I kicked the door open, startling the three people inside.

Jill let out a shriek and scrambled behind Lester.

Lester looked taken aback for a moment, then his expression shifted to something uncomfortable. "You... why are you back?"

I let out a cold laugh. "It's my house. Why wouldn't I come back?"

Lester opened his mouth to respond but couldn't find the words. Before he could, Henry launched himself at me like a little cannonball, slamming his head straight into my stomach.

I crashed backward into the corner of the table. A searing pain tore through my lower back, and I staggered, collapsing to the floor.

"Waaah! Bad woman! It's all your fault!" Henry screamed. "Every time you show up, Mommy and I have to leave! You bad woman! Don't you have your own home?! Why do you have to steal ours!"

Lester pulled Henry back with an awkward look on his face, his tone stern. "Kids say things they don't mean. It'd be pretty petty of you to hold it against a child."

I clenched my jaw and dragged myself to my feet. "Fine. I won't hold it against the child."

Before the satisfied smile could fully form on his face, I was already across the room. My palm connected with Jill's cheek with a sharp crack.

"When a child misbehaves, the mother pays the price. This is what you deserve, Jill!"

But my wrist was seized in an iron grip.

The next second, a burning sting exploded across my own cheek.

I fell to the floor again, staring up at Lester, his hand still raised.

His face was like stone. "Are you done, Linda?! Clearly today's lesson wasn't enough for you!"

Something seemed to occur to him then, and his expression darkened further. "That bill today was a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. You don't have a cent to your name. How did you pay for it?"

Before I could answer, Jill was already crying. "Linda, even if you're angry at us, you shouldn't hurt yourself like that!"

She pressed her fingers to her lips, eyes wide with feigned horror. "No wonder the manager was smiling at you when we left. Did you... did you and he..."

Lester's fury ignited. He stared at me, his face twisted with disgust. "Linda! You'd sell your body just to avoid apologizing?! This is how you treat me?!"

"You're... how can you be so shameless!"

His hand shook as he pointed at the door. "Get out! Get out right now!"

"You want to split up? Fine! We're done! Now leave!"

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and rose unsteadily to my feet. "Lester, this is my house. The ones who should get out are you three."

Jill's eyes glinted with mockery, but her voice stayed soft and patient. "Linda, I know you put in some money back then... but Lester already transferred the deed to my name." She gave a little apologetic shrug. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

My head snapped toward Lester. "You transferred our home to Jill?!"

Jill walked over and looped her arm through Lester's, her expression carefully troubled. "He was worried Henry and I wouldn't feel comfortable living in someone else's house, so he put it in my name. He said that way I'd finally have a real home of my own..."

I had long since stopped expecting anything from this man. But the words still cut through me like a knife.

"This is our home! We picked out every tile, every piece of furniture together! Lester, how could you!"

He looked at me without a shred of warmth. "The house belongs to Jill now. Nothing you say is going to change that."

I stared at the two of them for a long time.

The couple's pajamas. Her arm threaded through his. The child who called her "Mommy" in the home I had paid for.

So that was it. The pajamas I'd never seen him wear with me were already on someone else.

Linda let out a quiet laugh and made a phone call.

"Send a few people over."

She had barely hung up when Lester scoffed.

"Linda, who are you trying to fool?"

"You don't have a dime to your name. Who could you possibly call?"

Jill sighed softly, her voice gentle as ever.

"Linda, I know this is a lot to take in, but it is what it is."

She looked down and stroked Henry's hair.

"Lester only transferred the house to me because he felt sorry for us. A single mother and her child, all alone."

Linda said nothing.

She just looked at them.

The commotion had drawn a small crowd of neighbors. Someone recognized Lester and called out, "Isn't that Professor Sanchez? Do you need us to call the police?"

Jill smiled warmly. "It's nothing. Just a friend from back home who refuses to leave my house."

At that, the onlookers turned on Linda with open disgust. One of them shouted at her, "Ugly foreigner! Get out of here! This isn't a place for low-class people like you! You're not welcome in our country!"

"Get out!"

Lester turned to look at her.

"Just go, Linda. This isn't something an apology can fix anymore. You've already... dirtied yourself."

Linda stared at him, her expression blank.

"Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars."

"What?"

"The total price of this house." Her voice was level. "I paid half. That means your share was three hundred and fifty thousand. I'll pay you back, Lester. Every cent."

Lester looked at her and lost his patience.

"Linda, stop talking nonsense. You took out God knows how many years of loans just to scrape together your half. Where would you get the money to pay me back?"

He pulled out his phone and dialed.

"This is Lester Sanchez. I'd like to report someone for forging documents and fraudulently obtaining a marriage-based green card."

"Yes, I have evidence. I need you to come pick her up immediately."

He hung up and looked at Linda, something complicated flickering behind his eyes.

"Linda. All you had to do was apologize, and this could have been over."

"I already explained everything to you. Once Henry's in college and Jill and Henry are settled, I would've been free to register our marriage. Why couldn't you just accept that?"

"You already waited ten years. What's another ten?"

A cold smile crossed Linda's face, but underneath it was nothing but sorrow.

Ten years. Ten years of her life, wasted on a man like this.

Lester took a deep breath and spoke again.

"If you promise never to bring up my relationship with Jill again, I can explain to Immigration Services that it was all a misunderstanding."

"I know you don't want to keep going back and forth between countries. I can promise to fly back every winter and summer break to spend time with you. When I'm there, we can live like a real married couple."

Jill's eyes flashed with venom, though her voice stayed feather-soft.

"Linda, stop being so stubborn. Do you have any idea what happens if Immigration takes you in? You're looking at ten years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines."

"A restaurant bill, sure, maybe a manager can make that go away. But a prison sentence? You can't exactly talk your way out of that."

Before she finished speaking, footsteps echoed from outside the door.

Lester's face darkened, his tone barely concealing a threat.

"Linda! This is the last chance I'm giving you! Say yes, and I'll send them away. Refuse, and I'll have no choice but to let them take you."

I tugged at the corner of my lips in a calm smile, shook off Lester's grip on my arm, and walked toward the door.

Several tall men in black suits and dark sunglasses filed in.

Lester's jaw clenched. He seemed to finally steel himself, fixing me with one long, hard look.

Then he pointed at me and said:

"It's her—"

Before he could finish, I raised my hand.

"Tear it down. Rip this house apart."

Jill and Lester's eyes went wide at the same time.

"You've lost your mind!"

Before either of them could say another word, my men bound them and dropped them on the floor.

I walked over with a smile and slapped each of them across the face, one after the other, until my palms stung. Only then did I stop.

"Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Right here."

I tossed the check at their feet.

"Lester Sanchez." My voice went cold. "What's mine, I'd rather destroy than let you have."

"Demolishing it isn't enough. Set the charges. I want this filthy excuse for a marital home leveled to the ground."

"Linda! You're insane! I'm a nationally protected asset! You're signing your own death warrant!"

Lester and Jill's panicked screams were swallowed by the blast.

The house collapsed into rubble in an instant.

The deafening explosion drew attention fast. Within minutes, a fleet of vehicles bearing the insignias of Immigration Services and the National Security Bureau swarmed the entrance.

Lester thrashed against his restraints and screamed:

"I'm Lester Sanchez! A senior consultant hired by the United States government! This woman is a lunatic! She forged a green card and hired illegal operatives to threaten me!"

"She belongs in prison! Life without parole! Get her out of here!"

I didn't feel an ounce of fear.

I just let a small smile curl across my lips.