Just Pucking Money [COMPLETED]

Chapter 50 - Ending things is hard

Lily

"I'm putting the house on the market."

The words wake me up completely. Not only because they're not coming from Ethan, who I suspected was calling, but because they're imploding my already horrible life.

"What?" I sit up. It's later than I had hoped, but it took me hours to finally fall asleep. And then, I was plagued by nightmares of Ethan and Antonia walking down the aisle together, laughing at me.

"I can't handle this anymore. I know you don't want this, but it's our only option."

"I can send more money." Racking my brain, I try to get rid of the drowsiness. "If I send you two hundred today, I can get you another fifty in the next couple of days."

There's a disappointed sigh on the phone. "Lily, we need a lot more than that. It's too late for you to be sending a few dollars. I have a real estate agent and he'll be in touch with you to get some paperwork sorted."

"You talked to someone?" My throat is closing. In a few hours, both my future and my past have disintegrated. And I can't stop either from disappearing completely.

"Please don't make this harder than it has to be. You knew this was coming."

Tears roll down my cheeks. "I know." My voice is choked.

"Good. And you can still come home for Christmas. You'll probably want to sort out your things."

"Yeah."

I hang up the phone and sit in bed, trying to stop crying for a while. It's going to be my last Christmas in the house I grew up in. Then I realize I can't go back. Not for Christmas. If I spend another sad, lonely Christmas in that house, I'm worried it will erase all the happy holidays I had with my dad.

But maybe I should go, anyway? I could probably afford the gas to drive, if I have the time.

The house is empty when I get up. Sometimes, Ginny and Tony take the dogs out for long walks on Sundays and go to different parks to play with them.

I make myself some toast and have a yogurt. I should check the messages Ethan sent me, but I can't. Not yet.

I'm tidying up after myself when the doorbell rings. My body goes stiff and I know who it is immediately.

Steeling myself for the conversation we're about to have, I open the door.

"We need to talk," Ethan says.

I nod and show him in. I take him to the living room and sit down in one of the armchairs.

"You've been crying." He sounds surprised.

"Let's talk."

He sits on the sofa, leaning as far forward as he can. "I'm really sorry about last night. I never wanted you to meet Antonia."

"She's pretty."

He shakes his head. "She's fine, just not my type." He gets up and pulls me up from the chair and into his arms. I stand there, surrounded by him and his scent, and knowing I'll never get to experience this again makes tears well up.

"I'm going to miss this." I sigh.

"Don't talk as if it's all over." He holds me tighter.

"But it is. I never want to be the other woman, and since Antonia showed up, that's what I am."

"She's not here. They left."

I wiggle out of his arms. "They came here to claim their territory. Whether you realized it or not, they came to let you know you're theirs now. They might as well have peed all over you."