Sweet Subterfuge

“What the hell do you mean?” Larissa was no longer able to keep calm, and she leaped to her feet, scaring the waiter who had brought her drink over.

“Your—your lemon tea, miss.” The waiter put the cup on the table nervously, his eyes darting between the two before leaving. Even then, he kept turning back to look at them.

Having been interrupted like that, Larissa recognized that she was in a public setting and somewhat restrained her discontent.

“I paid the down payment, and I’ve been paying the monthly mortgage too. If the house has nothing to do with me, then who else could it belong to?” She struggled to keep her voice low enough so that only the two of them could hear.

Hearing this, Travis unhurriedly retrieved yet another document from his ever-present briefcase.

“Take a look at this.”

On the top of the first page, bold letters announced the document to be an agreement for the gifting of property. Larissa’s gaze stopped at the title for two seconds before she began reading quickly—

Gifter: Larissa Seymour (hereinafter referred to as Party A”)

Giftee: Travis Hardy (hereinafter referred to as Party B)

The gift was precisely the house that they lived in after their marriage.

“What are you showing me this for? You want me to sign this?” Larissa tossed the papers back at him with a cold smile. “I’m telling you, Hardy, dream on!”

page of the document and pushed it toward Larissa again. His index finger pointed at the place where the signatures were meant to be and said, “Take a closer look, then tell me if I’m still dreaming.”

was a flamboyant signature that said her name. The penmanship was one that

shown to be dated three months ago! After a

the beginning! And yet she had been kept in the

finally managed to speak through gritted teeth. “I

but she could not recall seeing anything remotely

an explanation and simply emphasized the last few words. “You’ve given me the house, so it’s mine. Based on the law, I don’t have the obligation to give you even a square foot of it!”

and by the way—” Travis went on his phone for a moment before showing a photo to Larissa. “I’ve completed the property

was only Travis’s name

blankly at the image. In an instant, she was unable

back to reality. “Hurry up and sign the agreement. I still need to look after Amber at the hospital. I don’t

Her voice was light but firm. Before she figured out all the fishy stuff in this

Travis scowled irritably. “Even if you don’t sign it, the house is still mine.

repeated. “I don’t mind wasting time with you.

gnashed his teeth.

ignored him and took out a 20-dollar bill and left it on the table. She then picked up her bag and rose from

his voice, his expression savage. “You know what my parents are like. Aren’t you afraid they’ll cause

Larissa was afraid. But she could not show it, or else Travis would have leverage over her.

ask your parents—” A mocking smile appeared on her face. “If they have decided to use their own lives in exchange for two million

the law!” he hissed in a low tone even as a hint of panic flickered through his

tossed out those words and quickly left the

…

out forever with Travis. Not for any other reason but that she simply did not want to have