Part 1I Can’t Eat Together With My Family

We were having dinner at my place to celebrate Independence Day.

My three childhood best friends merely bought drinks and snacks. Willa Reid claimed that she did not know how to cook.

I started preparing twelve different dishes from six in the morning until late in the afternoon.

I had just served the dishes when Willa suddenly received a phone call from her roommate.

“She doesn’t have a party to go to. Can I get her to join us?”

I looked at my tiny dining table that could only fit five people.

Before I could speak, Jason George had already pulled my chair out.

“Didn’t you say you had some work to do at the office? You should head over now.”

My other friend, Liam Anderson, joked, “You’re used to your own cooking anyway. It’s fine to skip this one meal.”

Willa immediately shook her head. “Forget about it. I’ll get her to order food delivery.”

The three of them immediately persuaded her. “She’s already downstairs. How could we turn a guest away?”

My boyfriend, Sawyer John, packed me a little bit of food.

“There, I’ve saved your portion. You can reheat it at night if you’re hungry. Why the long face? It’s as if we’re bullying you.”

I looked at them as they sat around the dining table that I had bought and used my brand-new utensils.

They knew that it was not right to turn a guest away.

Yet, they had forgotten that I was the owner of that house.

I took my house key off Sawyer’s key ring.

“You don’t have to come over tonight.”

It was my house. I should not be the one being asked to leave.

* * *

Sawyer John’s smile dropped.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. The gathering’s over.”

Jason George frowned as he looked at me.

“She’s about to arrive. Aren’t you making Willa look like the bad guy if you ask her roommate to leave now?”

“We could go to another place instead.”

“You’ve already made twelve dishes. Where are we going to change the venue to?”

Liam Anderson pointed at the dishes on the table, as if I was the unreasonable one.

“Besides, everyone had worked so hard the entire day for this dinner. Do you really have to throw a tantrum just because we’re inviting an additional guest?”

Worked hard for the entire day?

Jason bought two bottles of soda.

Liam brought a bag of chips.

Sawyer had only washed six cups, and he broke one of them.

As for Willa Reid, ever since she stepped into my place, she never once left the couch while taking endless selfies. She even had to ask me for tissues.

I did not argue. Instead, I picked up my phone.

“There is a restaurant downstairs, and they have some private rooms left.

“I’ll pack the food for you. Let’s save everyone the embarrassment.”

Sawyer stopped me.

“Alright, drop the act.

“You always felt we favored Willa over you. It’s the first time her roommate is visiting. So what if you give in a little?”

The doorbell rang at that exact moment.

Willa hurried over to open the door.

Her roommate, Lynn White, came in with a cake. She was visibly stunned when she saw me.

“I thought you were working overtime tonight and skipping dinner.”

Everyone immediately fell silent.

I turned to Sawyer.

He avoided my gaze. Jason pretended to fidget around with the drinks. Liam pretended not to have heard anything.

Apparently, Lynn had not shown up unannounced.

Instead, they had planned it since the start.

However, no one told me that they did not want me to join this gathering.

Willa’s face turned pale.

“I may have been mistaken. Sawyer said that you might need to work overtime…”

“He’s not wrong.”

I took out some takeaway containers from the kitchen.

“Since you’ve planned this from the start, let’s not change the plan then.”

Sawyer finally got angry when he saw me packing all the dishes.

“Enough.

“We were worried that you’d overthink if we told you in advance.”

I put the ribs into the container.

“Now, you don’t have to worry about that.

“Take the food and leave.”

None of them had seen me chasing anyone out of my house before.

Jason’s face fell. It seemed like he wanted to say something, yet Sawyer stopped him.

He picked up the bag containing the food containers and sneered.

“We’ll go.

“You'd better not come crying to me after you’ve cooled down.”

The three of them led Willa and Lynn out of my place.

Before the door shut, Willa stared at me with teary eyes.

It was as if she was the one who had been chased out of her own home.

Half an hour later, she uploaded a social media post.

In the photo, all four of them were sitting around Sawyer’s coffee table as they ate the food that I had cooked.

Lynn was not in the photo.

She added a caption.

[Fortunately, someone was willing to take me into their home.]

Sawyer reacted with a red heart emoji.

I did not like that post.

He only sent me a text message at one in the morning.

[I’ll hold on to the pots and pans here.]

[Tomorrow, I need you to come over and wash them. Also, do make some hangover cure for Willa.]