PART 3: The House Nobody Could Have
Melody stared at me as if I had spoken another language.
“What do you mean we can't live here?”
I held the folder against my chest.
“I mean exactly what the contract says.”
Garrett stepped forward, his face flushed with anger.
“This is ridiculous.”
“No,” I replied calmly. “This is legally binding.”
He ran a hand through his hair.
“We've already moved our furniture in.”
“And that was your choice.”
Melody scoffed.
“You're just being bitter.”
I looked at her for a long moment.
“You slept with my fiancé.”
“You got pregnant.”
“You announced my house as your home.”
“And somehow…”
I tilted my head slightly.
“I'm the bitter one?”
Neither of them answered.
That afternoon, both of them met with their own attorney.
I wasn't there.
But Daniel called me afterward.
“They're asking the judge for temporary possession of the property.”
“On what grounds?”
“Melody claims she's pregnant and needs stable housing.”
I almost laughed.
“She wasn't pregnant when she decided to have an affair.”
Daniel chuckled softly.
“The judge won't rule based on sympathy.”
“What matters?”
“The contract.”
Three days later, all three of us appeared before a mediator.
Garrett looked exhausted.
Dark circles had formed beneath his eyes.
Melody sat beside him with one hand resting dramatically on her stomach.
The mediator, a woman in her sixties named Judge Eleanor Watkins, opened the file.
“I've reviewed the purchase agreement.”
She looked over her glasses at Garrett.
“You signed every page?”
“Yes.”
“You understood the ownership clause?”
Garrett hesitated.
“I... trusted my fiancée.”
Judge Watkins nodded slowly.
“So you signed a legal document without reading it.”
Silence.
“That was your decision.”
Garrett lowered his head.
The judge turned toward Melody.
“You are not listed as an owner of this property.”
“No.”
“Then you have no legal claim to possession.”
Melody quickly leaned forward.
“But I'm carrying his baby.”
Judge Watkins remained expressionless.
“That may be relevant to family court in the future.”
She closed the folder.
“It is not relevant to property ownership.”
Melody's face fell.
Then the judge looked at me.
“Ms. Brooks, are you requesting financial compensation?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Garrett looked surprised.
“I don't want revenge.”
The room became quiet.
“I simply don't want my investment handed to the two people who betrayed me.”
Judge Watkins gave a small nod.
“That is understandable.”
She wrote several notes before speaking again.
“Until this matter is resolved, neither owner may occupy the residence.”
She looked directly at Garrett.
“That includes you.”
His shoulders dropped.
Outside the courthouse, reporters had gathered after hearing rumors about the unusual property dispute.
Microphones appeared almost immediately.
“Mr. Collins!”
“Is it true you were removed from your own home?”
Garrett ignored them.
Melody covered her face.
One reporter turned to me.
“Miss Brooks, do you have any comment?”
I smiled politely.
“Yes.”
“What would you like to say?”
I answered with complete honesty.
“Always read what you sign.”
The cameras captured every word.
By evening, the clip had spread across social media.
Millions of people watched it.
Most weren't talking about the house.
They were talking about betrayal.
The next morning, Garrett called.
His voice sounded nothing like before.
“Sienna…”
“What?”
“I need to talk.”
“You had six months to talk.”
“This is different.”
“No,” I said quietly.
“It really isn't.”
He sighed.
“I've been staying in a hotel.”
“And?”
“My savings are running out.”
I remained silent.
“The mortgage starts next month.”
“I know.”
“We can't afford both.”
I closed my eyes.
For years, I had been the one creating budgets, negotiating payments, and making sure every bill was covered.
Garrett had never noticed.
Now he was noticing everything.
Too late.
That evening, another unexpected call came.
It was Melody.
She wasn't angry this time.
She was crying.
“I need your help.”
I almost didn't recognize her voice.
“What happened?”
“Garrett and I are fighting all the time.”
Silence.
“He says none of this would've happened if I'd stayed out of it.”
I looked out my apartment window.
The irony wasn't lost on me.
“The man who cheated on me is blaming you?”
She sobbed quietly.
“I don't know what to do.”
For a brief moment…
I felt sorry for her.
Then I remembered the photograph.
The white dress.
“Our home. Our new beginning.”
My sympathy disappeared.
“You made your choices, Melody.”
“So did he.”
Then I ended the call.
A week later, Daniel arrived at my apartment carrying another folder.
His expression was serious.
“We've received new financial records.”
“What kind of records?”
He placed them on the table.
“Bank statements.”
I opened the file.
The first page made my heart stop.
Payments.
Hotel reservations.
Luxury gifts.
Jewelry purchases.
Dating back…
Almost a year.
My fingers tightened around the papers.
“This can't be right.”
Daniel nodded gravely.
“We verified every transaction.”
I looked up.
“Garrett wasn't just having an affair for six months…”
Daniel finished the sentence quietly.
“It started nearly eleven months ago.”
Almost a year.
Nearly the entire time we had been planning our wedding.
Everything.
The venue.
The invitations.
The dress.
The honeymoon.
He had been living a lie through all of it.
And as I turned the next page…
I discovered something even worse.
May you like
The money he'd spent on Melody…
Had come directly from the account we were using to build our future together.
