I hung up the phone without a second thought.

It was a great day for moving. I was not about to let a bunch of nasty people ruin my mood.

I focused on making the place feel like home: setting up the bed, cleaning every corner, decorating the living room. By the time I was done arranging everything, the sky had already turned dark.

I collapsed onto the big bed in my bedroom. My mind was filled with nothing but dreams of the happy life ahead.

A few days later, I came home from work. When I opened the door, I was greeted by the sight of my parents sitting in the living room with Brad’s family. They were casually snacking on peanuts, chatting, and laughing like they owned the place.

As soon as my mom saw me, she smiled and greeted me. “Oh, there you are, Miss Busybody! You’re so hard to catch these days. Your cousin’s family has been here all day, and we’re starving. Go whip up something to eat, will you?”

I stormed into the living room.

“Mom, Dad, how many times do I have to tell you? Don’t bring outsiders into my place!”

“Outsiders?” Linda shot me a sideways glance. “This is my son’s marital home! Us being here is completely justified. Have you gone senile after just a few days?”

I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm.

“The deed has my name on it. When did it become your son’s marital home?”

“You have the nerve to bring up the deed? I have yet to settle the score with you on that!”

Linda scattered peanut shells all over the floor.

“People are nothing without integrity! Don’t you understand this basic principle even though you’re in your thirties? You promised to transfer the place. Why did you bail on us?”

I clenched my teeth.

“Why should I transfer the place to your son? Doesn’t he have parents?”

“Wendy, you’re unbelievable! Leo’s getting married. That’s a big deal! You need to think about the bigger picture. Can’t you show some consideration for the family as a whole?”

Brad banged his hand clutching a cigarette on the table so hard it nearly cracked.

“Can’t you make a little sacrifice for the sake of the family? Besides, your parents didn’t object, so what gives you the right to say no?”

I could not help but marvel at the sheer audacity of Brad and Linda. They had the gall to dress up stealing my place as some noble act of family honor.

Reasoning with people like this is pointless. They were nothing but shameless bullies.

In that case, I decided to stop playing nice.

I plopped down on the couch and gave the three of them a scrutinizing look.

“All right, if Leo is willing to become my adopted son, I’ll happily provide the place and the money for his wedding!”

Linda jumped up from her seat and glared at me.

“Wendy, have you lost your mind? I gave you a chance, but you just didn’t know how to take it!”

I decided to fight fire with fire.

“If Leo’s marriage is such a monumental event for the family, then not just him, even Brad becoming my son would be perfectly reasonable! After all, Brad, you need to think about the bigger picture. What’s a little sacrifice on your part if it means Leo gets a place for his marriage? Even I am willing to compromise and call you my son. I’d give everything I have to help my grandson get married!”

Brad nearly exploded with rage. He jumped up and lunged at me.

“Wendy, you’re out of your mind! Single women like you always end up crazy…”

Before he could finish, I grabbed a nearby clothes rack and swung it hard. He did not see it coming and went crashing to the floor.

I glared down at him.

“You think you can cause trouble in my place? Get out of here before I beat the hell out of you!”

My mom stood up and tried to mediate.

“Wendy, that’s enough. They’re family. We still have to see each other during the holidays. Let’s not turn things ugly.”

“Oh, now you care about things getting ugly?” I shook off her hand and raised my voice at her. “Where was this concern when they were making things hard for me? Why didn’t you stand up for me when they were insulting me?”

“Wendy, watch your tone with your mother!” my dad, usually quiet and reserved, suddenly yelled. “And Brad’s family isn’t wrong! Leo getting married is a big deal. What’s the harm in giving up a place? Do you really have to turn things ugly just to make a point?”

I fell silent.

I had always known what kind of people my parents were.

If they had ever been a solid support for me, I would not have spent years unmarried, scrimping and saving just to buy a place of my own.

Before moving in, I had left them a spare key and told them they could visit any time if they wanted to see me.

And yet, they used that key to bring Brad and his family into my home.

Whatever lingering hope I had for their love and support, it shattered completely.

I pushed down the swirl of emotions surging within me. In a hoarse voice, I said, “All right, I’ve had enough of this. All of you, get out of my place immediately. I won’t hold anything that happened against you, but from this moment on, we have nothing to do with each other.”

Brad, who was still fuming from his fall, got up from the floor. His face was twisted with anger. He pointed a finger at me and menacingly said, “Wendy, you think you can hit me and just tell me to leave? Dream on! All of this fuss over something as small as transferring the apartment deed. You just had to escalate it. Fine. If you want a scene, I’ll give you one. Let’s smash everything!”

He did not even need to finish for Linda to get the message. She grabbed a chair and hurled it at my 75-inch LCD TV.

Leo pulled a wrench from his pocket, ran to the balcony, and smashed every piece of glass he could find before rushing to the bathroom to wreak more havoc.

Brad, as if he was completely unhinged, pulled out a box cutter and slashed my leather sofa to pieces. Then, he took out a lighter and set my curtains on fire. As I stared at him in a panic, he arrogantly said, “If we can’t have the place, then no one will! If we can’t have peace, then no one will!”

My parents sat in their seats like lifeless statues. They were watching everything as if it had nothing to do with them.

Brad and the others’ behavior was outright insane. I was genuinely afraid they might hurt me by accident, so I quickly ran into the master bedroom and locked the door.

Then it hit me. This was perfect!

I had always been a little worried about safety since I lived alone, so I had installed security cameras in every corner of the apartment!

Every bit of the destruction was being recorded. If they went just a little further, they would be facing serious jail time!

This was almost too good to be true, like fate was lending me a helping hand!

After wreaking havoc for a while, Linda seemed to snap back to her senses.

“Hey, what if Wendy calls the police and says we trashed her place?”

“How’s she going to prove it was us? We were just visiting. If she smashed her own stuff to frame us, that’s on her!”

He then turned to his son and encouraged him to continue.

“Don’t hold back, Leo! Smash everything! If she still refuses to transfer the place, rip up the floor tiles too! We need to show her that our family doesn’t get pushed around!”

Leo was moved by his father’s words and started smashing with even more enthusiasm.

“Mom, Dad, you’re always thinking of me. I’m so lucky to be your son!”

What they did not realize was that the police were already on their way.