3: 3

At her words, something in me ached. Before yesterday, if she'd asked for a star out of the sky, I'd have found a way to pull it down and put it in her hands.

"Chloe, is there something you're hiding from me?"

I decided to give her one chance. Or maybe I just wanted to let myself stop hoping.

She froze for a second, her eyes darting away. "I'm not hiding anything from you!"

"Chloe, if you really want to build a life with me, you should walk away from Ulysses Lawrence."

"What are you talking about?" Chloe's pretty face flushed. "Ulysses and I are just close friends. There's nothing dirty going on. It's not what you think!"

That was it. Whatever I still felt for her went cold for good.

Herbert gave an awkward little laugh and leaned in, lowering his voice. "Mr. Hughes, I'll be honest with you. There was a middle-aged fellow who took a liking to the place yesterday. He wants his wife to come have a look, and he'll most likely buy. He's coming by around noon. And there's someone else scheduled to view it this afternoon too."

As he spoke, he pulled up the text messages between him and the client to show me.

My nerves went tight.

Word of the demolition hadn't gotten out yet. Otherwise the old man wouldn't be in such a hurry to sell.

All I had to do was buy it, and half a month from now I'd be collecting a demolition buyout of more than fifty million.

"Herbert, call the owner and see if he'll come down a little more on the price."

Herbert nodded and stepped outside to make the call.

"Austin, fine, you can buy this place. But you're buying the luxury flat too."

"Not happening." I shook my head. "This place needs renovating, and that costs money. Which means I can't afford the luxury flat."

The truth was, I had no intention of renovating anything. In half a month it would all be torn down.

When I'd spoken with the "me" from the future, he'd told me exactly what my life became after I bought the luxury flat and married Chloe.

That "me" worked himself to the bone from dawn to night, while she stayed home with the kids and kept inviting her so-called close male friend over to fool around.

Chloe had even gotten pregnant twice more. Both times the child was his, and both times she'd quietly gotten rid of it.

That "me" came home, ate dinner, then did the housework, minded the children, and tutored them on top of it.

Three kids raised through all that hardship, and every one of them ungrateful. When that "me" collapsed and couldn't work anymore, they didn't take him to a doctor. They threw him out of the house instead.

Remembering it, I clenched my fists.

Herbert came back in, and I asked, "What did the owner say?"

He said, excited, "He says if you pay in full right now, he'll knock off another eighty thousand!"

That got me.

I had a million to my name, and my parents had scraped together more than two million over most of their working lives. We'd planned to take out a five-million loan for that luxury flat, so one point seven two million was more than enough.

Then three figures walked in.

Leading the way, of all people, was Chloe's close male friend, Ulysses.

My parents came in behind him.

I looked at Chloe. She met my eyes, smug. "I'm the one who called them here!"

"Austin. Chloe."

"Weren't you two supposed to be buying that luxury flat this morning?"

"How'd you end up here instead?"

Ulysses said it straight at me.

As he talked, he stepped over beside Chloe, and the two of them clasped hands like it was the most natural thing in the world.

They looked like the couple. I was the outsider.

And my parents didn't so much as blink at it.

"Dad, Mom, what are you doing here?" I greeted them first, then turned to Ulysses. "The luxury flat. I'm not buying it."

4: 4

"Not buying it?" Ulysses looked ready to pop his eyes clean out of his skull. "Didn't you two say you were buying? What about that fifty-grand deposit?"

Yesterday, a friend had dug up the owner of the luxury flat. It was Ulysses's grandmother.

A four-hundred-thousand-dollar place, listed at eight hundred thousand, and I was supposed to buy it. The whole point was to help Ulysses clear his debt.

"If we can't get the deposit back, then we let it go," I said.

"So it was true, what Chloe said on the phone about you not buying the luxury flat!" Dad was clearly displeased. "Good thing we came straight over!"

"Sir, ma'am, Austin's got a perfectly good luxury flat downtown he refuses to buy, and he's dead set on this run-down old unit instead. If that's how it is, then I won't marry him!"

Chloe was tattling to my parents.

Dad glared at me. "You really won't buy the flat? You want to buy this dump?"

I smiled. "Dad, don't listen to her."

I thought about it for a second, then decided to lay it out. "Chloe, want me to tell you who owns that luxury flat?"

A flash of panic crossed her eyes.

"Austin, what does it matter who the owner is?"

"Chloe likes the flat. You're her fiancé. You should buy it for her!"

Ulysses was tense.

Mom said, "Austin, just buy it for her. A husband and wife should keep things smooth and pleasant."

"Mom, the thing is, the owner of that luxury flat is Ulysses's grandmother."

"The market value of the place is four hundred thousand, and his grandmother's asking eight hundred! She wants to make a sucker out of me!"

"And high-rise units are hard to sell! They're a pain to live in!"

The air in the room froze on the spot.

Chloe stared at me in disbelief, because I, the man who trusted her one hundred percent, had actually gone and investigated her.

Cold sweat beaded across Ulysses's forehead.

My parents were stunned too.

Dad said, "Chloe, if that's the case, then we can't buy it!"

Chloe burst into tears. "Sir, I already told my friends and relatives I was going to live in a luxury flat! If we don't buy it, I'll never be able to face any of them again!"

Dad still shook his head. "No. It's double the price. We only buy it at a fair price."

I let out a breath.

My parents were of the older generation. They believed a man should settle down and start a family, and should coax and indulge his woman.

But they weren't fools. There was no way they'd pay double.

"No!"

Chloe wailed. "Sir, ma'am, if we don't buy the luxury flat, I won't get married!"

"I'll go get rid of the babies right now!"

"They're triplets! They're your Hughes bloodline!"

At that, my parents' faces changed.

"Chloe, you, you're pregnant?" Mom's voice trembled.

"Yes, I just got checked yesterday. Over two months along. Triplets!"

"If we don't buy the luxury flat, I'll book a miscarriage at the hospital right now!"

My parents exchanged looks and murmured a few words to each other.

Dad forced a sheepish laugh. "All right, all right, we'll buy it!"

Mom smiled. "Oh, Chloe, a pregnant woman can't be getting upset. Don't be angry. I'll tell Austin to buy it, that's all!"

I said quickly, "Dad, Mom, Ulysses owes loan sharks four hundred thousand. That's why the four-hundred-thousand flat is marked up double. We can't buy—"

Mom cut me off. "Quiet! If you dare buy this run-down old unit instead of the luxury flat, don't ever call me Mom again!"

Dad nodded. "You won't buy it, then I will! And once it's bought, we put it in Chloe's name alone!"

Cold sweat broke out all over me.

My parents weren't just venting. They really would empty out every cent of their savings to buy it.

Right then, Herbert, the agent, who'd been outside taking a call, walked back in. "Mr. Hughes, that middle-aged man I mentioned before—he took a liking to the place yesterday, but wants his wife to come look at it before he buys."

"If you're not buying, he'll be coming over shortly to close the deal."

My heart nearly leaped straight out of my chest.

This was a fifty-million-dollar demolition payout on the line!