Paid in Full for Family Love novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I stared at him.

“You think this is about the money?”

I couldn’t believe those words came out of his mouth.

When they bought this place, Mike and Jen’s dream home, they drained Mom’s savings

for the down payment. There was nothing left for renovations.

I’d just started working. Wasn’t making much. But I watched Mike stress-eat his dinner

every night, couldn’t sleep, dark circles like bruises under his eyes. So I stepped up.

I handled everything. The design, the materials, the contractors, the finishes. Spent

every dollar I’d saved. Put in every spare hour I had.

The day it was done, Mike stood in the middle of the living room, blinking hard.

“Emily,” he said, voice thick. “Thank you. You’re the reason this family has a home. And this… this will always be your home too. I mean it.”

Then came the whispers. How hard it was to make ends meet. How tl crushing them.

I was family. What’s mine is theirs. So I started paying the mortgage.

age was

twenty-three-hundred-a-month mortgage a month, automatic withdrawal, like

clockwork.

I worked myself ragged. Took every overtime shift nobody wanted. Ate instant noodles for dinner more nights than I’d admit.

Two years. I didn’t go home once.

Not until this New Year’s.

The same house I paid to build. The same mortgage I’d been covering,

And they charged me rent.

All those years. All that money. All the love I thought I’d bought.

Turns out it was just a transaction.

Chapter 2

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Mike’s face flickered, something like guilt, maybe. But before he could speak, Jen cut in,

voice sharp.

“Oh, so this is it? You’re tallying up receipts now, Emily?”

She crossed her arms.

“Yeah, you paid for some stuff. But the deed? That’s Mike’s name. This is our house. Our marriage, our home.”

“Look, you helped with the renovation, and we said thank you. But that doesn’t cover you crashing here now. You used the water, the electricity, you ate our food that stuff costs money. We charged you what anyone would charge. Don’t turn this into something it’s not.”

My fingers were numb.

And Mike, he actually perked up, like she’d given him permission.

“Yeah, exactly,” he said. “You can’t just pull out past favors every time you want something. We said thanks. We were grateful. But that doesn’t mean you’re entitled to free rent. That’s not how any of this works.”

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Chapter 2