Chapter 3

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.