Part 2The Stranger in My Slippers

My face set into a hard mask, and I walked straight past Jasper, my leather soles hitting the freshly polished wood floor.

“Wait, Ezra, I just mopped this morning! Couldn’t you change your shoes…?”

Jasper gasped in alarm, which finally drew Julia’s attention.

I gave him a cold look. “Slippers are personal items. I don’t like wearing what other people have worn.”

The guest slippers in our house are completely different from that pair.

More importantly, Julia and I wear matching couple’s slippers. They were clearly visible by the door.

Jasper froze.

He had assumed I would endure his presence, given that the Ronalds sponsored him and Julia brought him here. He thought I’d be forced to swallow my anger.

But I didn’t care about those politics.

He quickly peeled off the slippers and put them in front of me, sounding flustered. “I—I’m so sorry. Where I grew up, a lot of people share one pair of slippers. I didn’t realize you had so many rules… and I’ve never seen slippers this nice.”

Julia came in from the balcony with her water glass. Jasper glanced up at her, his eyes full of unspoken appeal for rescue.

The woman he saw as his savior didn't immediately take the bait.

When Julia saw me, the coolness in her eyes softened.

“You finished early? Why didn’t you tell me so I could pick you up?”

I tossed my carry-on bag onto the sofa, about to speak, but Jasper’s choked voice cut me off.

“Gen, I’m so sorry. I think I made Ezra mad. I truly didn’t know I couldn’t wear his slippers… I’ll buy you a new pair to replace them…”

Julia looked at him, then shifted her gaze back to me.

“This is Jasper Cole. I mentioned him to you—he just started grad school. His dorm situation is pretty bad, so he’s staying here for a few days.”

I knew the Ronald family sponsored numerous students.

Jasper Cole was one of them.

He had four sisters and a younger brother. Jasper was the eldest.

Without the Ronalds, he likely would have ended up like his three sisters, married off right after turning eighteen.

I knew of him.

But I hadn't known that, in the single month I was away, he had moved into my home, wearing my footwear.

“Ezra, I’m just a small-town guy. I don’t know any better. Please don’t hold it against me. Now that we’ll be living together, maybe you can teach me the house rules…”

Small-town guy?

Living together?

I gave a harsh laugh.

“What about the watch on your wrist? And the cologne you’re wearing? I keep those in the master bathroom, next to the shower. We may not have house rules, but didn't your school teach you not to take what isn't yours?”

I scoffed, picked up my slippers, and tossed them straight into the trash can.

There were four pairs of perfectly clean guest slippers in the rack by the door. He deliberately chose Julia’s and my couple’s set.

Julia frowned slightly, looking exasperated. “We’ll go out and buy a new pair after dinner. It’s just a pair of slippers, Ezra.”

I rejected the idea flatly. “I’ve been awake for fifteen hours. I don’t have the time or the energy to go out just to replace a pair of slippers.”

Julia opened her mouth but said nothing.

The pressure in the room was suffocating.

Jasper tugged at his pants, looking miserable, and meekly apologized. “I’m sorry, Ezra. I’ll mop the floor until it’s spotless. And I’ll buy the slippers.”

“We have a robot vacuum. Don’t put on a performance of unnecessary suffering in front of me.”

I walked straight back to the bedroom. Behind me, I heard a stifled, humiliated gasp.