Part 3The Condo My Uncle Gave Me 16 Years Ago is Now Worth $865,000.

I sat on the cold floor until my legs went numb.

Once I calmed down, the first thing I did was call my uncle back.

It rang for a long time before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

It was my aunt's voice, thick with congestion and exhaustion.

"Auntie, it's me, Chloe."

"Where's Uncle?"

The other end was silent for a moment before my uncle's hoarse voice came through.

"Chloe, honey."

"Uncle is fine, don't worry."

"Yesterday... I was out of line. Don't fight with your husband over me."

He was still thinking about me.

My eyes instantly welled up.

"Uncle, don't say that."

"I'm the one who's sorry."

"What exactly happened? You have to tell me."

After my repeated questioning, my uncle finally told me the truth.

My cousin, Leo, was diagnosed with acute leukemia.

He needed a bone marrow transplant immediately.

They found a match, but the $340,000 surgical fee was a mountain crushing this already struggling family.

"...Your cousin is still so young, he's only twenty-five..."

My uncle's voice choked on a sob.

"The doctor said as long as the money is there, the success rate is very high..."

On my end of the phone, my face was already covered in tears.

It was life-saving money.

And yet, because of Mark's garbage behavior, I had wasted precious time.

Guilt and self-reproach washed over me like a tidal wave.

"Uncle, don't worry."

I wiped my tears away, my voice carrying a determination that surprised even me.

"I will figure out the money."

"I will get it to you in the shortest amount of time possible."

I hung up and immediately opened my banking app to check the joint account I shared with Mark.

But when I saw the balance, I was completely stunned.

$36,217.

We had been married for five years. Our combined income was over $30,000 a month.

Even after daily expenses and his car payment, we should have easily had a six-figure savings account after five years.

But now, there was only this pathetic fraction left.

My heart sank, inch by inch.

I immediately called Mark.

He picked up, his voice still laced with anger.

"What? Figured it out? Ready to apologize to my mom?"

I ignored his yelling and asked directly:

"Where is the money in our joint account?"

Mark noticeably paused.

"What money? Isn't it all in the card?"

"Mark, I'm going to ask you one more time. Where is the money?"

My voice was ice cold.

He must have heard that something was seriously wrong with my tone, and started stammering.

"It... it didn't go anywhere..."

"It's just... my brother wanted to buy a car a while ago, so I helped him out a bit."

"And, my parents wanted to renovate their old house back home, so I took some out for that too..."

"We're all family, we shouldn't keep such strict accounts..."

My heart felt like it was being sawed in half with a blunt knife.

So that was it.

So the money I had worked so hard to save up became his capital to subsidize his family.

He used my money to play the "good son" and the "great brother" for his family.

Yet, when my uncle's family was waiting for life-saving money, he spewed those cold, cruel words.

I finally understood.

In his heart, we were never a family.

I was just an outsider, a host providing blood and flesh for him and his family.

This realization struck me like lightning, leaving me freezing cold.

I couldn't rely on him.

There was only one way left.

Sell this condo.

I opened my laptop and started searching for real estate agents online.

This place held all my youth and memories. It was my only safe harbor.

Now, it was going to be used to save another family member's life.

I thought, if this condo had feelings, it would support me too.

Mark quickly found out what I was doing.

Probably through my browser history on the shared iPad.

He charged into the study like an enraged lion.

"Chloe! Don't you dare!"

He pointed at the agent's contact info on the screen, his eyes bloodshot.

"Let me tell you, you are not selling this condo!"

"Don't even think about it!"

I looked up, meeting his gaze calmly.

"Mark, we're done."

My relationship with him had completely frozen over the moment he insulted my uncle.

And now, we had fallen into an bottomless abyss below that freezing point.