No Free House

At my daughter's high school graduation party, she greeted me with a bouquet containing her wish list. "My dearest Mom! "My life truly begins at eighteen! "This is the first step toward rebuilding my social image and starting an entirely new life! "Thank you, Mom, for supporting me completely!" The list tucked into the bouquet included the newest phone, tablet, laptop, and earbuds. Together, the smaller items cost more than five thousand dollars. But the final line, printed in bold red letters, stabbed into my eyes like the point of a knife: Helena Abernathy must give Chloe Collins a house free of charge. The property will be for Chloe's exclusive use, and no one else will be permitted inside. I stared at the bouquet, while the soul that had died unjustly in my previous life trembled inside my body. Last time, I carried that bouquet home and tossed and turned all night. In the end, I still tried to discuss it with my daughter. "Chloe, about the house... I truly can't afford it right now." "Could we possibly..." Chloe was silent for three seconds before accusing me through tears. "I knew it! You never loved me. You only love yourself!" My photograph, address, and workplace were posted across social media. Then came the online attacks, the doxxing, the red paint splashed across my door, and the suspension from my job. When I stood on a rooftop, unable to endure the abuse any longer, the people below kept recording and shouting: "Jump! If you aren't guilty, why would you jump?" This time, I looked down at the bouquet in my arms and smiled. I didn't want the list. And I didn't want this daughter anymore. Chapter 1 The bouquet was exquisitely wrapped, with the wish list folded into a heart at its center. Roses had been arranged carefully around it, making the whole thing look expensive and romantic. "Mom! I love you! "This is my gift to you. This is my first time being a daughter, and you've always tolerated me, understood me, and sacrificed so much for me!" Chloe stood across from me beneath the warm lights, her curls meticulously styled and her smile so perfect it looked as though she'd practiced it a hundred times. In my previous life, she'd also held the bouquet out to me in front of everyone and loudly thanked me. I hadn't thought much of it. I assumed the paper tucked inside was a letter, so I didn't open it on the spot. I believed it would be filled with gratitude for everything I'd done for her over the years. I held that bouquet through the entire graduation party, then carefully opened the note only after I got home. 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..." She smiled and said that was fine. Then she turned around and posted a long essay online, attaching a secretly taken photo of my back while I was upset. The headline read: "My Mother Is Severely Mentally Ill." Tens of thousands of comments flooded in: "Protect this girl," "Run while you can," and "Call the police." The story exploded online, and I lost my job. Someone splashed red paint across my front door. Banners calling me an abusive mother, a psycho, and a monster covered the walls. I tried to explain, but no one believed me. I begged for help, but no one cared. Eventually, I found the apartment my daughter was renting and went there to confront her face-to-face. We argued, and she shoved me. The railing was too low. I fell straight over it. The fall was brief, so brief that I didn't even have time to wonder where I'd gone wrong in life. Now, in this life, I looked at the daughter standing before me. Chloe was still smiling sweetly, holding the bouquet out in both hands. Our relatives and friends still had their phones raised, recording us. If she didn't want to enjoy a perfectly good graduation party, then she wouldn't get one. Chapter 2 "Mom... Mom, what's wrong?" When I snapped back to reality, Chloe's face had moved closer. She squeezed my hand, signaling for me to take the flowers. I snatched the bouquet from her, pulled out the wish list, and set the flowers on a nearby cabinet. Then, ignoring her startled expression, I began reading every item on her extravagant wish list aloud in front of our family and friends. "Electronics, travel, clothes, shoes, handbags, salon appointments, manicures, gifts for classmates..." Before I could finish, several people had already started defending her. "Helena, what are you doing? She's grown now and has her own taste. Those things might cost five or six thousand dollars. So what?" "Exactly. Is it worth humiliating her in front of everyone over a few thousand dollars?" One of Chloe's classmates made a face from across the room. "Chloe, your mom is so old-fashioned." I ignored the scattered criticism and glanced at Chloe, whose face had already turned scarlet. "Everyone, please be patient. I haven't reached the main event yet." Chloe panicked, and the carefully practiced smile on her face cracked. She knew the rest of the list couldn't withstand public scrutiny, so she stepped forward to stop me. I let her snatch the paper away and tear it into pieces. Then I calmly pulled out my phone, opened the photo I'd taken of the list, and continued. "Chloe is also demanding that I give her a house free of charge. It must be at least twice the size and value of our current home. That would put the price at no less than $450,000, before renovations..." "The list specifically says that once the house is purchased, only Chloe Collins may use it, and no one else is permitted inside." "Chloe, who exactly does 'no one else' mean? Me?" I asked with a laugh. Gasps rose among the relatives, and Chloe's face turned as red as a ripe tomato. "Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars? She really had the nerve to ask for that?" "Forget the house. Everything else on that list costs a fortune too. What kind of family does she think she comes from? She just graduated and she's already demanding property?" "Helena, you need to discipline this girl. Look at what she's become, opening her mouth and demanding a house." Chloe, meanwhile, stared at me with naked hatred, all her earlier pride gone. "You're trying to ruin me on purpose, aren't you?" "This isn't even about whether I have the money," I said coldly. "Even if I gave you that house, could you handle it? "Giving you something you can't handle would be the real way to harm you." "It was just a joke between me and my friends. I never forced you to buy anything. Why are you lecturing me like this?" She roared at me, then spun toward the relatives. "Who do you people think you are? You've probably never eaten at a place this nice in your lives. A bunch of broke country relatives who grew up on canned soup think they get to lecture me..." Her voice stopped abruptly. Before she could finish, I slapped her across the face. "Chloe Collins, apologize to these people right now!" My tone left no room for refusal. "Who taught you to speak to people that way?" She clutched her cheek and stared at me through tears. "What gives you the right to hit me? Dad and Grandma would never treat me like this! "You don't deserve to be my mother!" Then she rushed to the dining table, flipped it over, and screamed, "I meant every word! You're all a bunch of useless old losers!" With that, she stormed out of the crowded ballroom. I pressed my fingers to my aching temple and continued playing the role of the distressed mother. "This is my failure as a parent. I didn't raise my daughter properly. "I apologize to all of you on her behalf. Please continue eating and enjoy the rest of the evening." Then I bowed deeply and knocked back three shots of bourbon. The relatives' dark expressions gradually softened. After everyone had left, I stayed behind to deal with the damage Chloe had caused at the hotel. Then my phone suddenly rang. "Aren't you afraid I'll go live with Dad after treating me like this?" Chloe had obviously been crying. "Go ahead. See whether he actually wants you," I replied indifferently. Then I calmly ended the call. Chapter 3 It was well past midnight by the time I got home. When I turned on the lights, the apartment was silent. After the way the party had ended, I'd assumed Chloe's temper would keep her away from home, but to my surprise, she was sitting alone in the living room. Several half-eaten takeout containers were piled beside the coffee table, all filled with the greasy junk food I usually wouldn't let her eat. Bits of plaster were scattered near the front door. This was an old apartment building, and the walls had been cracked and peeling for years. I'd bought tools and patched the damaged areas little by little. But the problems underneath had never disappeared. Smoothing the surface only made it look whole. Any pressure would make the plaster crumble again. It was just like the relationship between Chloe and me. I'd thought that if I gave her all the love I had, I could make up for the affection she'd never received from her father. But in the end, my devotion had been destroyed, and I'd watched her push me into the abyss. I had just stepped toward her to speak when she cut me off. "Go away. You're so annoying. I don't want to talk to a money-hoarding miser!" As Chloe headed toward her bedroom, she threw something at me with all her strength. By the time I focused enough to see what it was, the plastic container had already flipped in midair. It struck my shoulder, and the lid popped off. Sour, rancid broth poured down my collar. Congealed grease clung to my skin, and the room filled with the stench of spoiled food. I pressed my lips together and stood frozen as the filthy liquid dripped onto the floor, forming a small puddle around my feet. The ceiling light flickered, splitting and rejoining the reflections on the floor. I looked at the closed bedroom door, and grief rose inside me. I knocked. "Chloe, open the door. We need to talk." Her muffled, furious voice came from beneath the blankets. "I have nothing to say to you! All you care about is money! "You don't care about me at all! Go spend the rest of your life with your precious bank account! "I hate you! I hate you!" "Fine. Keep sulking, then." After saying that, I turned to wash the grease off my body. Some broth had splashed into my eyes, and the burning was intense. Tears ran down my face without my permission. But I hadn't wanted to cry. A loud bang sounded behind me. I turned around. Chloe stood in the doorway, seething. The door had slammed into the wall, bounced back, and struck her knee. The impact shook more plaster loose from the ceiling. It fell in diseased-looking chunks. Through the dust, I looked at my child, who was glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. "Are you buying it for me or not?" "I can't. We don't have that kind of money." "Every dollar I had available went toward your graduation gifts, but you haven't even..." "What did you buy me?" "The newest phone, tablet, laptop, and earbuds you wanted. A trip to Hawaii. The classes you said you wanted to take..." I listed the gifts I'd prepared for her one by one. With every item I named, Chloe unraveled further. "Actually, I had everything returned tonight. Since your heart is so completely set on that house, I assumed none of those things would..." Before I could finish, Chloe lost control. She grabbed anything within reach and smashed it. After destroying the room, she turned on me. "Why? You already bought me all that stuff, so why won't you buy me the house?" She lunged forward and grabbed my arm. "Mom, please. Just buy it for me! "You were going to help me move into a better place after college anyway. This is only four years early." I looked at Chloe sobbing beside me like a child throwing a tantrum over candy. After a pause, I asked, "Chloe, first tell me why you want this house so badly." "If I tell you, will you buy it?" "No. Not now, and not later. I'm never buying you a house." I rejected her unreasonable demand without hesitation. Her expression darkened instantly. She grabbed the guitar from her room and used it to wreck whatever remained. Then she shrieked at me, "Dad said you had $750,000 in savings! He said all your money belongs to me!" "If it's my money, why can't I use it to buy a house?" "If you won't even buy me a home, why did you fight Dad for custody in the first place?" I took a deep breath, forcing down the tightness in my chest, and met her eyes in disbelief. "Your father was at fault in the divorce, so the court gave me custody and most of what little savings remained. But that money was spent raising you years ago. There was never $750,000. It was $75,000. "Your father couldn't come up with $750,000 even if he sold everything he owns." Her eyes burned with open resentment. "Poor people shouldn't have children. Why did you give birth to me if you couldn't afford me? "No wonder Dad couldn't stand you and divorced you. Someone like you doesn't deserve to be loved." After cursing me, she dragged out a suitcase, ran from the apartment, and slammed the door behind her. I stood alone in the wreckage, my eyes burning with tears. Chapter 4 A chill spread through my entire body. I'd thought Chloe had simply lost her way. I hadn't realized someone else had been coaching her on how to bleed me dry. She was rotten at the root. Her birth had been a mistake. Years ago, Derek Collins and I had opened a small diner together. We worked ourselves to exhaustion and finally saved a little money. While I was pregnant with Chloe, I discovered that Derek had been gambling in secret. He'd lost the house and the diner. He'd even stolen and pawned the gold bracelet I'd saved for Chloe, while my mother-in-law, Marlene Collins, helped him hide it from me. He dropped to his knees and swore he'd never gamble again. Seven months pregnant, I kept the diner running until my water broke behind the counter. Chloe was a year old before we finally paid off Derek's debts. But when she was three, Derek decided a daughter wasn't worth much and started sleeping with a married woman. Fate intervened. The woman's husband came home unexpectedly in the middle of the night, caught them together, and beat Derek badly enough to put him in the hospital. After that, Derek could never have another child. Chloe had still been very young when we divorced, so I never told her the real reason. I only said we could no longer live together. Father and daughter had barely spoken over the years. So why had he suddenly appeared now? I lay exhausted in the bathtub, turning the question over and over in my mind. Before I could make sense of it, my phone rang. The name flashing across the screen was Derek Collins. Barely any time had passed before he called. Had Chloe convinced herself she'd found an unshakable ally? I didn't need to wonder how Derek had gotten my number. Chloe had obviously given it to him. "Helena, what kind of mother are you? Chloe came here crying. You fed her rotten food and hit her? "If she hadn't shown up today, I never would've known you treated her like this! "If you couldn't afford to raise her, you should've said so. I would've taken her back." Derek kept shouting into the phone, but I didn't indulge him. I hit the one point guaranteed to provoke him. "You think you could've raised her better? If so, why didn't you fight for custody?" "You think I didn't fight? The court handed her to you!" "And why do you think the court did that? "She's your daughter. You didn't show up once in fifteen years, and now that she's grown, you suddenly appear. You know exactly what you're after. If you truly want her, have her sign a formal agreement naming you as her sole financial sponsor." I knew arguing with him was pointless, so I ended the call. I'd already died once. I wasn't wasting another life on people and matters that meant nothing. I focused on work, and a few days later I secured the project that would earn me a promotion. I was packing at home, preparing to move into company housing so I could work longer hours, when someone suddenly started pounding on the door. "Helena Abernathy! Bang, bang, bang! Open this door right now!" I opened it to find Derek standing there with Chloe. Behind them was my former mother-in-law. After entering, Chloe glanced at the cluttered living room, dragged over a chair, and began taking documents from her bag. "This place is pathetic. You don't even have somewhere for guests to sit," Derek sneered as he looked around. "You really couldn't manage without me, could you? You used to be the prettiest woman in town. Look at you now, worn down and old." Marlene joined in. "Who cares what some aging woman looks like? We'll find Chloe ten young, beautiful stepmothers. "A child from our family belongs with us. Who knows where your money has come from all these years? "For all we know, it's dirty money. We can't let you corrupt Chloe." Chloe spread the papers across the chair. It was a financial-responsibility transfer agreement. She raised her eyes to mine. Our gazes met, and I asked, "Have you thought this through?" Chloe burst into a strange, exaggerated laugh. After a while, she wiped away the tears her laughter had produced. "Are you serious, lady?" She ripped the silver locket from her neck, slammed it onto the table, and knocked the chair over as she stood. "You can have this cheap thing back too!" "Dad, let's go!" She picked up the agreement she'd already signed and headed out first. When the toe of her shoe caught on the threshold, she looked back at me. "Things nobody wants should know to put themselves away." The locket still lay on the table. The chain was broken, but the pendant itself remained intact. I watched the figure about to step through the doorway and suddenly laughed. Fifteen years. The girl I'd raised had chosen those words as her farewell. I turned to the suitcase I hadn't yet closed and pulled out a manila envelope. The envelope was new, its corners still crisp. A fresh notary seal marked the flap. The living room fell silent. Chloe's foot remained suspended beyond the threshold, while Derek frowned. "Chloe." My voice was calm. I was already numb. She turned instinctively. Her gaze landed on the envelope in my hand, and uncertainty flickered in her eyes. I tore it open and pulled out two pages. Printed across the top in black letters were the words: "FAMILY ESTRANGEMENT AND FINANCIAL RELEASE AGREEMENT." My signature and notarized seal appeared at the bottom. "You want to transfer all responsibility to your father?" I unfolded the pages and pushed them toward the three of them. "Perfect. I want to end every personal and financial tie between us." At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.