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!”

hide. He turned to the last 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

words “Party A” was a flamboyant signature that said her name. The penmanship was one that she was most familiar

the signature was shown to be dated three months ago! After a bit of calculating, it must have been shortly after Amber

her since the beginning! And yet she had been kept in

that she was trembling. She finally managed to speak through

signing anything, but she could not recall seeing anything remotely

of whether or not you remember, you did sign it. I’ve had this agreement notarized.” Travis refused to give her 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!”

moment before showing a photo to Larissa. “I’ve completed the property transfer procedure. This is the

was only Travis’s name on

the image. In an instant, she was

“Hurry up and sign the agreement. I still need to look after Amber at the hospital. I don’t have time to waste with

Larissa said. Her voice was light but firm. Before she figured out all the fishy stuff in this deal, she would never let Travis have it his way.

“Even if you don’t sign it, the house is still mine. It’s impossible to give it

won’t sign it,” Larissa repeated. “I don’t mind wasting time with you. Let’s see who can drag things

gnashed his teeth.

out a 20-dollar bill and left it on the table. She then picked up her bag and rose from her seat. Before she could take two steps further, Travis blocked

“You know what my parents are like. Aren’t you afraid they’ll cause a scene

But she could not show it, or else Travis would have leverage

face. “If they have decided to use their own

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

out those words and quickly left the cafe while

…

other reason but that she simply did not want to have