1: 1
The wedding was close, so I brought my parents, who'd traveled all this way, to see the new house.
But no matter what I did, the smart entry system wouldn't let us in.
I called my boyfriend, Cedric Harding. He sounded distracted.
"Oh, I've been swamped at work lately. Lucille's the one keeping an eye on the renovations."
"To make it easier for her to come and go, I deleted your face for now."
That made me angry.
"The system can store five faces. Why delete mine?"
"You don't come around much anyway."
"My mom, my dad, Lucille and me, plus her dog. That's exactly five."
Cedric had said earlier that his father had cancer, so he'd taken back the eighty-thousand engagement dowry and the deposit on the house.
My parents couldn't stand to see me in a bind, so they'd paid for the house outright, in my name.
Now here I was, my parents beside me, shut out of my own home by the smart entry system.
But his little secretary and her dog could walk right in.
I stared at the display, its mechanical voice repeating the same three words over and over: "Stranger."
And I thought: this door called marriage isn't one I absolutely have to walk through.
1
My parents had been traveling all day, and it showed in their faces.
Seeing how dark my expression had gone, my mother gave me a gentle tug and murmured for me to let it go.
"Maybe the machine's broken. Why don't we come back another day."
My father said nothing. He just quietly shifted the local specialties to his other hand.
Cured bacon and dried mushrooms he'd carried all the way from home, because he wanted his son-in-law to taste where we came from.
Just as we were about to leave, Cedric's secretary, Lucille Fox, came walking up with a poodle on a leash.
She lifted the dog and held it up to the camera.
The machine spoke in a sweet female voice.
"Family member, Sweetie, welcome home!"
Lucille looked down her nose at me.
"Ella Pruitt, I'm very busy. Next time you want to come see the place, kindly book an appointment first."
With that she strolled inside, leaving us in the entryway, where a row of pink slippers had been lined up.
My parents were bending to change into them when she wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"Those slippers are all mine, and I'm kind of a germaphobe. Maybe you two should just come in barefoot."
Anger surged up in me. My mother tugged at my sleeve.
"Ella, honey, she's only doing things for Cedric. Don't make it hard for her."
I swallowed the fire in my chest and watched my parents leave their shoes at the door, wipe the soles of their feet again and again with their socks, and step carefully inside.
Inside, the whole place screamed cheap, over-the-top influencer style, nothing like the clean, simple look I'd settled on.
The bedroom that was supposed to be my parents' had a sign hanging on the door: "Pet Paradise."
The room was strewn with dog toys. It had become a kennel.
Lucille folded her arms, every inch the lady of the house.
"Cedric felt bad that I had nowhere to go when I work late, so he set aside a room just for me and Sweetie."
"This place is in a prime spot, worth its weight in gold. Not somewhere just any stray cat or dog can live."
My parents curled their toes uneasily and sat stiff on the couch.
The height of summer, hot and airless, and both of their shirts were soaked through with sweat.
I took a deep breath and looked up at the air conditioner.
"Alexa, turn on the AC, please."
But the smart unit didn't respond at all.
I was about to call customer service when Lucille came over with the dog.
She patted its head, and the dog tipped its face up and barked twice at the air conditioner, and just like that, it switched on.
"A couple of days ago, Cedric made me the administrator of the home's smart system."
"Sweetie can't stand heat, so I had no choice but to delete your voiceprint and swap in hers."
As she spoke, she opened the fridge, took out two bottles of mineral water, and poured a single glass for my parents.
The rest, most of both bottles, she emptied into the dog's bowl beside her.
"Sweetie only drinks this brand of mineral water. It's quite expensive."
"I'm guessing you two have never had water this pricey. Go on, try it, see how sweet it is."
My parents held the glass, frozen in place, unable to move forward or back.
"Ella, I've still got things to do. If there's nothing else, maybe you should head back now."
The dog barked at me twice too.
Lucille smiled and stroked its head. "Good girl, Sweetie. No need to bother with people you don't know."
I clenched my fists, my heart aching until it went numb.
"Ella, honey, let's just go."
My mother pulled me out by the arm. I didn't dare lift my head, afraid the tears would fall.
The moment the elevator doors closed, I saw Lucille bend down and mop, thoroughly, over the exact spot where my parents had been standing.
As if we were something dirty.
"It's fine if we take a little grief. As long as you and Cedric build a good life together, that's all that matters."
My mother pressed a bank card into my hand. "Take this. Use it for his father's treatment."
The sting in my nose swelled hard. I forced out a thin smile and got my parents settled.
After a long inner struggle, I sent the agent a message.
"Can you appraise the current market price of this place for me? I want to sell."
