The name on my husband's real estate deed had inexplicably changed to his childhood friend, Lily Stark.

I took the deed to confront him and my mother-in-law. But to my surprise, both of them wore disinterested smiles.

"I transferred the house to Lily," my husband said, nonchalantly. "It’s my pre-marital property. I can give it to whoever I please."

"Lily grew up without a home," my mother-in-law added, "I just want her to have a place to call her own in this city. It’s not like she’s going to live there, so stop making a fuss!"

Despite the surge of anger welling up inside me, I kept my composure, offering only a calm expression. I was curious to see how things would unfold.

Would Lily sell the house to pay for your liver cancer treatment? I doubted it.

I was even more curious to see how long you two could survive without money.

Part 1

I turned the real estate deed over in my hands, intending to take a picture and send it to an agent for appraisal. But the moment I opened it, I let out a scream.

The name on the deed had changed from my husband, Zach Smith, to Lily.

Before I could even go looking for him, Zach had already come into the bedroom. His mother, Linda, trailing behind him. Both of them wore matching frowns, looking as impatient as ever.

I didn't care. The doctor said that people with cancer often experience personality changes, so I tried to steady my voice as I held up the deed. "Why... why has the name changed to Lily?"

Zach looked slightly embarrassed but quickly straightened up. "I transferred the house to Lily," he said, matter-of-factly.

Seeing my expression darken, he continued, "Let me be clear: this was my pre-marital property. It has nothing to do with you and the law supports my decision. I’m free to give it to whoever I want. So why are you making a fuss?"

"And just so you know," he added, "Lily and I are innocent. Don’t get any ideas."

I wanted to argue, to remind him that with our limited savings, we’d need to sell or mortgage the house for his and Lindas cancer treatments. But I held my tongue. If I revealed the truth now, in their current moods, it would only make things worse.

I softened my tone. "Why didn’t you tell me? I know the house is yours, but—"

Zach cut me off, annoyed. "What would’ve been the point? You’d have refused, so I transferred it to her without telling you."

"Lily was homeless her whole life. I just wanted her to have something of her own here. It’s not like she’s going to live in the house, so stop making such a face!"

Part 2

I took a deep breath, trying to suppress my anger and spoke as calmly as I could. "I’m not asking you to put the house in my name. I just want you to get it back now. If you feel bad for Lily, you could’ve helped her buy her own place instead of giving her yours."

"And besides," I continued, "even though the house is in her name, she doesn’t live here. What sense of belonging does that give her? I’m not saying she’ll sell it, but what if she needs to mortgage it in the future, or what if we need it? Then what?"

Zach hesitated, clearly softened by my words. He glanced reflexively at Linda.

Linda was also beginning to waver, but she’d never admit I was right. She rolled her eyes. "Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You’re right, we should’ve told you about transferring the house to Lily. But do you know why I had Zach transfer it to her?"

I shook my head, confused.

"It’s because of you," she said, her voice sharp. "I’ve noticed you keeping an eye on property prices lately. You were probably hoping Zach would add your name to the deed, weren’t you? Well, guess what—I’d rather give the house to Lily than let you have even half of it! At least I know she won’t sell it. If I ask her to give it back, she’ll do it without question."

"You, on the other hand... You’ve been married into this family for years and what have you done? You haven’t even given us a child! The woman who married after you already has three kids. You’re trying to control my son’s decisions now?"

"And don’t think I don’t know that if the house is transferred back, it becomes marital property. Even without your name on the deed, you’ll get half in a divorce!"

Part 3

I ignored her insults and picked up my phone. "I’m done arguing. I’m calling a lawyer to see if we can reverse this transfer."

"And even if we can’t, I’ll sue. As your wife, I have a right to object to you giving away our house."

Zach grabbed my phone, his expression incredulous. "Have you lost your mind? Just like my mom said, you’re only doing this to get your name on the deed. The house is gone. It’s done. You can’t get it back."

"Anyway, I’m still young and healthy. I can buy another house. Don’t think that just because you married me, you can take control of everything. What good is this house to you? You haven’t even given me a child. I’m older than you—when I die, the house won’t go to you."

Linda nodded in agreement. "Exactly. I’m living in the house now, so whether it’s in Lily’s name or Zach’s, it doesn’t matter to me. Lily is like a daughter to me. If she hadn’t gone abroad for work, you wouldn’t have had the chance to marry Zach in the first place!"

"If you want the house back, then give me a grandson! If you can’t, don’t even think about it. You’ll get nothing for free."

To be honest, I almost laughed.

I wanted to tell them that my parents’ house in the neighboring city was about to be demolished and they’d receive at least four or five new houses in compensation. Being their only child, those houses would all eventually be mine.

Why would I care about a measly hundred-square-meter house?

Part 4

Seeing that I remained silent, both Zach and his mother assumed I had given up.

"See?" Linda smirked. "You can’t argue with us. You say you don’t care about the house, but if that were true, you wouldn’t have even noticed the name change. Deep down, you want it for yourself, don’t you?"

I sat back, relaxed and smiled. "So, you two transferred the house to Lily because you thought I was keeping an eye on it and you were afraid I’d try to take it from you?"

Zach and Linda exchanged glances, nodding with little hesitation.

Linda, clearly feeling emboldened, added, “More than that, I’ve noticed you've been running to the hospital a lot lately, fussing about needing to eat lighter meals and exercise more. You must be in bad health too.”

She sneered. “A woman who can’t have children is already considered defective. I never said anything because we were kind, but your recent strange behavior makes me think there’s something wrong with you. Maybe you're planning to use that house to fund your medical bills.”

She crossed her arms smugly. “Otherwise, how do you explain all these hospital visits? How do you explain your sudden interest in house prices? Why else would you dig through the real estate certificate in the middle of the night?”

Zach frowned, clearly becoming more irritated. “Listen, I’m giving you two options. First, we pretend nothing happened and you keep living your life with me. Or second, we get a divorce.”

Lindas sharp gaze was locked on my face, clearly hoping to see some sign of weakness. When she saw how calm I was, she added, “And don’t think that if you choose divorce, you’ll walk away with a cent of our family’s money. I’ll make sure of that. Even if this goes to court, you won’t get a penny.”

I couldn’t help but smile to myself. So, this is what they’ve been angling for all along.

Part 5

Looking at the two people before me—once so familiar but now so foreign—it suddenly all became clear. They’d noticed my preoccupation lately, sensed something was off and jumped to the conclusion that I was after the house, or worse, that I had some serious illness. To stop me from claiming anything, they transferred the house to Lily.

Zach and Linda continued throwing accusations at me, but I felt nothing but exhaustion.

For the last two months, I’d been running myself ragged trying to care for them both, searching for ways to get them liver transplants, managing their emotions while juggling all the burdens of the household. But instead of appreciating my efforts, they assumed my motives were selfish—blaming it all on my supposed guilt over not having children.

The irony was laughable.

I’m perfectly healthy. The reason we haven’t had children is because Zach has congenital azoospermia. But I never told him, afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle the truth. I carried the burden for him, letting him believe the problem was with me. I thought his love for me was strong enough to withstand anything, even childlessness.

At first, that seemed true. Zach and Linda barely mentioned my inability to have children, instead taking me to doctors and feeding me endless traditional medicines to “nourish” my body.

But in the past few months, their patience had worn thin. I thought it was just the stress of their illness. Now, I see the truth.

I looked at Zach steadily. “Fine. We’ll get a divorce. Let’s not drag this out.”

Zach and Linda almost jumped with joy.

Linda pointed a mocking finger at me. “You said it yourself—don’t go back on your word.”

I smiled. “No need to worry. We’ll go to the City Hallfirst thing tomorrow morning.”

With that, I packed my things and left without another word.