Chapter 82
"A big house, yay! We finally have a big house!"
Even Oscar rarely showed a smile. "Mommy, you're really lucky."
Everyone was happy, and even William had a proud look like he was waiting for praise. "See? Didn't I tell you? You really are lucky."
"The manager just told me there's only one first prize, and you happened to win it. Good thing I brought you here today, otherwise you would've missed out on such a great opportunity, right?"
"Really?" Emily was skeptical.
She'd always thought her luck was pretty bad. Since childhood, hardly anything had gone smoothly for her. How come things were turning around now? Or maybe all the hardships she'd endured in the first half of her life were just setting the stage for today?
"Ms. Johnson, you really are very lucky!" The manager was beaming, looking even happier than Emily.
"Ms. Johnson, would you like to claim your prize now?" The manager stepped back and pointed to several properties nearby.
"With this first prize, you can choose any house from these three properties, get it at 20% of the price, plus a permanent parking spot, ten years of free property management fees, free premium renovation, and various other perks."
Hearing the manager say this, Emily finally snapped back to reality.
So she really did win? Such good fortune actually exists—it wasn't easy.
"William, did you hear that? I won!"
After the kids had all celebrated, Emily finally reacted, excitedly grabbing William's hand, her face flushed.
"I really won! I have my own house now, this is amazing!" She was overjoyed and hugged William tightly.
William's smile froze slightly, but before he could savor the hug, Emily quickly let go and went to hug the children.
"Oscar, we finally have our own house!" Emily's voice trembled with excitement, her nose turning red.
She pulled Oscar and Nina into her arms, her eyes slightly moist.
After drifting around for so long, renting place after place, now she could actually own her own house.
Although she got this house through luck, it was genuinely a house, and it came with so many perks.
Emily had actually seen ads before—these days when people buy houses, they always get all kinds of benefits, like permanent parking spots, free renovations, and so on. This showed that the real estate business really wasn't doing well.
But she could hardly believe she was this lucky.
After an hour of choosing, Emily finally selected a four-bedroom apartment.
If she were living alone, a studio would be fine, but she had two kids, and William had left Aiden with her, so she needed to have a room ready for him too.
Before, Aiden had always shared a room with Oscar, Emily slept with Nina—four people in two rooms, sharing one bathroom, the tiny house was very cramped.
But now it was different. This spacious house could give each child their own room, and there'd even be space for a study.
Besides that, it had two living rooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen, covering a large area.
This house was listed at over two million dollars, and at 20% of the price, that meant Emily could buy it for just over four hundred thousand dollars.
Emily wouldn't dare dream of such a price. It wasn't until she'd seen the house, both parties had signed, and Emily had paid that she believed it was all real.
"Manager, I need to ask you a favor." Emily took out her phone. "I'm usually pretty busy and don't have time to go to the new place. Since you're including renovation, could you supervise it for me?"
"Don't worry, I'll make it worth your while."
Buying a house for four hundred thousand dollars put no pressure on Emily—she even had over a hundred thousand dollars left.
Since the parking spot, property management fees, and renovation costs were all taken care of, she might as well find someone to oversee the renovation and just send over the floor plans later.
"The materials don't have to be the best, but they must be zero-formaldehyde. I hope to move in with the kids as soon as possible."
"For the soft furnishings, stick as close to my requirements as possible. But whether it's hard or soft furnishings, always choose zero-formaldehyde options first."
Emily listed many requirements, but she really didn't shortchange the manager—she gave him quite a bit of money, more than enough.
The manager nodded repeatedly. "Ms. Johnson, you're too kind, it won't cost that much."
He exchanged pleasantries while constantly glancing over at William, as if seeking his approval.
Only after William nodded did the manager feel comfortable accepting the money.
"William, I have my own house now!"
As soon as they left the sales office, Emily was dancing with excitement. "I'm so happy! Come on, let's go have a big meal. Tonight we're not going home until we're drunk."
William smiled helplessly. "You've said that several times already. Aren't you tired?"
"Of course not." Emily rolled her eyes at him. "Wouldn't you be happy if you bought a house?"
"Oh, I forgot—for a rich person like you, buying a house is just an ordinary thing. Of course you wouldn't be as happy as me."
Emily excitedly made a funny face. "If nothing goes wrong, this house will be my home base for the next few decades. This is my home—how could I not be happy?"
William smiled warmly too.
What he did was meaningful—it really wasn't in vain.
In fact, the house Emily had chosen wasn't originally priced at two million dollars at all.
It was in an upscale neighborhood with complete facilities, convenient transportation, and right in the city center. With such a great location, no matter how much housing prices dropped, it couldn't possibly be that cheap.
He'd gone to the sales office yesterday, revealed his identity, and asked them to help him put on a show. That's how there came to be a two-million-dollar house sold at 20% off, which Emily just happened to snag.
He understood Emily too well. Her pride wouldn't allow her to show she was struggling, much less use that black card or borrow money from him.
But William really wanted to help her, so he had to use this roundabout method.
As for the difference in money, of course William made it up himself.
On the property deed, Emily bought the house outright, but the four hundred thousand dollars she paid wasn't even a fraction of the house's real price. The remaining four million dollars was covered by William.
This would be an eternal secret that Emily would never know.
That was fine—she was happy, the kids were happy, and he was happy too. Why not?
Although the act was a bit clumsy, and Emily had been suspicious several times, and that manager had stumbled over his words too.
But fortunately the result was good, and Emily accepted it happily. William was quite satisfied with this outcome.