and camp in the stairwell."

"Otherwise the workers will do a sloppy job, maybe even piss all over the place, and then how gross would it be to live in?"

"After all, this is being set up for you to live in, so you can't just phone it in."

I almost laughed out loud.

I'd wondered why they were suddenly so generous, so willing to let me move in. Turned out they wanted me to pay for the renovation and be their free supervisor, and when it was all finished, whether I'd actually get to live there at all was anyone's guess.

But I really couldn't be bothered to argue with them.

So I just nodded, looking disappointed.

"I understand."

"It's the place I'll be living in, of course I'll put my heart into it, do it right."

Five:

The four of them left, all pleased with themselves.

Maybe they were afraid I'd start finding them a nuisance, or afraid I'd push my luck and refuse to live in that smallest pet room.

So they didn't stick around. They gave the excuse of going back to Alison's hometown to throw a delayed wedding banquet, gave up their rental, and cleared out.

The only reason I knew all this

was because Sid came looking for money over text.

"I know we didn't invite you to the makeup wedding, but you're my mother. You can't just pretend you don't know and refuse to chip in, can you?"

"This wedding's going to be a big rolling banquet. We're planning to run it for two weeks, so people can see that having a daughter comes with real prestige too. It'll cost a lot, so hurry up and wire me the money."

I was busy with the renovation and had no interest in dealing with him.

But I also knew that if I ignored him, he might just show up and cause a scene, and then the renovation would get interrupted again. So I thought about it and sent over the renovation contract and the itemized list.

"You said to use the best of everything, so I've bumped the renovation budget up again. I've got no money left now."

"Either you skip the rolling banquet and keep the wedding low-key, or I downgrade the materials I haven't bought yet by a few grades and give you the difference!"

Sid stayed in the typing state for a long time.

But I wasn't worried.

Sid wasn't stupid. He knew the difference between one good meal and eating well every single day.

If I gave him the money now and downgraded the renovation, then living there afterward would be miserable, so he agonized over it for a long time and finally sent back a "never mind."

"The renovation's the most important thing."

"We'll pay for the wedding ourselves."

"But you know this is your responsibility. I'm paying now, so once the renovation's done, you hand over your pension card to me, pay me back what the wedding cost, and then I'll return it to you."