The man shook his head in response.
She then continued, “Gillian Snow, the lead character in the novel, has been through what most divorced women would go through living with their parents. A phrase in the novel goes ‘a divorced woman living with her parents has no one to depend on.’ That was exactly how I felt.”
“Were your parents not good to you?”
“After my failed marriage, I tried to be more careful about choosing my next partner. I wanted to start again with another relationship, but I’ve never found a suitable one in the past two years after the divorce. My mother would get mad whenever the neighbors mention my failed marriage. Then, she’d ask me to hurry and get remarried soon. I was living in a house that belonged to my parents, so from time to time, my mother would remind me that they planned to move into the house soon. I knew she was trying to drive me out. I haven’t slept well for the past two years because I was sleeping under someone else’s roof. I didn’t have a home, and I have no one to depend on.”
Levant had no right to comment on the woman’s family matter, so instead, he inquired, “Have you not thought about getting your own house? Do you have a job?”
The woman nodded. “I do. When I was six, my mother shut me out of the house when I fought with my brother. I was so scared that she’d never let me in again, so I cried until the sky turned dark. In the end, my grandmother brought me back to her house. When I was sixteen, my mother sent me elsewhere to make money. I’ve known since I was sixteen that I had to depend on myself. I’ve supported myself over the years.”
Her tears started rolling down again when she recalled her painful past.
“I’ve used all the money I’ve earned to pay off my ex-husband’s debt to raise my children. I don’t earn a lot, and I have to pay for my children’s living expenses, send money to my family, and cover my own daily expenses. What little money I have left isn’t going to be enough for me to buy a house.”
A bitter smile then appeared on her face. “I didn’t understand why divorced women were in a hurry to marry someone they don’t love before, but I do now. A woman needs to be financially capable and have her own home. Only then she can start planning her own life. Otherwise, we’ll always be under someone’s thumb.”
When the woman was done speaking, she looked at Levant and asked, “What do you think? Should I listen to my mother and get remarried soon?”
Levant was silent as he sized her up. “Even if you can’t afford to buy a house, you can always rent a place.”
“I did. I rented a house after my divorce, but my mother came over, and we had a big fight over it.”
At that point, the woman could no longer go on talking. The past was a knife to her heart, making it bleed in pain.
Seeing how the woman was suffering, he decided to stop questioning her.
Buying a house was nothing to Levant, but it was enough to change this woman’s life.
“Will you stop trying to hurt yourself if you have a house?”
The woman lifted her head and shot him a puzzled look.
Having gone through the harshest situations her life had to offer, she wondered if the stranger before her was trying to lend her a helping hand.
“You… You’ll lend me money?” she asked hesitantly.
After a brief pause, Levant nodded determinedly. “I’m only doing this because I don’t want you to kill yourself. I’ll lend you money if that’s what it’ll take to save you.”
The woman stared at Levant in shock before sincerely thanking him. “Thank you! Thank you! I’ll write you an IOU, and I’ll pay you back once I’ve earned enough.”
Seeing how sincere the woman was, he took out a debit card and handed it to her. “There should be enough on this card to buy you a house.”
The woman took the card with her trembling hands and asked softly, “How much is this?”
“You don’t have to know. Just take as much as you need.”
“How much should I write on the IOU then?”
Levant did not care much about the money; it would not matter to him even if the woman decided not to repay him in the end. Seeing how serious the woman was, he inquired, “How much would you need to buy a house for yourself?”
