Chapter 1

In the first year after graduation, my family felt sorry for how exhausting my commute was,

so they bought me a fully paid-off house near my company.

On the first day after I moved in, I invited my best friend over for a housewarming dinner and a tour.

But the moment she stepped inside, she pointed at my minimalist living room and started criticizing it.

“This living room won’t do. You need to add a huge couch and buy a projector. Then we can lie here and binge-watch shows…”

“Oh, and you can’t skip the coffee table. My boyfriend loves smoking, and he’ll have nowhere to tap his ashes. Besides, you can’t keep this dog anymore. He’s allergic to dog hair.”

I didn’t like watching shows, so I only frowned slightly at first.

But then I heard what she said afterward.

“…This is my house. Why are you bringing up your boyfriend?”

My best friend, Chloe, looked over my home’s décor with obvious disdain.

“I’m going to live here with my boyfriend after we get married, of course I have to consider him!”

I froze with a plate in my hands for two seconds, almost thinking I had heard wrong.

“What did you say?”

My best friend, Chloe, didn’t think there was anything wrong with what she had said.

She turned around with a blissful smile.

“Luke proposed to me yesterday. As my best friend, shouldn’t you help build my love story?”

I had no problem giving her a wedding gift.

But nobody had ever said a best friend had to give actual bricks and beams!

I was so shocked that my mouth fell open, but I didn’t know how to respond.

When Chloe saw me staying silent, she stepped forward and affectionately hooked her arm through mine.

“You know Luke still hasn’t found a job, and his family isn’t well-off. There’s no way he can afford a house anytime soon.”

“I’m just worried that my parents won’t agree to let me marry him. Since you happen to have a new house, why don’t you lend it to us for our wedding?”

“We’ll give it back as soon as we’re married. I promise it’ll be just as good as new! You can even soak up some of our good luck and find a boyfriend sooner, so you won’t end up old and unwanted.”

Her words made me uncomfortable.

But when I noticed the plain silver ring on her ring finger,

I thought she might simply be blinded by love and persuaded by her boyfriend’s sweet talk.

So I tapped her lightly on the head, feeling frustrated that she was being so foolish.

“He proposed to you without even having a job. Did he ever think about your future together? That’s incredibly irresponsible!”

“What good would it do to let you use my house for the wedding? He has no house, no car, and no savings. Are you planning to sleep on the streets after marrying him?”

“I can’t lend you this house. We just graduated. You need to think this through carefully. You can’t be careless about a major decision like marriage.”

I thought I was patiently trying to talk some sense into her.

But she was completely lost in her own little world.

“You’ve been single your whole life, and you’re such a clueless idiot. What do you know about love? Love can overcome anything. All I need is for Luke to love me!”

“He can find a job, and we can earn money. When the feelings are right, of course we have to seize the moment.”

“Just help me this once. We’re so close, and I know you wouldn’t refuse such a small favor!”

I had never dated, but I had seen the perfect example.

My parents had been together for eight years before my father formally asked for my mother’s hand, after he had already prepared a house and everything else.

After they married, he even transferred all their assets into my mother’s name, just so she would feel secure.

Because of that, I had extremely high standards for a partner, which was why no man had caught my eye by the time I graduated from college.

But in her mouth, that had turned me into a clueless idiot who knew nothing about love.

I pressed my lips together, looked her in the eyes, and rejected her word by word.

“No, Chloe. I can’t help you with this.”