"Theo Simmons, go find some other woman to marry!"
Phyllis could see nothing was getting through to me.
I was clearly dead set on buying the second-hand house.
Voice cracking, she called my parents to rat me out.
"There's no way Theo and I can get married now."
"He promised me before that we'd buy a large luxury condo for our wedding home."
"The down payment is all ready to go."
"And now he wants to buy me a second-hand house instead."
"Tell him to go find you a new daughter-in-law."
Once Phyllis had finished pouring out her grievances, she didn't hang up.
She deliberately put the call on speaker.
"Phyllis, don't get upset."
"Give the phone to that little punk."
"We'll set him straight."
Phyllis said, "You're on speaker. He can hear you."
The next second, my dad's furious bellow came through.
"Theo Simmons, you little bastard, I dug into my own funeral savings to buy you a house."
"We promised Phyllis a large luxury condo, so we're not going back on our word."
Right after that, my mom started in on me too.
"I'm warning you, if you dare upset my daughter-in-law and something happens to my grandchild, I will never forgive you."
"You buy the large luxury condo, and that's final!"
Phyllis watched me with a smug look on her face.
I sighed. "Mom, Dad, I have a plan and my reasons for buying the second-hand house..."
"Plan, my ass."
"If you actually dare buy that second-hand house."
"I'll break your legs!"
I never doubted my dad for a second.
Because he really would do it.
But I swept my eyes over the second-hand house one more time.
And the more I looked, the more I liked it.
So I pretended to agree, telling my parents I'd reconsider the whole house situation.
Once Phyllis hung up, I was just about to explain things to her.
The agent came rushing in.
He told me happily, "Mr. Simmons, the owner agreed."
"When do we sign the contract?"
Phyllis glared at me viciously. "You sign that thing and see what happens."
"Babe, honestly, with just a little renovation, this place."
"It'd be every bit as good as a luxury condo."
"I don't want it!"
"Then... fine."
I quietly shot the agent a knowing look, then took Phyllis and left.
Once she'd gone off to have afternoon tea with her girlfriends, I hurried to contact the agent again. "I'll take the house. I can wire the money today. Let's sign the contract right away!"
"No problem."
And just like that, I bought the second-hand house without telling Phyllis or my parents.
When I got home that night, my parents chewed me out hard all over again.
They told me to put Phyllis first.
To satisfy her as much as I could.
After all, half the money for the house was Phyllis's, and it wasn't like she was being unreasonable asking for a large luxury condo. She'd told me to take out a loan and said she'd pay it back alongside me.
But to me, living with a huge loan hanging over my head sounded exhausting.
Better to wait a couple of years, make some money, and think about it then.
After I'd coaxed Phyllis to sleep, I slipped out to that run-down second-hand house.
