Chapter 1: The Promise He Made Me Keep
My husband's sisters came to my door and said, "If I were you...
I'd start looking for somewhere else to live." They thought they were about to take the last thing my husband left me.
They couldn't have been more wrong.
My name is Laura.
Three weeks ago, I buried my husband, Michael.
For twelve years, that house wasn't just where we lived.
It was where we became a family.
We painted every wall together, planted the maple tree in the front yard the summer we got married, and spent countless evenings on the porch watching the sun go down.
Even after cancer stole most of Michael's strength, he'd still carry his coffee outside every evening and smile at me.
"Promise me one thing," he'd say.
"Don't ever leave this house."
I always promised.
After Michael d*ed, I couldn't bring myself to change anything.
His slippers were still beside our bed.
His reading glasses were still on the nightstand.
Some mornings, I still caught myself making two cups of coffee before remembering I'd only need one.
Then his three sisters knocked on my door.
They didn't ask how I was surviving.
They didn't mention Michael.
Rhonda glanced around the living room we'd built together and said,
"We've decided it's time to sell the house."
I actually laughed.
"This house isn't part of Michael's estate."
She smiled.
"We'll see."
I told them to leave.
The next morning, they came back.
This time, Rhonda was holding a thick folder.
She looked me straight in the eye.
"We've already spoken to a lawyer," she said.
"If I were you...
I'd start looking for somewhere else to live."
Rhonda smiled, turned around, and walked back to her car without waiting for an answer.
I stood frozen in the doorway, staring after her, unable to decide what frightened me more — that she was bluffing...
or that she wasn't.
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What does Rhonda know that Laura doesn't?
Comment **"NEXT"** if you want Part 2 — it's in the comments.
