Less than three months after my wife passed away, my sister-in-law started pressuring me to clear out my room.

"Look, I'm not trying to kick you out, Graham. Donovan wants to renovate your bedroom. The sooner you pack up, the sooner we can start the work. Besides, you married into the family. Now that Arya is gone, it doesn't make sense for you to keep living with us."

My mother-in-law paused mid-bite, pretending not to hear. Donovan Marlowe kept his head down, eating in silence.

Seeing I did not respond, she continued, "Don't get me wrong. I'm just worried people will gossip about you."

Only then did I look up at her, my tone calm. "Thanks for the concern, Sloane. But I'm not afraid of gossip."

After all, the house was registered in my name.

"I appreciate the concern, Sloane. But I'm not afraid of gossip." My tone remained even, with a faint smile still on my face.

Sloane Hayes' smile froze instantly, displeasure nearly spilling from her eyes. She opened her mouth to say more when Donovan Marlowe, who had been eating with his head down, suddenly coughed.

"Enough. We're eating. Why bring this up now?"

Sloane closed her mouth and shot me a vicious glare, clattering her utensils extra loudly.

I ignored their expressions, picked up my utensils, and ate my food slowly without saying another word. Only the harsh sound of utensils clashing filled the dinner table.

Late that night, I woke up parched and got up to get water from the living room.

As I passed Sloane and Donovan's bedroom, their voices carried clearly through the door.

"Did you see his attitude? He's completely unreasonable!" It was Sloane's voice, anxious and angry. "I was planning to clear out his bedroom for Maya to use. But now, look at this. He's obviously planning to stick around and mooch off us!"

"What can we do?" Donovan's voice sounded muffled. "My sister just passed away. If we kick him out now, what will people think of us? We'd be buried in judgment."

"But we can't just let him freeload forever!" Sloane raised her voice, then hastily lowered it again. Your sister is gone. Why is he still living here?"

My fingers tightened slightly around the water glass.

The next second, I heard Donovan say, "We can't kick him out. We need to make him leave on his own. Tomorrow, go ask around the neighborhood and find out how much a bedroom rents for. Starting next month, we'll make him pay rent.

"This is our family's house. We can't let him live and eat here for free. Even if we can't kick him out right now, we can at least make him pay something."

"Pay rent?" Sloane paused, then laughed. "That's brilliant! But what if he refuses?"

Donovan let out a cold laugh. "Talk to my mom. Get her to back you up. He's always listened to my mom. He won't refuse."

I stood outside the door and smiled silently. What a brilliant scheme.

They were living in my house for free, eating my food, and using my things. Now, they wanted me to pay rent and move out so they could give the room to their daughter.

I turned around with my glass of water and slowly walked back to my bedroom.

Back in my room, I pulled out the property deed from the bottom drawer of my nightstand. I flipped to the first page. My name was printed there clearly—Graham Moss.

This apartment was 1,800 square feet in a prime location with an excellent layout. My father had bought it for me as a wedding gift before he moved abroad to settle down.

When Arya Marlowe and I got married, I had no family left in the country, so I moved in with hers.

After the wedding, we never bought a new place. We stayed here.

Later, her brother and sister-in-law lost everything in a failed business venture. With nowhere else to turn, they came crying with their child to seek refuge. My mother-in-law wiped away tears while Arya, softhearted as always, begged me to let them move in.

Even back then, I knew it would be too crowded. Three generations crammed into one apartment were extremely inconvenient.

I offered to rent them a two-bedroom place nearby so that it would not be too tight a squeeze.

However, Sloane's expression immediately darkened as she made a snide remark, "Graham, I don't mean to criticize, but couples need to be practical about money."

"Besides, we have a house. What's wrong with the family squeezing in together? We can fit. Why waste money renting from someone else?"

Donovan chimed in from the side. "Arya, does your husband look down on us for being poor?"

I did not want to put Arya in a difficult position at the time, so I let it drop. However, now, less than three months after Arya died in that car accident, they were already eager to kick me out and take over my house.

Only now did I understand. When they said 'home', they had long since treated this place as theirs.

I stared at my name on the property deed, thinking back to their conversation earlier.

I pulled out my phone and carefully photographed the deed from cover to cover, uploading everything to cloud storage for backup.

After finishing, I hid the property deed in an even more discreet location.

…

The next day at dinner, I had barely sat down and taken a few bites when Sloane started sighing heavily. "Ugh, business at the factory has been terrible lately. My paycheck still hasn't come through this month. We can barely keep up with household expenses."

Donovan immediately jumped in with a frown, "I haven't been getting much work either. My payment has been delayed for days. I don't have a spare cent. We can barely scrape together Maya's extracurricular class fees."

Sloane glanced at my mother-in-law, then continued, "Grace, haven't groceries gotten ridiculously expensive lately? I went shopping after work today and saw a bunch of greens going for eight dollars. The cost of living just keeps climbing. For people like us with low incomes, it's really tough."

My mother-in-law quietly agreed. "Things are more expensive now. Life is getting harder."

Once my mother-in-law took the bait, Sloane immediately turned to me with a fake smile plastered on her face. "Graham, you see how things are right now. It's difficult. This house fits all of us, but the expenses are huge. How about starting next month, you chip in some rent? It doesn't have to be much. Maybe 3,500 dollars a month."

Before I could respond, she added, "Graham, I know things aren't easy for you either. But you don't have kids right now. You've got way less pressure than we do, so 3,500 shouldn't be that hard for you, right? Think of it as contributing to the household. Right, Grace?"

"That's right, Graham. Why don't you listen to Sloane and Donovan and pay a little rent?"

I set down my utensils, genuinely confused. "Sloane, since when do people pay rent to live in their own home? Besides, I've been paying the water, electricity, and property management fees for this place every single month. I've never asked any of you to chip in a single cent."

I turned to my mother-in-law, my tone carrying a hint of grievance. "And Grace, every month when I get paid, I give you 2,000 dollars for household expenses. After that and my own costs, where would I get extra money for rent?

"It's not that I don't want to spend money on this family. I genuinely can't afford it right now.

"You all know that when Arya had that car accident, we spent everything we had on her treatment. The driver who hit her has no money to compensate us and keeps dragging it out. I have nothing left."

As I spoke, my eyes grew slightly red. The dinner table fell silent instantly.

Sloane's face flushed red, then pale. Donovan frowned and kept his head down without speaking. My mother-in-law's eyes reddened as she lowered her head.

I lost my appetite and hurried back to my room. What I said at the dinner table was half-truth.

When Arya got hit by that drunk driver, we did use our savings to pay for her medical treatment, but the insurance covered most of it later. I was not broke.

…

That night, as I drifted in and out of sleep, I heard Sloane and Donovan arguing. A child's crying mixed in with their voices.

"Didn't you say your mom would back me up and he'd listen?" Sloane's voice was sharp with anger and tears. "After what I said today, I've become the villain! Like I'm the one bullying him!"

Donovan's voice carried anger too. "Keep your voice down. Don't let him hear you."

"I wish he would hear! Maybe then he'd have the sense to move out."

"How was I supposed to know he'd be like this? I thought he'd give in to my mom! Who knew he'd be so stubborn!"

"So, what do we do now? We can't get rent from him. Maya's starting elementary school soon and still doesn't have her own room. She can't keep sharing with us forever."

I stopped listening to the rest. It was just more passive-aggressive complaining about me. I rolled over, closed my eyes, and went back to sleep.

…

That morning, I had fieldwork with the afternoon off. I came home early without telling anyone. The moment I opened the front door, I saw my bedroom door slightly ajar. My mother-in-law was hunched over, rummaging frantically through my nightstand.

"Mom, did you find it yet? The property deed should be in a red folder. It's hard to miss."

Her phone sat on the pillow with the speaker on. Sloane's voice came through loud and clear.

"Not yet... I've been looking everywhere and still can't find it."

"Keep looking!" Sloane's tone turned urgent.

"Now that Arya's gone, Donovan is your only son left. If you don't rely on him, who will you rely on? Once we transfer the house into our name, we can take proper care of you in your old age.

"If you can't find it and the house stays in Graham's name, our family of four will have nowhere to live. And you can forget about a comfortable retirement!"

I stood in the doorway, coldly watching this scene unfold.

My mother-in-law's hand trembled. She whipped around and met my eyes. Her face went deathly pale as she fumbled to end the call, her lips quivering. "Graham... You... Why are you home?"

She stood frozen in place. She darted her eyes away, looking like a child caught doing something wrong.

I looked at her, feeling a pang of bitterness. I let out a soft sigh. "Grace, even though Arya's gone, I've always treated you like my own mother."

Without waiting to see her mortified expression, I walked straight into my room and closed the door. That evening, I did not join them for dinner.

They assumed I was not home, so their conversation in the living room became unguarded.

"Grace, I asked you to find one property deed, and you couldn't even do that. What can you actually accomplish?" Sloane's accusation was undisguised.

"I really did look everywhere... He's done too good a job at hiding it." My mother-in-law's voice was low.

"How big can one room be?" Donovan sounded impatient.

"Look again tomorrow. It has to be in a drawer or cabinet somewhere. It can't just disappear into thin air."

I barely slept that night. First thing the next morning, I put the property deed in my bag, took it straight to the office, and locked it in my desk drawer. When they could not find the property deed, they came up with a different scheme.

After work that day, Sloane called me. "Graham, come home early. We have something important to tell you."

I took my time heading home. The moment I walked in, I saw an unfamiliar woman sitting on the living room couch. She looked to be in her early 30s.

Sloane immediately pulled me over enthusiastically. "Come on, Graham. Let me introduce you. This is my distant cousin. She's virtuous and has a steady job."

The woman smiled at me. I ignored her and looked at Sloane instead. "What's this about?"

Sloane's face was all smiles, but her words were blunt. "Graham, look. Arya's gone, but you're still young. You can't spend the rest of your life alone.

"Why not remarry now? Then you'll have someone to care for you, and you can have a child. Wouldn't that be perfect? My cousin is really great. She'd treat you well."

I actually laughed at the absurdity. "Arya just passed away, and you're already rushing to find me a new wife? Don't you think that's inappropriate?"

Donovan immediately put on a stern face. "How is it inappropriate? We're doing this for your own good! What kind of life is it for a young man to stay single forever?"

"For my own good?" I let out a cold laugh. "You just want me to get out of this house sooner, right?"