DRAMA NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 1
Chapter 11 Own This Place
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Chapter 1 I Own This Place
It was summer. The sun blazed bright above, scorching Helene Lopez as she stood outside. She was posted at the entrance of a mall handing out flyers as a small part–time gig.
That was when she spotted a young man and woman walking into one of the mall’s side entrances not far away from the main gates. Catching sight of them as they walked inside, she seemed to recognize them. It was her boyfriend, Diego Flores, and her best friend, Freya.
Diego was supposed to be out at an interview that day, or at least that’s what he told Helene. With her chest tightening uncomfortably, she hurriedly followed the two. But as soon as she entered the mall, she lost them amidst the crowd.
After walking aimlessly around the mall and making several loops, she suddenly received a text notifying her of a credit card transaction of $49,998 at one of the mall’s jewelers. Helene’s hands trembled in abject horror at the number. It was half of her entire annual salary.
Dashing to the store where the purchase was made, Helene walked up to the counter flustered, hoping to speak to someone. As she approached, she saw a teller putting a sparkling diamond ring on Freya’s ring finger. The gold band complemented her fair complexion.
And the diamond… It was large yet delicately cut, and it was one that Helene had been eyeing for a long time. She could barely register what she was seeing, unable to process the warm smile on Freya’s face as her mind went blank.
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Diego had been unemployed for six months or so at this point, and now he had the gall to steal her card and use it to buy a diamond ring for Freya? She felt like a ghost, erased from existence. Diego certainly didn’t regard her as anything
more.
Helene rushed toward Freya and snatched the ring from her finger, pushing it back into the teller’s hand.
“Take the ring back.”
“Helene?! What are you doing? I just bought it! What makes you think you can just give it back?” Freya exclaimed.
Before she could say any more, Helene slapped Freya across the face, the sound like a whip being cracked.
“What are you doing?” Diego yelled, rushing over from the cashier once he noticed the confrontation. He took Freya in his arms distressedly. “You’re going to go around assaulting people over a bit of cash? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
He didn’t even bother to hide the disgust in his eyes, sending Helene’s heart hurtling into her stomach. She felt like it had been crushed by a millstone, ground to the powder of betrayal, anger, and humiliation. Her eyes were stained red with these emotions as she shot daggers at him.
“You took my hard–earned money to buy shit for another woman, and you’re asking me if I should feel ashamed?!”
“Stop making such a big deal about it! So what if I did? If this is how you’re going to act, then no man would fall in love with you to begin with! You had it coming!”
In order to support the ungrateful bastard for the past six
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months, Helene had saved all the money she made to feed and support the two of them. She didn’t even have anything set aside to buy basic skincare for herself, nor did she make any trips to the mall to buy new clothes. She went to work in worn shirts and old pants. All of this for him to betray her.
As a crowd began to form around the three of them, Diego shoved the credit card and receipt in Helene’s face angrily.
“You know what? I’ll give it all back to you if you care about it so much. It’s just money, money, money with you! I’ve had enough!”
Helene’s face hurt, having practically been slapped by her own credit card, but it didn’t begin to compare to the pain she felt in her heart.
“Helene, you’re going to die alone. No man can stand you,” Diego sneered. Then, he took Freya’s hand and took her outside.
Without saying so much as a word, Helene bent over to pick up her credit card and the receipt, which had fallen on the floor. Then, she walked back to the counter and refunded the purchase. Once she had gotten her money back, she went straight to the house that she and Diego rented.
It was a two–bedroom apartment, though only one was ever occupied. How ridiculous it was that she had once thought Diego was a good man. Once inside, Helene began packing Diego’s things and prepared herself to kick him out.
Wanting to take her mind off things, she also decided to clean up the room and make the bed. As she sorted out the sheets, two condoms fell out. They were… fresh. All her memories of Diego, her hopes of a life with him, were snuffed out at once.
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With all of his belongings now packed into some luggage, she took great pleasure in chucking each one out the front door. As she was doing so, Diego had returned with Freya.
He stormed into the bedroom, and once he realized all of his things had been removed, he fell into a rage. “You have to be out of your mind! Why are you touching my stuff?”
Helene had since taken a seat on the sofa in the living room. There was once a time she thought Diego was the most handsome man in the world, but as her eyes fell upon him now, she felt only disgust.
“You came back at a great time. Give me your key and don’t come back again. I don’t need you dirtying up the place anymore.”
“You don’t actually think you can do this, can you? You’re fucking crazy. You know I’ve paid rent too, so what makes you think you can just kick me out?!” Diego roared.
“Sure, but that’s long in the past. How about we talk about the rent for the last six months? And all your living expenses for the past two and a half years? Have you paid me back for any of that?!” Helene said, anger flaring up in her voice as well.
She quickly calmed down once more as she looked at Diego shifting his gaze back and forth. The surrounding neighbors had become aware of the argument taking place, and many had dropped what they were doing to point, stare, and gossip in the hall. Knowing that he had already harmed his image enough, he calmed down and did what he could to quell his anger as well.
“Is that all you want? Money? Half a year’s rent here is only what, three or four grand? My usual salary for a month and a
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half can cover my share of it. It’s nothing to me, do you understand? I’ll pay you back for the rent I owe you once I get a job.”
“No, you don’t have to wait. We’ll give her the money right now,” Freya suddenly interjected, taking out her phone and walking forward to face Helene. Turning slightly to give Diego a knowing glance, she continued. “I’ll pay the six month’s rent like we agreed. In exchange… Helene, you’ll move out instead. How about it?”
Freya had it all planned already, and she was more than willing to pay out. After all, Diego’s half of the rent was barely two grand. Though Helene had covered much more than rent all these years, it didn’t matter now. This was Freya’s chance to claim her spot in Diego’s heart.
He had graduated from a prestigious college, one of the Ivy League schools if she remembered correctly. He had potential, and not to mention he was already earning good money at his previous job.
Freya looked at Helene and gave her a cheerful nod. Her banking app was already open, ready to send the money at a moment’s notice. And just like that, the money was sent. Then, she pointed at the door triumphantly. “Pack up your things and get out!”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Helene replied casually. She turned around and fished through a filing cabinet for a few documents. Then, she took out a property deed for the room. “Took a good look.“”
Her name was clearly written on the deed alongside her signature.
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“As you can see, I’m the owner of this apartment, and you’re nothing more than a tenant. That being said, I’m taking this place back.”
“What? You were cheating me out of rent this entire time?!” Diego exclaimed furiously upon seeing the document. “You fucking own this place yet you were still asking me to pay rent all these years?”
Helene shrugged innocently and said, “I’m sorry, but if you’re living in someone else’s place, they’re more than entitled to ask you for rent.”
“You evil bitch!” Diego cried out, pointing a trembling finger at her. “I didn’t think you could stoop so low.”
“You’re despicable,” Freya hissed. She had nothing now. Her money was in Helene’s account, and the apartment she was supposed to share with Diego had slipped through her fingers.
“Oh, please. I’m nothing compared to you.” Helene opened the door. “Now pack up the rest of your things and get out!”
Though Freya wanted to continue the fight, Diego had long since noticed that even more of their neighbors were watching now. Not wanting to garner any more attention, he quickly dragged Freya away.
Before they left, he turned to glare at Helene one last time. He had to find a way to take this apartment from her, but that would come later. Then, he left.
Now that the scumbag was gone, Helene pressed her back against the wall of her living room and slumped to the floor. That confrontation had taken everything from her. Though
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her heart ached, she was relieved knowing she wouldn’t have to work so many jobs to support him anymore.
The moment she relaxed and took a breath, her phone began to ring. It was her brother calling.
“Helene? I… I don’t know how to say this. Grandma’s been diagnosed with cancer and the operation fees amount to 70,000. I don’t have that much money, and insurance basically doesn’t cover anything. I don’t know what to do…”
He stopped talking. And even over the phone, Helene knew that he was choking up from the tears.