She Wanted Her Ex on Our Deed, So I Walked Away

At the sales office, Sophia Butler, the girlfriend I'd been with for five years, added the name of her first love, Gordon Farley, to our home purchase contract.

The down payment had come from my parents draining their retirement savings.

She hadn't run a single word of it by me.

Her younger brother was egging things on from the side.

"Gordon, this place is basically yours now. Come crash here whenever you want!"

I pressed my hand flat on the contract, staring at Sophia, unable to believe it.

She just shook my hand off, irritated.

"Gordon just got back to the country. He's got nowhere to live. What's wrong with adding his name so he feels like he belongs somewhere?"

"We're still using the house after we're married. I never said you couldn't live here."

"And Gordon hurt his leg saving me. My whole family owes him. What's wrong with paying it back with a house?"

Gordon leaned on his crutch and sighed, putting on a guilty face.

"Sophia, if he minds, forget it. I don't mind sleeping under a bridge."

That set Sophia off. Her face went cold and she started cursing at me.

"Graham Harding! How can you be so cold-blooded? Won't you be happy until you've driven Gordon to his grave?"

"You're signing today, or you can forget about this wedding!"

I let out a cold laugh.

"Fine. Then let's not get married."

......

1

I slapped the contract across her face.

Smack. The whole room went silent.

Sophia froze for a couple of seconds. The contract slid off her face, showing an expression twisted with shock.

"Are you insane?!"

"My parents paid the down payment, and you put his name on it. Am I the crazy one here, or are you?"

Sophia shot to her feet, her face flushed red.

I looked at her. "Five years. Have you been waiting for him to come back this whole time?"

"Bullshit!" Her voice went shrill. "Gordon doesn't even have a place to stay. What's wrong with letting him crash for a while? A grown man like you, this petty?"

Gordon came hobbling over from behind, leaning on his crutch, a gentle smile on his face. He patted my shoulder.

"Buddy, don't get the wrong idea. Worst case, I'll go sleep under a bridge. Don't let me come between you two."

The way he put it, like if I didn't let him move in, I was sending him under a bridge.

Sure enough, Sophia swallowed it whole. The tears came right on cue. "See? He says he'll sleep under a bridge, and you still can't do this?"

Sophia's brother darted out from the side.

"Sis, I told you a long time ago, guys like this can't be counted on. If you can't handle the game, don't play it. Now he's copying people who call off engagements. Tsk, tsk."

"Graham, look at you, spineless. If you lose my sister, who else do you think you're going to find? Some hick from a small town."

I was so furious I laughed.

I turned and walked toward the door.

"Graham! If you leave, don't come back!" Sophia shouted after me. "Without me, you're nothing!"