As I was about to sign the papers and pay the $200,000 down payment for our future house, my girlfriend suddenly stared at the realtor. “Only my name goes on the deed and the purchase agreement,” she said. I froze, thinking I had misheard her. “Chloe, this is two hundred thousand dollars. My parents sold their old house just to scrape this together. We can’t even put both our names on it?” Chloe’s face instantly turned cold. “Ethan, are you seriously keeping score with me right now?” “I gave you the best years of my youth. I’m just asking for this house to give me some security. Is that too much to ask?” Seeing other home buyers whispering and looking at us, I quickly lowered my voice to soothe her. “It’s not about keeping score. Having both our names is just the legal way to protect our marriage.” Chloe sneered. “Don’t talk to me about the law. I only care about your attitude!” “My bestie’s husband bought a house in full cash and only put her name on it. Why is it so hard for you when it’s just a down payment?” “Ethan, if your name is on this deed today, the wedding is off!” She turned to leave. My chest tightened. We were so close to getting married. If things fell apart now, I wouldn’t know how to face my parents. “Fine! We’ll write only your name!” I gritted my teeth and called her back. Chloe stopped. Her frown instantly turned into a beaming smile. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. “You’re the best, babe! I knew you loved me the most!” But I never expected that very night, she would give me the lesson of a lifetime.
To celebrate “her” new luxury apartment, Chloe booked a table at a high-end restaurant that night. She even ordered an expensive vintage wine. After a few glasses, her face was flushed with excitement. “Ethan, this house is my leverage now. My mom is going to be so thrilled.” I forced a smile, but my heart felt like it was crushed under a boulder. Two hundred thousand dollars. All for her smile and my uncertain future. By the end of the dinner, Chloe was completely wasted. She slumped over the table, mumbling, “I have a house now… I have a home…” I sighed and got up to pay the bill. When I came back, I noticed her phone on the table. It was buzzing non-stop. I didn’t mean to snoop, but the notifications were coming in too fast. And the name of the group chat popping up on the screen made my eyelid twitch: [High-Society Wannabes & Simp Harvesters (Group 3)] I instinctively picked up her phone and used her thumb to unlock it. The pinned chat was scrolling frantically with messages. “@BrightSky (Chloe’s handle) Babe! How did it go? Did that idiot swipe his card?” “Make sure you don’t get the marriage certificate first. Otherwise, it becomes marital property. You must buy it now, and only in your name!” Ten minutes ago, right before she passed out, Chloe had sent a voice note. I tapped it. Her smug, drunken voice came through the speaker. “Got it! A $200,000 down payment, all paid by him. Only my name is on the deed!” “Add his name? No way! A little drama, and I had him wrapped around my finger.” The group chat exploded. The screen was flooded with “Queen behavior!” and “Teach us your ways!” A user named @Simp_Slayer messaged: “Incredible job, babe! This guy is just a stepping stone anyway.” “Now that the house is yours, it’s pre-marital property. Even if you divorce him later, he won’t get a dime.” “He paid the down payment voluntarily. In court, the judge will just rule it as a gift. He’ll be crying in the corner!” My hand started to shake. A cold shiver ran up my spine. The “security” drama this afternoon was a carefully planned trap. This was the woman I had cherished and loved for three years? I kept scrolling up. I saw a screenshot Chloe had shared from a Twitter thread. The title read: *Girls, how do I get my boyfriend to pay for a house but only put my name on it? Urgent!* The comments below were packed with toxic advice. “Threaten to break up. Works every time.” “Accuse him of not trusting you. Gaslight him.” “If all else fails, cry, scream, throw a tantrum.” Chloe had replied: *Noted. Trying this tonight. The guy has some savings, can’t let him slip away.* Looking at those words, my stomach churned. Still in denial, I tapped into her chat with her mother, Eleanor. The timestamp was from this afternoon, right when we were signing the papers. Eleanor: “Chloe, is the deed signed? Are you sure that poor boy’s name isn’t on it?” Chloe: “Don’t worry, Mom. It’s done. This house belongs to our family now. Ethan has nothing to do with it.” Eleanor: “Good! By the way, Aunt Susan set you up with a PhD who just came back from abroad. Free tomorrow night for a date?” “I heard his family owns factories. Way better than Ethan, who’s just a corporate slave.” “Now that you have a house, your value is different. Keep Ethan as a backup, but keep your options open. Don’t tie yourself to one tree.” Chloe had replied with an “OK” emoji. “I know, Mom. Now that the house is mine, I can easily ghost Ethan later with some random excuse.” “He already paid the money anyway. No loss for me.” “Send me a picture of the PhD. Is he hot?” *Slam!* I slammed the phone onto the table in fury. The noise startled the nearby diners and woke Chloe up. She rubbed her eyes, looking dazed. “Babe… what’s wrong? Are we going home?” She reached out to grab my arm, acting cute as usual. I stepped back to avoid her touch, my eyes freezing cold. Looking at this beautiful woman with a snake’s heart. I suddenly laughed. I laughed at how stupid I had been. I laughed at how I had used my parents’ hard-earned money to feed an ungrateful leech. She thought she could ruin me just because she had Twitter gurus and toxic strategies. Too bad, Chloe. You don’t know my background. You have Twitter. But I have the law.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself down. Confronting her now was not smart. The house contract was just signed, and the paperwork wasn’t complete. Since you want to play, I’ll play with you. While she was still groggy, I took her phone again. I quickly took photos and screen recordings of all the chats, the group, and the Twitter posts. Then, I uploaded everything to my cloud drive. Once done, I cleared the transfer history, put her phone back, and put on a warm smile. I helped her up. “It’s nothing. My hand slipped.” “Come on, honey. Let’s go home.” Chloe leaned heavily on me, her breath smelling of alcohol. “Ethan… you’re so good to me…” “We’re going to be so happy…” I sneered inwardly. Oh, yes. I will make sure we are “happy.” The next morning, Chloe woke up with a pounding headache. She reached for her phone first thing. Seeing it untouched on the nightstand, she let out a sigh of relief. “Good morning, babe.” She walked out of the bedroom in her pajamas and saw me on the balcony making a call. I said to the phone, “Yes, I kept all the transfer records of the $200,000. The notes are very clear.” Chloe froze. Her eyes instantly filled with suspicion. “Ethan, who are you talking to? What transfer records?” I hung up, turned around, and smiled naturally. “Oh, I was just thinking. Since the house is only in your name, I wanted to make sure your mom feels secure.” “I just consulted a lawyer friend. He said to protect your rights, we should complete some formalities.” Hearing “protect your rights,” Chloe’s eyes lit up. “What formalities?” I walked over and poured her a glass of warm water. “The lawyer said that even though only your name is on the deed, I paid the money.” “To avoid any future disputes—like if I ever regret it and try to sue you.” “We should sign an agreement stating this money is a ‘voluntary pre-marital gift’ conditional on our marriage.” Chloe was ecstatic. Wasn’t this exactly what her group chat sisters had taught her? Lock in the gift status! She grabbed my hand excitedly. “Babe, you’re so thoughtful! Draft it quickly, and I’ll sign!” Looking at her eager face, I sneered inside. Greed really makes people stupid. “Sure, I’ll write it now.” I took out some paper and a pen I had prepared. I drafted a few quick terms. The core was: *Ethan paid $200,000 for the property down payment, registered under Chloe’s name.* But the killer clause was at the end: *[If the parties fail to marry, or if the marriage lasts less than one year, the female party must return the full amount plus interest.]* This is the standard legal concept of a conditional gift in contemplation of marriage. It was my first trap for her. Chloe took the agreement and scanned it. Her eyes stopped at “fail to marry.” She frowned. “Ethan, what is this? You don’t trust that I’ll marry you?” “If I sign this, doesn’t it make me look like a debtor?” She wasn’t entirely brainless. My face didn’t betray a thing. I put on a hurt expression. “Chloe, it’s $200,000. My parents’ retirement money.” “If I don’t have some guarantee, my parents will disown me.” “Besides, we’re getting married next month. This clause is just a piece of useless paper to you.” “Unless… you never planned on marrying me?” I turned the tables on her. Chloe’s eyes flickered. She thought of her mom’s words last night and that Yale PhD. But if she didn’t sign now and I backed out of the house deal, her dream of owning a luxury home would shatter. Besides, as long as they got married, she could just drag it out for a year or so before divorcing him. Then the money would be hers legally, right? Her online friends had said that once married, the money is considered spent on marital life or a gift, and it’s almost impossible to get back. She bit her lip. She felt she couldn’t lose. “Fine! I’ll sign!” “But I have one condition. Don’t show this to my mom before the deed is finalized. I don’t want her overthinking.” Just what I wanted. “Deal.” As I watched her sign her name and press her fingerprint onto the paper, the heavy weight in my chest finally lifted. But this was only the beginning.
After signing, Chloe was in high spirits. She immediately got dressed and put on makeup, claiming she was going to meet her bestie to share the good news. But I knew she was actually going to meet that Yale PhD. I didn’t expose her. I even kindly ordered an Uber for her. “Have fun. I’ll pick you up tonight.” As soon as she left, I headed straight to another law firm. I was there to meet Mark, the best litigation lawyer in town for financial disputes. “Mr. Miller, your evidence is rock solid,” Mark said, pushing up his glasses as he looked at the chat records and the agreement. “The chat records prove she had intent of fraud and using marriage for financial gain.” “And this agreement, although called a pre-marital gift confirmation, is actually a conditional gift contract.” “Now, all you need to do is make sure that ‘condition’ is never met.” I nodded. “Mark, if I break up with her now, how much of the money can I get back?” Mark smiled. “According to the law, since you two didn’t marry, the conditional gift must be returned in full.” “Plus, she is the party at fault. Not only does she have to return the principal, but if we play this right, she won’t even touch a cent of the property’s appreciation.” “However, since she’s still going on dates, why don’t we…” Mark leaned in and whispered a strategy. A cold gleam flashed in my eyes. “Great. Let’s do exactly that.” That night, I didn’t pick up Chloe. Instead, I sent her a Snapchat: *Sudden overtime at the office. Working through the night. Go home by yourself.* Chloe replied instantly: *Okay, honey. Work hard! Love you, mwah!* Even through the screen, I could feel her indifference and excitement. With me out of the way, she could do whatever she wanted with her PhD. Sitting in my dark living room, I opened Instagram. Sure enough, using my alt account, I could see the post she had blocked my main account from seeing. *Finally met a soul who understands me. Wish we met sooner.* The photo was a selfie at a Michelin-star restaurant. Opposite her sat a man in a suit. Although his face was blurred, the Patek Philippe on his wrist was screaming wealth. The location was tagged at the W Hotel downtown. I sneered and took a screenshot. Chloe, you think you’re keeping your options open. You don’t realize the backup plan you’re riding is actually a tiger ready to tear you apart. Over the next few days, I acted incredibly busy. I left early and came home late, treating her with cold detachment. Chloe was so wrapped up in her new romance and the joy of her new house that she didn’t care about my attitude at all. Until the home purchase invoice and contract were delivered to our apartment. Chloe tore the package open impatiently, kissing the contract with her name on it. “Ethan, let’s go choose the curtains this weekend. I want the French royal style.” She said casually, posing in front of the mirror. I sat on the sofa, playing with my lighter. “Chloe, let’s not rush the curtains.” “There’s something I need to tell you.” Chloe stopped and turned around. “What is it?” I looked up, staring straight into her eyes. “My parents changed their minds about the wedding.” “They said since the house only has your name, your family should pay for the renovations and appliances.” “It’s about $50,000.” Chloe instantly exploded. “What?! Fifty thousand?” “Ethan, are you insane? Where would my family get fifty thousand?” “Besides, I’m marrying you, not buying you! You want my family to pay for renovations? In your dreams!” She slammed the contract onto the floor and pointed her finger at my face. “I’m telling you, not a single penny! You will renovate this house beautifully for me, and you will buy me a BMW as a wedding gift!” “Otherwise, the wedding is off!” She finally said it. That was exactly what I was waiting for. Slowly, I took out the copy of the agreement from my briefcase. Along with a thick stack of printed chat records. And photos of her kissing the Yale PhD in front of the hotel. I had hired a private investigator to take those. “Wedding off? Perfect.” “I was thinking the exact same thing.” “Chloe, since you called off the wedding, let’s follow the agreement.” I threw the stack of papers onto the coffee table. “The $200,000 down payment, plus the $30,000 I spent on your designer bags and watches over the past few years.” “Plus interest.” “Total of $240,000.” “Wire it to my account within three days.” “Or I’ll see you in court.”
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